Straight Run TSC chicks...what are they?? **lots of pics!**

[Stina]

Hubby and I stopped at TSC today and we picked up some chickies. I will be honest....we are probably not going to be keeping these guys....maybe 1 or 2....we mainly picked them up to use as food for our bratty, picky ball python... Don't get me wrong...I love chickens too (I have some serama x polish eggs incubating right now that I'm SUPER excited about!)....but my girl's gotta eat and she doesn't want to take anything else! At any rate...we may keep one of these chicks if any turn out to be pullets for some full sized eggs....but right now I'm just curious as to what they are! We're in Allentown, PA and got the chicks from our local TSC in Trexlertown...not sure where they get the chicks from...but the one employee I asked at one point said the name sounded like "happy"....so my only guess is Mt. Healthy??? Which would explain why I've seen NO bantams this year!

Anyway, they came from the straight run bin!

Chick 1:

Chick 2:

Chick 3:

Chick 4 (large!...bigger than chick 5 with less feathering):

Chick 5 (very dark comb!:

 

[Minniechickmama]

Chick 4 Australorp boy.
The others look like Buff Orps. boy, girl, boy, based on feathering.
Chick 5 Australorp girl.

 

[kaddidle]

I'm too much of a newbie with chickens to guess on chick genders, but am an old hat when it comes to reptiles. I had to give them up when I realized that I enjoyed the animals that I fed the reptiles more than the reptiles. After raising an awesome pair of male rats that were trained to do all sorts of cool tricks and lived loose in my house and used a litter box like a cat, knew tricks like dogs, and were cuddlier than rabbits--but didn't shred my furniture like cats, were easier to manage than dogs, and didn't destroy my electrical cords, furniture, and carpet like rabbits--I decided that I liked them way more than cold blooded critters that could only become accustomed to being handled but not ever actually bond with me. My rats loved me and would run up to me when I came in the door like dogs. Very cool pets and they totally creeped out a lot of people who didn't know better. The only bad thing was that they didn't live long.

That said, I hope you enjoy your pet snakes. I guess it's smart to feed chicks instead of rats. One ball python that I owned was permanently scarred where a rat that was supposed to be her dinner had tried to nibble on her instead! (That was before I owned her--I killed most of my reptiles' food right before feeding so that kind of thing wouldn't happen.)

 

[Stina]

I happen to love ratties as well...and mice...and the chickens...and just about everything really...lol I have no problem with feeding animals to other animals ...I mean....I eat meat...its not really any different. I STRONGLY prefer feeding prekilled or frozen/thawed over live though.

 

[MuranoFarms]

I'm going with minniechickmama on this australorps and buff orps. Our TSC and feed stores all ordered from Mt healthy too. The TSC all had bins full of white silkies and the feed store had every bantam but the silkies. Mt Healthys official stance on it is that their bantams are 'mixed' and they don't know what they will get till they hatch. I guess they get them from different sources.....at least that is what their email to me said.

I had snakes for awhile. We used to go to a farm and pick up rabbits to feed ours. He was a big snake! Then my daughter decided she liked one of the rabbits and we had to take that one off the menu! lol

 

[SunAngel]

Your yellow ones that are feathering in white might also be Amberlinks. I got one of them at TSC this year and some last year. Our TSC only had females in, no straight runs on those. If they are feathering in buff, then I would say Buff Orps. Although, on one I see chipmunk lines down the back, that could mean Gold Comets, they had those too. Mine has white wing feathers right now also, but the shoulder feathers are coming in red.

I have been into 3 TSCs in Pa lately and all have just had Silkies. I got 8 or so, but most were white. I lucked out and snagged a couple Partridge and Blacks, but am still very disappointed. I was really hoping to search through the mixed bantam bins and find some d'Uccles or other unique chicks this year. I hope they go back to whoever they were getting their chicks from last year!

 

[MuranoFarms]

Quote:
LOL....my feed store that got the mixed bantams from Mt healthy had D'uccles. I got 2. Not a silkie in the bunch but lots of D'uccles. TSC had all white silkies. Go figure.


Do you have locally owned feedstores in your area? I googled feed store and my county name and called every feed store listed today looking for ducklings. Almost every one said that they either had chicks or were taking orders for them (agway said you only had to order 5 since they combines orders with several customers. No order fee)

 

[chickenlover54]

The yellow ones are male RSLs and the others are BSL pullets, not BA

 

[SunAngel]

Quote:
I got two yellow chicks at TSC and posted their pics asking what they were. I was told they were RSL males and mine aren't feathering in with white wings.

But my Amberlinks all feather in white and get a little buff later on.

 

[Stina]

Our TSC here has not gotten ANY bantams!!!!! I was REALLY hoping to find a couple silver sebrights.....but with no bantams I've got no chance of that! GRRRR!


At any rate..... No one thinks either or both of the blacks could be jersey giants?...

The little yellows do have faint orangey chipmunking and are feathering in white...or at least that's how it looked yesterday...I'll check again today to see how they're looking

Would the hatchery sell sex links as straight run??...