Size and Age

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Sandywitch

Sandywitch

Songster
7 Years
Oct 29, 2013
190
17
121
I've had my three little chicks five days now. So far, so good! I think I know which one is 5 1/2 weeks old and which two are 3 1/2 weeks old! Buffy, the Orpington, looks bigger than the other two and does a lot more scratching around in the brooder. At first I wasn't sure because I know black is thinning, so the barred rock and cuckoo marans may have just SEEMED smaller, but hubby confirms my original guess. It drives me crazy not to name the other two, but I can hardly tell them apart at this stage. They both have a white spot on their heads. I would think they were the same, only I watched the breeder got them out of different brooders there. Even as adults, I've noticed the two breeds look a lot alike. I sometimes name a pet by their personality, but that would have to wait a while. ARGGGHHHH!!!! Oh, another thought...........what if they aren't all female???? I'd hate to have to re-home a rooster!
 
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If you stare at them long enough, you can see differences in them. LOL You can also take a black magic marker and put a dot on one of the heads with the white spot. Just enough to tell them apart. The mark will wear off eventually but you should then see some differences after staring at them. LOL

Good luck with your babies and enjoy BYC!
 
Thanks, DesertDweller. One is supposed to be a cuckoo marans and the other a barred rock. I know one is supposed to have pink or white legs and the other one yellow legs. They both look yellow to me. The cuckoo marans cost a little more, but that doesn't help me identify which is which! I keep them in a deep brooder under a heat lamp, so I don't get to see their legs much. All I can do is stretch up and peer down in at the tops of them (I'm short). If I mess with the lid then I mess up the light again and the temperature goes whacky for a while again. Today I had to go in and straighten up their feeder and refill it, so I picked each of them up. I couldn't really see the difference in color in their legs. I held them one at a time on their backs. They ran like a raptor was after them when I tried to pick them up, but once I had them on their backs, they just layed there looking up at me. I pet them a bit and talked to them, then released them back into the brooder. A little later I reached into the brooder and pet them again and they didn't try to run.........till the next time. The breeder said if they're males they will struggle wildly if you hold them on their backs, so HOPEFULLY they're all female!
 
Hello :frow and Welcome To BYC! Hope they are all girls for you. Have you asked the breeder if she will take back/trade roosters? Those cuckoos and barreds like a lot alike at this age, the magic marker TwoCrows said is a good idea, could always make them colored and you could give them all color/shade names.
 
Sandywitch said:
Thanks, DesertDweller. One is supposed to be a cuckoo marans and the other a barred rock. I know one is supposed to have pink or white legs and the other one yellow legs. They both look yellow to me. The cuckoo marans cost a little more, but that doesn't help me identify which is which! I keep them in a deep brooder under a heat lamp, so I don't get to see their legs much. All I can do is stretch up and peer down in at the tops of them (I'm short). If I mess with the lid then I mess up the light again and the temperature goes whacky for a while again. Today I had to go in and straighten up their feeder and refill it, so I picked each of them up. I couldn't really see the difference in color in their legs. I held them one at a time on their backs. They ran like a raptor was after them when I tried to pick them up, but once I had them on their backs, they just layed there looking up at me. I pet them a bit and talked to them, then released them back into the brooder. A little later I reached into the brooder and pet them again and they didn't try to run.........till the next time. The breeder said if they're males they will struggle wildly if you hold them on their backs, so HOPEFULLY they're all female!
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When going to pick them up, if at all possible, try reaching in front of them and scooping them up. I've read in the past when you come at them from up above their predator survival instinct kicks in and they will go crazy. I've noticed a difference with ours. They were getting use to us picking them up and then today they were going crazy and we couldn't figure out why...our Great Dane was in the room watching and was scaring them. Once we put him outside they calmed back down. He walks by them all of the time and looks in the brooder and it doesn't bother them but once we pulled them out it was a different story.
 
SlipsWife said:
When going to pick them up, if at all possible, try reaching in front of them and scooping them up. I've read in the past when you come at them from up above their predator survival instinct kicks in and they will go crazy. I've noticed a difference with ours. They were getting use to us picking them up and then today they were going crazy and we couldn't figure out why...our Great Dane was in the room watching and was scaring them. Once we put him outside they calmed back down. He walks by them all of the time and looks in the brooder and it doesn't bother them but once we pulled them out it was a different story.
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I'll try that! Thanks for the suggestion!
 

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