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I know it’s still early (12 days old), but just out of curiosity... any guesses yet? I’m worried that none of them look convincingly female 
With the chipmunking so weak on a lot of them, would that translate into improper partridge patterning as well? Or is the partridge pattern an all or nothing thing?
Lemonade:
Pooh:
Blinky (one of the assisted hatches, the one with the eye problem). His left eye seems functional and almost looks like the other one, but is smaller and he keeps closing it often, while the other eye remains open. Blinky has no chipmunk pattern whatsoever, and his wing feathers have the least amount of patterning of all of them. He also has the most prominent comb, and the most prominent personality... Which are all bad signs
The Pretty One (with the most pronounced chipmunk pattern and high contrast feathers):
The Baby (the smallest and least developed of the bunch, has too much black on the feathers which isn't a good sign):
If anybody is female at all, I'm guessing Pooh and the Pretty One, potentially maybe even Lemonade as well, if I'm being optimistic. Lemonade is the least people-social of the bunch. Blinky and the Baby look male to me based on the wing feathers (and Blinky's comb and personality).
With the chipmunking so weak on a lot of them, would that translate into improper partridge patterning as well? Or is the partridge pattern an all or nothing thing?Lemonade:
Pooh:
Blinky (one of the assisted hatches, the one with the eye problem). His left eye seems functional and almost looks like the other one, but is smaller and he keeps closing it often, while the other eye remains open. Blinky has no chipmunk pattern whatsoever, and his wing feathers have the least amount of patterning of all of them. He also has the most prominent comb, and the most prominent personality... Which are all bad signs
The Pretty One (with the most pronounced chipmunk pattern and high contrast feathers):
The Baby (the smallest and least developed of the bunch, has too much black on the feathers which isn't a good sign):
If anybody is female at all, I'm guessing Pooh and the Pretty One, potentially maybe even Lemonade as well, if I'm being optimistic. Lemonade is the least people-social of the bunch. Blinky and the Baby look male to me based on the wing feathers (and Blinky's comb and personality).
Eventually they went to bed and cried themselves to sleep, much later than their usual bedtime. It broke my heart. I halved my flock last year, but not all at once and they were much older. The most I've done was 3 at a time with 5 remaining, and they didn't seem to notice or care. These guys though... They definitely missed their friends today! I should give them more credit. We'll give them extra love and treats tomorrow, poor things.
They are in one of those little prefab coops, which is acting as their brooder. They are in the coop part for now, until they get used to it, and will eventually go out into the run as well. The coop is a wooden box with no windows and no light except for a tiny vent slit, so I made them a HC screen to be hung in the open doorway during the day so they can get some sunshine. It can be hung all the way up, or partway down so my friend can reach in and take chicks out without the rest flying out. She runs an educational farm and will have school kids visiting and interacting with the chicks, so this setup works better for showing and handling them. I also made them a little perch and a MHP like mine. They seem happy.
