RIR chicks with strips on their backs?

[Bacchus]

Congrats on getting your chicks! I don't recall my RIRs having stripes on their backs when they're that young, but I do recall that they have a small stripe on the back of their heads like the chick in the first picture. Do all of your RIRs have the back stripes or is it just that one? Sorry I can't tell from the small pictures.

 

[grullablue]

No, not all of them have the stripes. But I have noticed the stripe on the head too! I have more pics...not close ups...but just cute "chick pics" in general, here http://picasaweb.google.com/mygrullabluefotos/NewChicks

Angie

 

[Bacchus]

I read this on wikipedia about RIRs, "Chicks are a light red to tan color with two dark brown bars running down their backs." Although wikipedia may not be the most reliable source for information, it does add a bit more confidence that your chicks are indeed RIRs. I wish I had paid closer attention to my chicks when they were young or had taken pics of them, since now that they're older it's difficult to tell if they had the lines on their back or not.

On the other hand, I've read somewhere on this forum that the black line on the back of their heads are only there if they are females, while males do not have the line behind their heads. Again, I'm not sure how reliable that information is, but I'm going to wait and find out with my own RIRs. I tried searching for the thread that I got the information from, but it wouldn't come up after several attempts with the "search" function.

Here's the link for RIRs on wiki if you're interested:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhode_Island_Red

 

[grullablue]

Will copy and paste this here... somehow it ended up on a different thread, in a different section!

Thanks for that info!! That makes me feel better! I do hope they mature to be that beautiful color of that first hen pictured on the top of the page....just love that deep, dark color!

Of all the RIR chick pics I've seen, I just never saw any with the bars down the back, so I was a little concerned...but feeling better now...

Thanks! The chicks are all doing well!
Angie

 

[Bacchus]

It's probably a computer glitch, it happens from time to time...

Me too! I love the dark red color on them, so let's wait and see how they turn out. I'll be sure to update with pics when they're fully grown.
As for the single line on the back of their heads, if you could keep track of it and see if it turns out to be true, then we could possibly figure out if that method works or not. Both of my RIRs have the black stripe behind their heads. I'll try to remember to update when I do figure out their genders for sure.

 

[cmom]

I have RIR's. I love my girls. There are pictures on my BYC Page.

 

[crtrlovr]

all my RIR chicks had the darker brown bars that faded as the down came out and the true first feathers came in. ah... baby chickies. Those were the days...

 

[Riocotesei]

I hached out an assortment of chicks a week ago and three RIR's hached. 2 have stripes and one doesn't. I have had other hatches with striped ones as well. I'm sure u have RIR's