Weekly Growth

[Azulette]

Time is flying and I am having fun! Here are the photos from weeks 14 & 15, AND as an added bonus there’s a progression photo for each hen to just see how far they’ve all come along (through weeks 15-16)! Hope this helps you guys figure out what chicks you got and what they can become. This first chick batch of mine has been such a fun journey!!

Recently the combs and waddles are growing and getting redder in color (along with the faces) for all the birds in varying degrees – I feel (hope?!) like I am days… likely weeks away from my first egg! I have my money on either BCM1 or PBE2. PBE2’s comb especially has EXPLODED over the last 2 weeks. Hopefully that’s not a sign that she’s a late blooming boy No one’s doing a “dance” for me yet…. So realistically hopefully within the next month maybe? I just started the transition to layer pellets over the next couple of weeks. Trying out the Nutrena NatureWise 16% layer pellets and cutting that about 25/50% with the chick starter, and I put out some oyster shells tonight .

The olive eggers:
- OE1 (undated) I’m happy to report that I’ve been chatting with OE1’s new owner and he is thriving at his new home. He looks very much like this roo (picture not mine; found this gent on the interwebs and was struck at the resemblance to the vids I've gotten from the owner)


- OE2 (15+16W) Still one of the gals that is most comfortable around me and will come up to me or peck me if I’m squatting in the run with them about.



- OE3 (15+16W) Starting to get a small scale muff. Can you hear this photo?! She flew from the ground to perch on our 6’ fence the other day. Didn’t hop over thankfully.


The black copper marans:
- BCM1 (15+16W) Still voting for hen. Still the most standoffish and is usually as far away from me as she can get



- BCM2 (15+16W) Treat hungry, inquisitive gal. She’s usually one step behind OE2 and following me around


The prairie bluebell eggers:
- PBE1 (14+15W) I swear, she’s starting to develop “spots” like PBE3. So curious – I wonder what the cross was for these birds




- PBE2 (14+15W) [see comments in intro above]



- PBE3 (14+15W)



- PBE4 (14+15W) Her feathers are always so pert. One of the quickest ones (i.e. one of the hardest to catch) but after I do she chills on my hand/arm and lets me pet and coo at her… so I think she tolerates me?

The blue (splash) laced red wyandottes:
- SLRW1 (14+15W) I love her waddles




- SLRW2 (14+15W) a bit more skittish than SLRW1 but still friendlier than BCM1



And some photos of the gals clowning around during their evening free ranging time:



(BCM1 keeping her space and staying in the distance. Will only come near after the other birds are well into treats. BCM2 with her eye on the prize and constant vigilance for treats)

(can you hear this photo?!)

BCM1 and OE2 were the first gals to explore the new oyster shells I put out tonight...

 

[Azulette]

Your red lace is gorgeous

The coloring is so striking! I love it too!

 

[Azulette]

Isn’t that a barred maran cockrel?

IDK. It seemed to me that cuckoo marans followed the barred rocks in coloring (the double barring make them appear whiter than the bird I had?). OE1's coloring was always on the darker-barred side. I think that's why I held out hope for so long. He didn't look like any cuckoo marans roosters I had been able to google

 

[-Chanticleer-]

IDK. It seemed to me that cuckoo marans followed the barred rocks in coloring (the double barring make them appear whiter than the bird I had?). OE1's coloring was always on the darker-barred side. I think that's why I held out hope for so long. He didn't look like any cuckoo marans roosters I had been able to google

Maybe because he’s an OE? I’m still learning.

 

[Azulette]

Maybe because he’s an OE? I’m still learning.

This site is great for that

 

[Azulette]

Watch out - I'm on time this week with the update! The girls are still holding their eggs out on me. Maybe next week

- OE2 (17W)


- OE3 (17W)


- BCM1 (17W) just a bit of copper under the chin/ears and on the back at the base of the neck.


- BCM2 (17W)

--> Caught her mid adjustment and liked it so a bonus one for this week. Can really see how the copper wraps all the way around the neck on this one.


- PBE1 (16W)


- PBE2 (16W). What type of comb is this? cushion? pea? Someone break it to me gently, is she a he or just a gal about to lay?


- PBE3 (16W) siginifacntly redder in the face. Not much growth on comb or waddles


- PBE4 (16W)


- SLRW1 (16W) I made the mistake of doing these girls back to back and it was hard to tell them apart. Giving them a good side by side, SLRW1 has more red with a thin white lacing with uninterrupted red color on wings, comb has plumped up a bit too, while...


- SLRW2 (16W) has a bit of a dark gray lacing beyond the white with a bit of "broken" red (white coming through a bit of the solid red area) color in the wings


-----------------------------------------------------------

And one from snack time for funsies.

-->love the look here. "Seriously?"

 

[Azulette]

@heidibee's wyandotte started laying at about 22/23 weeks and her comb and waddles looked like this so I think I'm further out than I thought on the wyandottes

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...ff-orphington-wyandotte.1226492/post-20325720

 

[Azulette]

Here we go! All but the wyandottes are squatting for me…. So were close and I’m so excited to see these rainbow eggs!!

- OE2 (18W) Still my #1 gal. It’s be curious to see if she is indeed an olive egger or a black ameraucana. I had ordered both initially but had a chick DOE that I had assumed with the ameraucana since OE3 and OE2 looked SO SIMILAR at the time. We’ll find out here soon!


- OE3 (18W) She’s the hardest gal to photograph. Always in motion. Such pretty iridescence on her and OE2; this picture doesn’t do her justice



- BCM1 (18W) I found her in the coop yesterday morning pacing in front of the nesting boxes, doing loud “BAAAAAAKKK”s that I could her from the front yard…. But still no egg (or evidence thereof)

so sassy - I love it!


- BCM2 (18W) I think she might be low hen on the pecking order – I observed PBE1 scratching her (nudging her?) out of the dust bath location and it looks like she’s had the feathers pulled out from her legs (along with some dried blood). She’s noticeably smaller than BCM1. She’s had recurring pasty butt as a chick that didn’t resolve until I treated them all with Corrid so maybe coccidiosis stunted her or came from a “smaller line”/breeding flock of BCMs?


- PBE1 (17W) The escape artist – I find her outside of the run or in the planter boxes more often than any other bird


- PBE2 (17W) Really close to POL in my opinion too!



- PBE3 (17W) Must have been breed with a splash something – the “paint” coming in on her (and the other PBEs to a smaller degree) is beautiful


- PBE4 (17W) Tolerating me


- SLRW1 (17W) Nothing new really to report with these ladies


- SLRW2 (17W)

 

[Predoggg]

Thank you for sharing the pictures. Very interesting.

 

[Azulette]

And BAM! We have 1st egg yesterday! 98% sure it was from BCM 1 (18W). It's not as brown as I thought it would be but maybe things will change (I thought the deeper colors are when they start laying then they progressively get lighter?)? . She laid it from the top roosting bar onto the droppings board in the coop Hopefully today's will be in the nesting box