7 Week Old Chicks

The chicks are growing well and it appears that I have 12 cockerels and 14 pullets.  The lacing on some of the cockerels is looking good, however I am not as impressed with the pullets.  I hope that within the next month, their lacing will improve.  I am also disappointed in some of the coloration on the chicks, as it is not consistent.  I am looking for a mahogany red color, not golden red.  From what I have read, what their base color (the red and blue) is now is what it will be.  Some of the chicks have some brassiness beginning to develop in their hackles (neck feathers), which is undesirable as well. I will pick the best of what I have and build from there.  My little flock will be a work in progress. :)

These are a few of the pullets I plan to keep, and the cockerels I will be keeping an eye on for my breeding flock.

This Splash pullet, Pearl, I was not going to keep, however she continues to seek my company.  Today she flew up on my lap and made herself comfortable.  Since she is so sweet, I believe I will keep her and breed her to a Black Laced Red - a splash and black will produce 100% blue.

Side view of Pearl.

# 1, Splash cockerel

Blue Laced Red cockerel

Blue Laced Red pullet

Top view of the same pullet.

Another Blue Laced Red pullet.

My favorite Splash cockerel, left, and a Blue Laced Red cockerel.

A different view of the same Splash cockerel from above photo.

Silver Laced Chicks

Here are the Silver Laced Wyandotte chicks at 6 weeks of age.  It appears that out of 4 chicks, I only have 1 pullet and she is against the wall.

Silver Laced Wyandottes

Along with enjoying the beauty of the Blue Laced Red Wyandottes, I also discovered that I admired Silver Laced Wyandottes.  I decided to place an order for  6 Silver Laced Wyandotte chicks along with some of my Blue Laced Red Wyandotte chicks.  

These chicks are 3 to 4 days old in these pictures.

 

Here are some pictures of my 4 week old Silver Laced Wyandotte chicks.

Cockerel

Appears to be my only pullet.

Chicks at 4 and 5 weeks

Well, the chicks are getting big and are now looking like chickens instead of cute little chicks. 

 I contacted one of the breeders in a panic because I thought that I had eleven Blue Laced Red (remember that there are three different colors of Blue Laced Red Wyandottes - Blue, Black, and Splash)chicks and discovered that nine of them appeared to be cockerels! The other nine appeared to be Black Laced Red, which I didn't want.  He shared with me that it is difficult at this age to tell the sex of the chicks, and suggested that I wait till they are at least eight weeks of age.  However, some of them I had absolutely no doubt that they were cockerels as evidenced by their large pink combs and wattles.

He also informed me that the chicks that I think are blue are actually splash chicks, and the chicks that I think are black will probably be the blue that I desire on my chicks.  Upon further research, I discovered that he was correct.  The "black" chicks are actually a dark blue and can easily be mistaken as black when they start feathering out.

These chicks are 3 days old. The chicks on the ends appear to be black laced red chicks, but turned out to be Blue Laced Reds, and the chick in the middle that I thought would be a blue laced red, is actually a splash.

This is a 5 week old Splash cockerel, #1.

Another 5 week old Splash chick.

A 5 week old Blue Laced Red pullet that appeared would be a Black Laced Red a few weeks ago.

Another 5 week old Dark Blue Laced Red.