It's no secret that I'm new to chickens...
so the fact that I'm at a loss for which chick is which shouldn't be much of a surprise. I'm hoping that some seasoned keepers will chime in and help me predict who is who.
Here are the following breeds (all pullets) that I ordered:
- Silver Laced Wyandotte
- Red Speckled Sussex
- Welsummer
- Rhode Island Red
- Partridge Rock
- Barred Rock
- Buff Orpington
- Easter Egger
- Australorp
- White Crested Black Polish
Of the 10 ordered, I can only 100% identify the polish. Her name is now Kevin, after the female-assumed-to-be-male bird from the Disney/Pixar movie "Up". She doesn't have a leg band, as we can spot her easily in the crowd. Here she is and her namesake Kevin...
As for the rest, I'm still taking predictions/guesses/expert testimony. Care to weigh in? My apologies for the blurry photos. Surprisingly enough, after being subjected to spiral banding, they didn't feel very photogenic! Here's the line up...
White Leg Band:
- Black chick
- Yellow belly
- Black beak
- Yellow wing tips
- Black legs with yellow feet
Yellow Leg Band:
- Black chick
- Yellow dot on head
- Yellow spots by eyes
- Yellow belly
- Mostly yellow legs
- Yellow beak
- Tiny yellow wing tips
Black Leg Band:
- Black chick
- Lots of yellow and brown markings on face
- Grey skunk stripes on butt
- Yellow beak
- Yellow legs
- Yellow wing tips
- Grey and brown markings through body
*These next two really stump me, as they look nearly identical. I'll show their individual photos, then a few of them side by side*
Green Leg Band:
- Chipmunk coloring
- Dark, large eye stripes
- Yellow legs
- Yellow-red beak
- Black wing tips
- Dark brown stripe
- Yellow belly
Orange Leg Band:
- Chipmunk coloring
- Yellow legs
- Yellow beak
- Yellow belly
- Smaller dark eye stripes
- Dark brown stripe
Side by Side :
*Right Side is Green Leg Band
Blue Leg Band:
- Darkest red chick
- Yellow feet
- Tiny yellow wing tips
- Tan belly
- Dark head and butt
- Brown beak
Purple Leg Band:
- Light red chick
- Yellow feet
- Yellow beak
- Small yellow wing tips
- Yellow belly
Pink Leg Band:
My guess is this little lady is our Easter Egger, but that is all it is - a guess!
- Yellow with black spots
- Yellow beak
- Yellow legs
- Black wing tips
- Puffy face - muff?
- Fuzzy feathers
- Yellow belly
Brown Leg Band:
- Yellow chick
- Yellow beak
- Yellow legs
- No markings
Well, that's the gang. What do you think? Have any idea's as to the identity of these chicks? Are the two chipmunk looking chicks different breeds? Help me out if you can! Many thanks in advance for any and all advice!
Posting now on FED...let's see if anyone can help. Very cute pics !
ReplyDeleteI had chickens when I was a kid and when we moved in 2010 to a larger home with 4 1/2 acres, I was so excited to be able to get some chickens, they are addicting, I love to get a variety of breeds, last year I ordered 40 of the "surprise special" and today I just received our order of 40 standard breed "surprise special" and 25 bantams (again, I do like my specials) and found your blog while I am trying to identify our chicks! I recognize a few as the same as some we had last year but I am wishing I would have taken more pictures and documented them. So honestly, I am not much help with identification. I ordered mine from Ideal Hatchery in Texas, they have the largest selection of breeds that I have found, however, they do not have a lot of pictures. The Murray McMurray site does, and they have video clips of the chicks, I have been trying to ID some of these chicks, but it is hard to tell sometimes as some of the breeds look very, very similar. I just had to comment when looked at your pictures. Also wishing you luck, we have had great luck with our chickens (minus a few mishaps with our female Springer Spaniel, every once in a while she will get to them, not to kill them but just to play, except she does kill them as she is a little rough, and she always seems to get one that is the only one of that breed that I have! Our male Springer, however, must not realize he is supposed to be a bird dog as he will let them eat out of his food dish! I have two kids, ages 6 and 4. My biggest surprise was how attached my husband has gotten to my birds, the 25 bantams we just got are for him. They have been so much fun, truly entertaining, and the eggs are so, so much better than anything you can get at the store.
ReplyDeleteHow wonderful! I'd love to see pictures! Do you house your standards and banties together? I've never seen them side by side and I've often wondered what the true size difference is.
DeleteI got some insight from a wonderful fan on Fresh Eggs Daily's Facebook (& blog...if you haven't check them out yet, you SO should! I've got a few really great resources on Facebook with chickens!). I'm happy to say that in the next day or two I'll be posting more photos, complete with breed identification and their new names!
Thanks for stopping by and best of luck to you! :)
The green and orange leg bands are Welsummers
ReplyDeleteSorry...the orange is a Welsummer.
ReplyDeleteDid you ever figure out what they were? I just got five pullets that look like your "yellow band" chick, and I am trying to figure out what they are! One site claimes they are black sex links and that the ones with the spots on their heads are male!!!! I hope not as I wanted all pullets and they were all banded as such!!!
ReplyDeleteSomehow my first reply didn't post. Hmmm..odd. At any rate, yes I did learn the identities of all the chicks. (http://ttackanderson.blogspot.com/2012/06/whats-in-name.html) The yellow banded chick is a barred rock pullet who we named Minnie. She is an excellent bird, very social and a great layer. I know black sex links look similar as chicks though. Could you perhaps check with the hatchery/breeder you ordered from to see if they had black sex links that were available at that time you received them? Feel free to send pictures and I'll try to get some folks to help ID them! Good luck!
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