Our test hatch (or batch 1) chicks turned two weeks old today. They are doing well, and getting bigger. They are a little skittish. Also, one of them is Escape Artist’s child. Just like mom, this one, at less than 2 weeks old, figured out he can fly and perch on the brooder box. I have now been using a window screen to cover the box. We have to cover/uncover pretty slowly so the chicks don’t freak out when we go to clean out the brooder or feed/water them.
I attempted to take some pictures today – when I say I attempted, I mean that I was able to take them, but the pictures are not very good. The chicks did not want to cooperate very much, and I think they were a bit close up, since I had to hold the chicks so I didn’t have to go find them if I set them down. The brooder is in our spare bedroom and I can just imagine them taking off somewhere under the bed and us not being able to get them before they poop everywhere. Here are some (somewhat fuzzy) pictures of our chicks:
This is one of my (probably) Australorp mix chicks – she was the first to hatch in this batch. There is another one (the 4th one) that looks very similar to her. She is larger than the other one though. (the window screen behind her is resting on a different box, NOT the brooder box. Just in case you were wondering)Here is another picture of her. She is black with some gray, and orange legs (not black legs like the adult australorps.) I figure they are australorps because I don’t have any other adult black hens that lay brown eggs. Escape artist is the only other black hen and she lays white eggs (she’s my only white egg layer).Here is Escape Artist’s (Esky’s) daughter. She can fly out of her box just like mama. I believe Esky is an Andalusian. So this one is part Andalusian, part whatever-her-daddy-is.Another picture of Esky2. She looks a lot like mom but she has a lot more white / yellow in her feathering. We’ll have to wait and see.Here is my lighter chick, some kind of speckled chicken. I have a speckled sussex, a barred rock, and a cornish that could be mama – I also have a speckled rooster. So I’m not sure. But this one is very pretty – almost has some eyeliner bits near his eyes.It’s quite a bit early to tell, but I’m suspicious this one is a rooster. Seems a little assertive compared to the other chicks, but that may not indicate anything. Time will tell.Here is one more picture of the speckled chick.Here is Chick 4. (4th chick to hatch). Another Australorp mix. She did not want to perch, just wanted to try to get back with her buddies. I was worried she’d fall so I had to hold a little more tightly than the others.This chick is getting some pretty white in her wings.
I love watching them grow up – it’s fun to speculate about what they will look like as adults, but with mixed breeds there is not really any way to know until their feathers are all in. I like having a bunch of different colors/looks of chicken. It helps us tell them apart also.
My tiny u.p. farm 