New chick identification help + worm and flea questions

[Mak24456]

Hello! I'm very new to BYC, but it's been a wonderful research tool over the past few months as my family planned to get chickens. I hope I posted this in the right place, it's a few mixed questions!

On Monday we went to the the feed store and got 4 chicks and their essentials along with a tractor. The guy at the store was pretty enthusiastic and got all of our chicks in the box without telling us what breeds each of them were, and told us not to worry since they'd email a receipt with the breeds.

These are the chicks:


Bluebell (her eyes are blue, is this unusual?)


Henley


Muffin


Oreo

The emailed receipt says Ameraucana, Buff Orpington, Rhode Island Red, and Dominique.
From a google search I'm guessing Bluebell is the Buff, Henley is the RIR, and Oreo is the Dominique, but Muffin doesn't really look like the Ameraucana chicks in the pictures, who're more gray. The guy at the store did mention an Easter Egger, could they have gotten the receipt wrong?


Also, since the weather here in NC has been very warm and they are older chicks that don't need a heat lamp, we've been letting them stay in the tractor run during the day and taking them inside to the brooder at night. Could they possibly pick up worms and parasites from foraging outside? I've seen them eating earthworms and little slugs, is it possible that they may pick up something from them?


I've also gotten 45+ bites on my arms and legs after we brought them home, they itch like crazy. Some of the family members have also gotten itchy bites, could these be from the chicks? I've seen Bluebell scratch herself a couple times, but I'm probably just being paranoid. If there are in fact fleas, what would be the best solution to get rid of them?

 

[Mak24456]

After a little more research I've finally found that amercaucanas actually lay blue eggs anyways. (probably should have looked that up sooner x__x) Is that what they could have meant by easter egger? They're not the same thing, are they?

I've seen some intestine lining in their poop, not sure who it's from. Is that an indication of a problem?

 

[Wickedchicken6]

I'll just address the breeds. I believe you're correct on calling the chicks but someone else can confirm for certain.

Easter Egger and Ameraucauna are not the same thing. Ameraucauna is a purebred chicken, Easter Egger is usually based on the Ameraucauna, but may not conform to standards and/or have other breeds mixed in. (Please correct me someone if I got that incorrect about the not conforming to standards) This is the way I understand it. I have EE's and a couple heritage bred Ameraucauna chicks. I love them both. You never know exactly what your gonna get for chicks from Easter Eggers but they are lovely layers and very hardy, at least in my case. They can also lay blue eggs (mine do) but you can also get a rainbow assortment of colors from mint green to aqua, to army green to olive plus tan to pinkish eggs.

From what I've seen written on BYC, it sounds like hatchery chicks can be labelled as Ameraucauna's but they usually end up being Easter Eggers.

 

[Mr Beaks]

Hello! I'm very new to BYC, but it's been a wonderful research tool over the past few months as my family planned to get chickens. I hope I posted this in the right place, it's a few mixed questions! On Monday we went to the the feed store and got 4 chicks and their essentials along with a tractor. The guy at the store was pretty enthusiastic and got all of our chicks in the box without telling us what breeds each of them were, and told us not to worry since they'd email a receipt with the breeds. These are the chicks: Bluebell (her eyes are blue, is this unusual?) Henley Muffin Oreo The emailed receipt says [COLOR=222222]Ameraucana, Buff Orpington, Rhode Island Red, and Dominique.[/COLOR] [COLOR=222222]From a google search I'm guessing Bluebell is the Buff, Henley is the RIR, and Oreo is the Dominique, but Muffin doesn't really look like the Ameraucana chicks in the pictures, who're more gray. The guy at the store did mention an Easter Egger, could they have gotten the receipt wrong?[/COLOR] Also, since the weather here in NC has been very warm and they are older chicks that don't need a heat lamp, we've been letting them stay in the tractor run during the day and taking them inside to the brooder at night. Could they possibly pick up worms and parasites from foraging outside? I've seen them eating earthworms and little slugs, is it possible that they may pick up something from them? I've also gotten 45+ bites on my arms and legs after we brought them home, they itch like crazy. Some of the family members have also gotten itchy bites, could these be from the chicks? I've seen Bluebell scratch herself a couple times, but I'm probably just being paranoid. If there are in fact fleas, what would be the best solution to get rid of them?

