Most of my chickens have different colours. I do have two black Dutch though, I couldn’t keep apart. I called them Black Pearl . A double name for both of them. I didn’t mind not being able to see the difference until one got broody and I tried to break her broodiness. I wanted to kick her out the nest but wasn’t sure if she already stopped being broody . And I didn’t want to disturb a laying hen (her twin sister).
At an impulse I took some paint I was working with (non toxic outdoor paint) and smeared a little white paint on a few feathers. It stayed there until she molted. After the molt one black got brown neck feathers and the other didn’t . Now these chickens have a personal name: totally Black and rusty Pearl.
Since last spring I have another twin pair. 2 bantam RIR. They look the same , but behave differently. Kwekky is always one of the first to free range if I open the door. And Katrientje is super shy and doesn’t trust me. She doesn’t come out of the coop until after I leave the door opening.
As long as I don’t have issues I don’t mind the look-a-likes. Next time I might buy rings. Advantage to wait until they have grown to adults is that there are no problems with tight rings. And bc I don’t breed with them there is no need to ring/ distinguish the chicks.
At an impulse I took some paint I was working with (non toxic outdoor paint) and smeared a little white paint on a few feathers. It stayed there until she molted. After the molt one black got brown neck feathers and the other didn’t . Now these chickens have a personal name: totally Black and rusty Pearl.
Since last spring I have another twin pair. 2 bantam RIR. They look the same , but behave differently. Kwekky is always one of the first to free range if I open the door. And Katrientje is super shy and doesn’t trust me. She doesn’t come out of the coop until after I leave the door opening.
As long as I don’t have issues I don’t mind the look-a-likes. Next time I might buy rings. Advantage to wait until they have grown to adults is that there are no problems with tight rings. And bc I don’t breed with them there is no need to ring/ distinguish the chicks.