You can't have a Darcy without a Vader........will the REAL mystery chick please stand up!?

RaeRae2 · Mar 15, 2012

So all along, the chick I had identified as my "free rare mystery chick" was not in fact my free rare mystery chick. It was one that I ordered........I feel so stupid.

I had ordered 2 Dark Cornish, among my 25 from McMurray. Well, the Dark Cornish look so much like EEs at birth, and the chicks run and mingle so quickly, I failed to realize that I only had accounted for 1 Dark Cornish. I kept seeing a pile of dark striped chicks running around and must have kept counting one of the EEs as a Dark Cornish, or counting the one Dark Cornish twice....

I had decided to name the two Dark Cornish Darcy and Vader. Seeing how the two girls would be burlesque, rotund, and mean looking, Darcy and Vader just seemed appropriate. But then everything got messed up!

Since these birds learned how to FLY, they are one huge mass of feathers and toenails fluttering around the room. A few of them are very distinct but the Easter Eggers and Dark Cornish just sort of all blur together when they're flapping around at Mach 9. But last night, in a particularly zen sort of moment, they were all konked out SOUND asleep! It was then that I noticed I could count 4 chicks with poofy muffs, but only ONE Dark Cornish! All along, I assumed there was a 2nd one in the bunch, since I ordered 2! Oh no, I can't have a Darcy without a Vader. That makes NO sense!

But then I realized, the one I had thought was the mystery chick, had the same IDENTICAL pattern and colors on the wings as the other Dark Cornish, since she had matured. Those two looked literally NOTHING alike as chicks though. Weird! But, hatchery quality stock being what it is.....you know how that goes.

Since all the feathers have grown in, the coloring, and patterns on the feathers are totally identical. That is crazy! Only difference is that the one I thought was the mystery chick, is finer boned than the one I knew all along was a Dark Cornish.

The one I KNEW was a Dark Cornish. This is Vader:

The one I had thought was my free mystery chick, but has turned out to be a Dark Cornish. This is Darcy:

And Darcy 10 days later:

And Darcy at 18 days old:

Whew! So I do have a Darcy for my Vader, after all!

But wait! There's more....

Also, I had ordered 1 Light Brahma, and 1 Dark Brahma, but ended up with a total of THREE feather legged chicks. I only ordered 2 feather legs though. Of the 3 feather legs, NONE of them looked at all like pictures of Light Brahma chicks, so I assumed I did not get my Light Brahma, but got two Dark Brahma instead.

So if Darcy is in fact a Dark Cornish, and NOT the mystery chick, then this tall, handsome black bird with feathered legs must be the new mystery chick!

However, I posted pictures of this new mystery chick, and was told "that loooks just like my Light Brahmas when they were chicks." Did some googling, wow, you're right! McMurray's website shows a light colored fluffy chick as a Light Brahma, NOT a solid black chick. But whatever! I am starting to realize that hatchery quality stock is sketchy at best... Ok, great, so I DID get my Light Brahma after all! So that one is accounted for...

So if the 3rd feather legger was the Light Brahma, then why did I have two identical chicks that looked like Dark Brahmas? I only ordered ONE. Unless....my free rare mystery chick is a 2nd Dark Brahma!

Two Dark Brahmas. This is Legs and Tights:

Here is the Light Brahma. This is Coach:

So in summary:

Mystery Chick #1 turned out to be a Dark Cornish that I did in fact order.
Mystery Chick #2 turned out to be a Light Brahma that I did in fact order.
The REAL mystery chick turned out to be a Dark Brahma

Now that I have devoted nearly 3 weeks of my life to figuring out the mystery chick situation, I have NO idea what I will do with my free time now......I am open to suggestions!