Question on EE leg color

[AinaWGSD]

I know EE's are a mixed breed, and as such there are no guarantees and few true consistencies with what you get from the hatchery when you order them. But my question is, are they typically hatched with the green/willow/slate colored legs (if they are going to have them), or does the color develop as they age? We just got 5 EE chicks from MPC yesterday, and when we were first IDing chicks only one of them had greenish legs (fortunately, it was the one that looks most like the SS chicks so the legs are an easy way to tell them apart). The rest had the same color legs (I thought) as the other chicks we ordered (leghorn, SS, and wyandotte). But today I thought I saw a little green tint to the legs on some of the other EE chicks. Could be my imagination, but it got me wondering.

 

[CCFarms9559]

My EE's had green legs when I got them from the feed store. Couldn't have been but a day or two old...

 

[Morgan7782]

My two EE's had flesh colored legs until they were about 2 weeks old, then the green developed and now they both have BRIGHT green legs.

 

[mama2many]

mine developed.....any puffy cheeks??

 

[HBuehler]

Not all EE's have green legs.Most every one we breed here has slate or darker legs..it's all in the breeds used to make the cross.

 

[AinaWGSD]

All but one have puffy cheeks. Interestingly, the one that does have greenish legs is the only one that doesn't have puffy cheeks. The rest have fleshy colored legs (although as I said some of them are starting to look a little greenish). So far they are the calmest of my chicks once we get them scooped up to be held.

 

[Karrie13]

I have 6 EE's and 5 of them have green legs the other has more of a white/flesh colored leg. I got her from a local hatchery in April, she also has the puffy cheeks but I don't think her legs will turn green/slate like my other girls. It will be interesting to see if she lays a colored egg or not.

 

[Tam'ra of Rainbow Vortex]

I have 2 now 6 weeks old. One has puffy cheeks and the other doesn't, but both had legs about the same color as my other chicks when I got them. I was disappointed, but at about the same rate they feathered, the legs began to turn green. Today they are unmistakably green, but maybe not done changing yet!