Rhode Island Red Chicks???

[danawhatley90]

I found a post on Craigslist for some day old RIR Chicks for sale near where I live. I convinced my husband to get them, and I love them, but I am beginning to wonder if they are really RIRs. The man we got them from showed us what was supposed to be their parents and they looked like the heritage dark Rhode Island Red Chickens that I was after. Now that they are 3 weeks they are beginning to get a little white on the tips of their feathers. True Rhode Island Reds are not supposed to have white on them correct?... They have a lot of the RIR looks but the white makes me think they are not as pure as they were supposed to be...







What do you think?

 

[donrae]

I'm not as familiar with Reds as some other breeds, but I do know they go through some juvenile plumage that looks nothing like the adult bird. We have a couple threads here about heritage RIR, you might look for pics of juvenile birds there to see how they feather out.

 

[Fred's Hens]

I'm highly suspicious of the birds being "heritage", which is just a fancy, marketing term for bred to Standard Reds. The beaks do not show the characteristic dark horn color that Reds have.

They may still feather out into a nicer reddish color. Only time will tell. Those early feathers, as DonRae says, are not necessarily indicative of the later feathering. Give them some time.

 

[danawhatley90]

Great! Thank you so much! I did not know that baby feathers could be completely different then their adult feathers. I think that I have two with really dark beaks, the rest are a lighter orange. Also, I have one that is much larger than the rest and I was wondering if it looks like a
roo to you...








I know at 3 weeks it is a little early to tell especially with reds, but what is your thoughts? This one is constantly giving me the stink eye... LOL. It is very aware of its surroundings and it seems like its little comb is pretty pronounced for this age... Do you agree?