Chick update: Week 2

All of our chicks have now crossed the 2 week mark! Yay! Everyone is doing well, including our two youngest and newest additions, the Blue Birchen Marans. It is amazing to see the changes in their feather development every day, sometimes even from morning to evening.

I managed to get some photos yesterday, so let me show you how the crew is growing!

 

Blue Birchen Marans
We have 2, hatched 3/17, straight run. They are actually still hard to tell apart at this stage. One is slightly “fluffier” than the other but that is hard to rely on since their feathers are coming in and thus, changing every day. They are very beautiful with their blackish/bluish coloring. Their feathers have lovely golden highlights to them. They are also very calm and friendly chicks.

 

Barred Plymouth Rock
We have one, hatched 3/16, identified as a girl (90% accuracy). Odds are we will be keeping her. She is the trouble maker of the group! Physically the smallest, yet the one who seems to try to escape the most! Including trying to fly out of the brooder. Not afraid of a thing, she is the first to come over to an open hand or to a new addition to the brooder. She was the first to hop onto the wood I put in for their roost. She is such a character!

 

Easter Egger
We have one, hatched 3/16, identified as a girl (90% accuracy). We picked her and the Barred Rock up together. She is developing very pretty feathers and from day one has been a speed demon dashing around, under and over everything in her path. We will have to get some video of her running around soon, she is amazing to watch in action.

 

Wheaten/Blue Wheaten Ameraucana
Hatched 3/9. We have 2, straight run. These two are calm and quiet. They are easy to tell apart since one has darker feathers. I am very curious to see what they will look like when they are older, and to see if we have Wheaten or Blue Wheaten ones, or one of each! The darker feathered one has become more friendly and will let you stroke her feathers a little.

 

Mottled Javas
Hatched 3/9 with the Ameraucanas. We have 2, straight run. It is hard to believe these are the same age as the Ameraucanas and only a week older than the others since they stand a full head above all the other chicks. They are more angular than round and fluffy like the other chicks. I think that is just how the breed is, but I am wondering if we ended up with 2 roosters given their size and height. Too early to tell for sure. I’ve been told a pretty accurate gender determination can happen when they are one month old. They are so interesting, I really hope we do have one girl so we can keep one in our flock.