What age should I get?

[NatJ]

Searching the web, they look to possibly be Black Australorp?

That is definitely one possibility.

Can you take a picture of the top of the black ones from the top? If they have yellow or white dots on top of their heads they will have white barring in their feathers. If they do not have dots on their heads, they will probably grow up to be black or mostly black (Black Australorps are a definitely possibility in that case. Black Jersey Giants, Black Sexlinks, Black Minorcas, Black Andalusians, White Faced Black Spanish, and various other black chickens also exist.)

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

8 of these came home tonight..... how old do you think they are - a few days?
SueView attachment 3849078

Looks like three days old. If they came from a feed store then definitely about three days old, since that is when the feed store gets them and puts them in the bins.

I got four of the black/yellow ones and four of the golden ones but they were all in a brooder market Rhode Island Reds. I'm guessing the black and yellows are a different breed?
Sue

Yes, if a chick has very different down color from the rest then it is a different breed. Rhode Island Reds have red down as chicks, and by having red down I mean being the color of the chick on the right of your above picture.

 

[SueAndHerZoo]

That is definitely one possibility.

Can you take a picture of the top of the black ones from the top? If they have yellow or white dots on top of their heads they will have white barring in their feathers. If they do not have dots on their heads, they will probably grow up to be black or mostly black (Black Australorps are a definitely possibility in that case. Black Jersey Giants, Black Sexlinks, Black Minorcas, Black Andalusians, White Faced Black Spanish, and various other black chickens also exist.)

 

[SueAndHerZoo]

Does this help? The girl on the left has a white tip on her feather, but being new to chicks, maybe that doesn't mean anything except new growth?

 

[NatJ]

Does this help? The girl on the left has a white tip on her feather, but being new to chicks, maybe that doesn't mean anything except new growth?

No barring (no light dot on top of the head.) I just wanted to check that, since solid black chicks and white-barred black chicks can look the same from the side when they are that young.

It is common for black chickens to have some white in their wing feathers when they are young, then grow solid black feathers when they are a little older. So I think it is normal.

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

So should I consider that a vote for "young"?

Farm stores often mix up breeds and can’t tell sex. I was recently sold buff orp pullets which were not buff orp (all yellow to TSC is BO)but some other breed of pullet-one of which is a cockerel misidentified at hatchery. Same TSC had SR BCM mixed in with Australorp pullets. My TSC is not isolated to its ignorance- just be prepared for anything.

In answer to your poll, I vote newly hatched chicks. I have mixed breed dogs with strong instinct to watch for and chase prey. I introduced the chicks to the dogs when they were 1-2 weeks old- chicks in secure brooder. My dogs watched me tend and hold chicks.
Once in the coop and run the dogs would watch. After 12 weeks or so I started free ranging-someone let the dogs out and they slinked up to a chicken- who attacked the dog- and the dogs kept their distance from there. Its been 2 yrs and not one lost, my dogs ignore them and some of my chickens will hang around the dogs.
Mine is a happy tale, however. Some dogs cannot be trained and there are plenty of accounts where an entire flock was decimated.
Terriers, sporting dogs, hounds- be wary.
good luck