U-G-L-Y! (just kidding)

[cairopd1069]

How can I say this in a nice way? My two week old chicks are looking shabby. This is my first time raising chicks and they looked so cute and fluffy when they arrived on the 3rd of December. Now they look like, well I don't know, I guess the word would be "ruffled". They are losing their chick coat and feathers are starting to become very visible and there is "fluffy" floating around my storage building. Are RIRs normally more aggressive than say, Wyndottes or Orpingtons?

 

[owler]

I had the same reaction to their appearance. Kind of like gawky teen agers. This is my first time with chicks too. Mine arrived on 11/10. RIRs, BRs and EEs. The RIRs are more standoffish than the other two breeds. The BRs are by far the most curious and friendly.

 

[SimplySplendidSilkies]

Not sure about the Wyndottes or Orpingtons but my RIR were not nice and were very stand offish. Get silkies they lose their chick coats and get prettier adult coats to replace them. That is what I now raise. What a difference breed makes. I think most look like gwaky teens at the age rage you are talking about. My silkies do start shaping up around 3 mths.

 

[artsyrobin]

my RIR girl was standoffish, till she started laying, now she is one of the friendliest of the flock- they all go through a teenage phase, don't touch...LOL! then when they start laying they become friendly again- and yes that first molt from chicks to pre-teen is pretty dramatic

 

[gritsar]

Chicks do look pretty ugly at that age. Here's my avatar Thor at two weeks old - an uglier chick was never hatched:

I don't believe that the pullets personalities are really "set" until they reach laying age. My two EEs were a word-worse-than-witches until they started laying. They have sweetened up nicely since then. Roos can take even longer to develop their personalities.

 

[cairopd1069]

The Buffs and the RIRs ate out of our hands today. The Wyndottes are the most shy of the 3 breeds I have. I put a 2x2 roost about 4" of the bedding and they love it. They are 16 days old. I bought them from Stomberg's and I only lost one of the 24.

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

They're in the "Teenager" stage so to speak!

Don't worry, in a few weeks they'll look beautiful!

 

[Sandy16]

All of our chickens are now laying, and our Wyandottes are still the most stand-offish of them all. The most contact is when they "squat" for us....we take advantage of being the roo and pet them! LOL Our Buffs and EE's are much friendlier.

 

[cairopd1069]

The BO and RIRs are eating out of my hand. You can pick them up and they don't "holler". If I pick up one of the Wyndottes, they holler like I am killing them. The Wyndottes were the last ones to "fly" also.