Oh My Gosh, Hyzenthlay- They are SO cute!
Yay for second batches of chicks!(And thirds, and...!)
You never know with your BLRW. I thought since I could pick, and they had some that were obviously splash, and others were brown and others black, that if I took a black one, it would be black laced. But Blossom turned out to be a dark blue laced after all. So your little ??? could still be a blue. But with the splash, it would be obvious, because the chipmunk stripes are definitely way paler. So Meyer didn't have a bin you could pick from, huh? I thought that folks who were in driving distance could do that.
Well, you have a very nice combination here in your second group. BOs and BAs are nice chickens. I sold the ones I had to make room for this year's chicks, and I am kind of missing them.
Oh- and I just remembered- I have a photo like your two chicks, too!
It must be a chick thing!
Thanks, Finnie! I love your chick picture, too--they are so funny. I do think my little BLRW might turn out to be dark blue--her teeny tiny feathers that are coming in now don't seem quite as black as those on the BA, so maybe that's something. But I combed BYC and the web for all the BLRW chick pictures I could find, and I saw almost none that had as much black on them and dark fluff as my little girl--even the ones that people said would grow up to be black were lighter than she is. So we'll see. It does seem like Meyer should let you request a color preference in these instances--either by picking one while you're there, or by registering the preference on the order. Not to say they'd guarantee it could be fulfilled, but if they happen to have a splash and you requested a splash, then that one would be allocated to you rather than to someone who indicated no preference or a different preference. They could do the same thing with EEs to a certain extent (since their colors are harder to predict from their fluff, but you can at least tell light from dark), SFHs, OEs, etc.--anything where there's a variety of colors and one is not clearly preferred by (most) all people. It would make their process more complicated, I understand, but it would be a good way to distinguish themselves in the market.
I have always gone to Meyer on Monday mornings or early afternoon (before the overhatch is put out, apparently), but they have always had a bin of chicks to the right of the door as you walk in that I took for overhatch, or the "adopt me" bin, or something to that effect. They won't hazard a guess for you as to what breeds the chicks are, but they are all sexed female. I know I've seen EEs, a Light Brahma, some SLWs and GLWs, Barred Rocks, and a bunch of other breeds in there that I couldn't clearly identify. This week they also had a bin of interesting straight run bantams, and last month they also had a big bin of turkeys. Maybe next time I will go later in the day and see if I can pick up any fun impulse purchases. But, like Autumnhearth, we are in a fairly urban setting with room for limited numbers of chicks, and all of ours are pets with full retirement plans here, so my approach has been that once we get them, we keep them for their natural lifespan. We have two 6 year olds that seem to be going strong, still very healthy-looking and laying regularly, and the others are 2 years old, and now the chicks. We already have about as many chickens as I currently feel comfortable with, and more eggs than we can eat--so, unless something unexpected happens, I probably should not be loitering around Meyer tempting myself with impulse purchases.
Oh, and here are a few pics from this morning--the whole crew wanted to check out the new additions, apparently:
I feel like the dogs look interested, and our EE Tiger Lily looks accusatory--like, "who are these usurpers you have brought in to invade my space and eat all the treats that should rightfully be mine?"
