When to Name Chicks?

[Cbarr00]

When do y'all name your chicks? We have 13 of varying breeds and right now I can tell a handful of them apart. Not only that but what if they turn out to be cockerels that we named Patsy and Betty?

 

[lilmillefleur]

You can give them genderless names, like Pip or Bubbles or Crow, or start out male or female and change the name once you can tell gender, for example: Polly turns into Paul or vice versa.

 

[morganalefae]

I personally would not name any because if you end up with roo's and you can't keep them it's harder to part with them (that how I kept my roo when I was getting rid of the others as he was the only roo out of the 2 chicks I named from my first hatch) when they have a name specially if the kids are in on the whole process it makes it harder for them to.

Thats why I have waited to name mine until I know they are girls (still have 3 girls with no names but hey ho thats how it goes sometimes).

 

[dunnmom]

I named mine when I got them their adult sized leg bands.

 

[Harmony Fowl]

I name the ones I can tell apart as soon as something inspires me. Sometimes they change, but by the time they go outside the names are usually set. Eventually even the identical ones develop differences with age. Chicks named early tend to get descriptive names; those names later tend to get the nice people names.

 

[Cbarr00]

My youngest son and I have named one each. He's 7 so the name changes by the day depending on what strikes him. My Patsy is real tho! She had Pasty Butt and almost died. I spent a whole day helping her recover her strength and give her extra TLC daily. She's the runt poor thing. So I really hope she's a pullet. We have 10 that are supposed to be pullets and 3 we got straight run. We know even sexed pullets can be wrong. So we will probably hold off on naming the rest until they become more distinct.

 

[kumquat]

I remember someone posting that they have "egg names" for the chicks they hatch. These egg names are little nicknames based on early characteristics or something about the chick's coloring that stands out. They use these names until the chicks are old enough to be sexed and then those that make the cut to join the flock are giving their adult names.

 

[red horse ranch]

Never name something that you might end up eating. My roos don't usually get names until I know I will keep them. I never harvest hens no matter how old they get. So they get names early.
I hatched 3 black Australorp pullets last summer that were identical looking. So they became the BeeGees and all 3 answer to that.

 

[Cbarr00]

Never name something that you might end up eating. My roos don't usually get names until I know I will keep them. I never harvest hens no matter how old they get. So they get names early.
I hatched 3 black Australorp pullets last summer that were identical looking. So they became the BeeGees and all 3 answer to that.

Oh no I might've messed up then! My husband fully intends on harvesting some. I think he's getting attached tho so I guess we will see how things work out. This is our first time with chicks.

 

[Harmony Fowl]

Oh no I might've messed up then! My husband fully intends on harvesting some. I think he's getting attached tho so I guess we will see how things work out. This is our first time with chicks.

It will probably only happen once. I name pretty much all of them eventually. My boyfriend got attached to four cockerels in the first set he helped me raise. He gave them clemency, as he put it. Now he complains we have no chickens to eat while simultaneously building a new living arrangement for the three we decided weren’t breeding material after they harassed the hens and caused all sorts of havoc in the flock as they’ve matured. Guess who won’t be granting any more clemency? lol