- Mar 8, 2014
- 15
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Hello everyone. It's been a fantastic journey thus far, with just a few hiccups along the way. A little background. I acquired ten chicks from a friend who incubated the eggs for her students with Autism (several are non-verbal, and none get to go to a regular ed science class) at two and a half weeks of age. She got them from a friend who purchased chicks over the years and has allowed them to breed indiscriminately. I know I have three Barred Plymouth Rocks (all roosters, naturally). I think I have three sex-linked pullets/hens (Grace, Glenda and Gretchen), a Plymouth Rock hen in white (Marilyn) and three Rhode Island Reds (one is a rooster who had to be separated--Frank, while the other two are hens--Cleo and Goldie).
The Barred Rocks are easy. Pics:
Bert (the alpha):
Stevie (he has a lot of buff coloring mixed in, so mixed with a buff/tan Plymouth Rock or ???)
And the last one, who is still going by his female name, because, well, he comes/responds to it. That's me with him. His comb seems to be defective/mixed. The front portion is folded (back and forth on itself) while the rear looks like a big wad of chewing gun (rose or pea comb???). Jenny is the one in my profile pic, still jumps up onto my arm/hand.
The other rooster, Frank, who has his own run and only comes out when the others are in theirs (they would have killed him, and had pecked all his feathers off his saddle and tail). We were not able to straighten out his toes, but he gets around fine and there aren't sores.
Marilyn. She just started laying a couple of days ago. Her eggs are almost white in color (very light tan).
Plymouth Rock?
Hard to tell in this pic, but she has scattered black spots but is mostly white.
Cleo (as a chick she had markings around her eyes that looked like Cleopatra). She was the first to lay eggs, and has been laying beautiful light tan eggs everyday for almost two weeks (they are five months on Friday).
Goldie, the other brownish/reddish pullet (Cleo has black down the center/edges of her hackles, Goldie does not). Her earlobes are clearly red, while Cleo's seem white.
A two-fer shot, Grace is in the middle (black with orange/red on her chest and a flopped over comb) and Gretchen (virtually no orange on her chest, small upright comb). I think they are sex-linked (Barred Rock and Rhode Island Red? Those are the two most commonly found at feed stores in the spring). Grace started laying three days ago and has dark brown eggs with very small white speckles.
Glenda, the other black with orange (and it seems to be lacing at the edges towards her underside). All three of the black chickens have green iridescence to their black feathers (as does Bert, Jenny and Frank).
So far we have confirmed eggs from Cleo, Grace and Marilyn (saw them lay their eggs), and we have one or more that has sporadically laid eggs that didn't make it (one was very thin shelled, the other two eggs appear to have been laid from the perch and cracked upon landing). Bert and Jenny crow regularly (Jenny started first, then Bert), while Stevie and Frank are less regular and sound more pathetic. Stevie is the most clueless of all of them, and always appears to not be in on the joke. Both he and Frank are somewhat flighty. All three of the Barred Rocks mount the pullets/hens, but they lay down for Bert.
Hopefully they will continue to live well together. Jenny is my favorite (he's been jumping into my hand since I first saw them at a week old) and Frank is our special rooster (he will continue to have his own run/coop).
So, are my guesses correct? Other ideas about what breeds they are? I've been reading a lot lately, but not posting. Figured it was time to update everyone.
Robert
The Barred Rocks are easy. Pics:
Bert (the alpha):
Stevie (he has a lot of buff coloring mixed in, so mixed with a buff/tan Plymouth Rock or ???)
And the last one, who is still going by his female name, because, well, he comes/responds to it. That's me with him. His comb seems to be defective/mixed. The front portion is folded (back and forth on itself) while the rear looks like a big wad of chewing gun (rose or pea comb???). Jenny is the one in my profile pic, still jumps up onto my arm/hand.
The other rooster, Frank, who has his own run and only comes out when the others are in theirs (they would have killed him, and had pecked all his feathers off his saddle and tail). We were not able to straighten out his toes, but he gets around fine and there aren't sores.
Marilyn. She just started laying a couple of days ago. Her eggs are almost white in color (very light tan).
Plymouth Rock?
Hard to tell in this pic, but she has scattered black spots but is mostly white.
Cleo (as a chick she had markings around her eyes that looked like Cleopatra). She was the first to lay eggs, and has been laying beautiful light tan eggs everyday for almost two weeks (they are five months on Friday).
Goldie, the other brownish/reddish pullet (Cleo has black down the center/edges of her hackles, Goldie does not). Her earlobes are clearly red, while Cleo's seem white.
A two-fer shot, Grace is in the middle (black with orange/red on her chest and a flopped over comb) and Gretchen (virtually no orange on her chest, small upright comb). I think they are sex-linked (Barred Rock and Rhode Island Red? Those are the two most commonly found at feed stores in the spring). Grace started laying three days ago and has dark brown eggs with very small white speckles.
Glenda, the other black with orange (and it seems to be lacing at the edges towards her underside). All three of the black chickens have green iridescence to their black feathers (as does Bert, Jenny and Frank).
So far we have confirmed eggs from Cleo, Grace and Marilyn (saw them lay their eggs), and we have one or more that has sporadically laid eggs that didn't make it (one was very thin shelled, the other two eggs appear to have been laid from the perch and cracked upon landing). Bert and Jenny crow regularly (Jenny started first, then Bert), while Stevie and Frank are less regular and sound more pathetic. Stevie is the most clueless of all of them, and always appears to not be in on the joke. Both he and Frank are somewhat flighty. All three of the Barred Rocks mount the pullets/hens, but they lay down for Bert.
Hopefully they will continue to live well together. Jenny is my favorite (he's been jumping into my hand since I first saw them at a week old) and Frank is our special rooster (he will continue to have his own run/coop).
So, are my guesses correct? Other ideas about what breeds they are? I've been reading a lot lately, but not posting. Figured it was time to update everyone.
Robert
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