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Friday, July 1, 2011

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.

1 comment:

  1. Hello,
    Ran across your site trying to figure out if I have a little Cockerel or not. I have a little BLRW that is about 11 weeks old or so maybe a touch older. She/He has got a pretty red comb and waddles growing in. She doesn't look to have the tail feathers yet but not sure if that matters or not. Any help that you can lend I would be grateful. I live in the city and don't really want to wait to hear the dreaded crow. Hahaha!
    Thanks

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