. Pretty sure the breeds on your receipt match up to what you've got. Muffin looks like one of my Easter Egger chicks did when she was little. EE's are almost always faulsely advertised as "Ameraucana" but don't meet the breed standards. Still, they are beautiful birds that provide an abundance of beautiful eggs! They can be clean faced, bearded, muffed or both. Here's Pretty Girl - hatched clean faced and grew massive facial hair, lol.

 

[Mr Beaks]

As for the worry about picking something up...? Not entirely sure. I've always kept my chicks on medicated starter feed to help prevent coccidiosis and kept them indoors until they were 6-8 weeks old. The chicks that were hatched under a broody did well without my intervention and they ate what mama ate (flock raiser crumbles, bugs, etc.).

Chickens can get lice and mites (not sure about fleas) but I think they are species specific meaning humans don't get them. However, I will look into it and check back in as I have been experiencing something very similar and assumed it was the overload of mosquitos and flies due to the drought. Maybe someone with a little more experience on the subject will lend their expertise in the meantime.

 

[drumstick diva]

Pretty Girl, really is!

 

[Mak24456]

As for the worry about picking something up...? Not entirely sure. I've always kept my chicks on medicated starter feed to help prevent coccidiosis and kept them indoors until they were 6-8 weeks old. The chicks that were hatched under a broody did well without my intervention and they ate what mama ate (flock raiser crumbles, bugs, etc.).

Chickens can get lice and mites (not sure about fleas) but I think they are species specific meaning humans don't get them. However, I will look into it and check back in as I have been experiencing something very similar

and assumed it was the overload of mosquitos and flies due to the drought. Maybe someone with a little more experience on the subject will lend their expertise in the meantime.

Thanks for the pics, Muffin's face is looking pretty bare right now haha, that might change though. We'll just have to see about the eggs then!

They're on medicated Nutrena starter/grower feed so I'm not too worried about coccidiosis right now. They seemed so incredibly bored in the brooder after a couple days, so I though a bit of outdoors and sun might do them good

They all seems healthy and active, hopefully they stay that way!
I also thought he bites were mosquitoes, but we're pretty low on them around here and the number of bites just seems too many.

 

[Mak24456]

I'll just address the breeds. I believe you're correct on calling the chicks but someone else can confirm for certain.

Easter Egger and Ameraucauna are not the same thing. Ameraucauna is a purebred chicken, Easter Egger is usually based on the Ameraucauna, but may not conform to standards and/or have other breeds mixed in. (Please correct me someone if I got that incorrect about the not conforming to standards) This is the way I understand it. I have EE's and a couple heritage bred Ameraucauna chicks. I love them both. You never know exactly what your gonna get for chicks from Easter Eggers but they are lovely layers and very hardy, at least in my case. They can also lay blue eggs (mine do) but you can also get a rainbow assortment of colors from mint green to aqua, to army green to olive plus tan to pinkish eggs.

From what I've seen written on BYC, it sounds like hatchery chicks can be labelled as Ameraucauna's but they usually end up being Easter Eggers.

Muffin's a sweetie, I wouldn't mind either way.

Great info to have, thank you!

 

[Mr Beaks]

Pretty Girl, really is!

Aww, thank you! I just love EE's and their sweet, non-confrontational personalities.

 

[Mr Beaks]

As for the worry about picking something up...? Not entirely sure. I've always kept my chicks on medicated starter feed to help prevent coccidiosis and kept them indoors until they were 6-8 weeks old. The chicks that were hatched under a broody did well without my intervention and they ate what mama ate (flock raiser crumbles, bugs, etc.).


Chickens can get lice and mites (not sure about fleas) but I think they are species specific meaning humans don't get them. However, I will look into it and check back in as I have been experiencing something very similar and assumed it was the overload of mosquitos and flies due to the drought. Maybe someone with a little more experience on the subject will lend their expertise in the meantime.

Thanks for the pics, Muffin's face is looking pretty bare right now haha, that might change though. We'll just have to see about the eggs then! 

They're on medicated Nutrena starter/grower feed so I'm not too worried about coccidiosis right now. They seemed so incredibly bored in the brooder after a couple days, so I though a bit of outdoors and sun might do them good   They all seems healthy and active, hopefully they stay that way!
I also thought he bites were mosquitoes, but we're pretty low on them around here and the number of bites just seems too many. 

So, it looks like we can get bites from chicken bugs after all! We just don't become infested as they drop off after their meal . I will do my best to attach a link for you. Red roost mites and Northern fowl mites are the most common.

http://www.dummies.com/home-garden/...-get-rid-of-your-chickens-external-parasites/