Chick Hatch - barnyard mixes

I hatched a few chicks over the past couple of days - late fall hatch to be raised in the barn and then hopefully ready for some spring laying. They are all barnyard mixes of my very eclectic flock, so no clue who the parents are. It was just a random egg haul that I incubated. Some standard, some bantam. I have about 15 roosters right now, so the parentage will vary widely. No 2 roosters are the same breed...

It was a mix of blue, green and brown eggs.

"Hey guys! Where's the party?"

I put my special feathered shoes on for this party!!

Well I put my feathered leggings on! Beat that!!

(this one has to have a silkie parent...5 toes and dark skin)

Well I'm wearing my polka-dot egg costume. See, I'm a white egg with 3 random black polka dots.

Roar! I put on my snow leopard costume. See my spots?!

- I'm disguised as an Easter chick.

~ But you already ARE a chick.

- Well, not an Easter chick.

~ What's the diff?

- Sigh. The difference is I wasn't hatched on Easter, you silly lummox.

What a cute bunch! Makes me want more chicks, but first I need to finish raising these rescued ducks. When do Muscoveys start to fly?
Will the spotted chicks keep their spots when they get adult feathers?

I love to look at baby pictures,make me want more to!

Porkpal - they will likely retain their spots - they will actually probably get more spots. If they start out with those spots, they either seem to keep them and have "patches" of dark feathers, or they end up getting more spots all over. These will be interesting to watch as they get feathers to see how many more spots show up. I've had chicks that I thought would be totally white end up being speckled with other colours, etc. It's a bit of a shot in the dark. That's the fun of barnyard mixes though - you never know what they will look like!

My Muscovy ducks didn't start to fly for several months, probably about 5 months. Their wings were fully feathered before they really started to fly. They weren't even trying much before that.

Keep posting pictures of the hatch; they are going to be interesting to follow as they develope!

I guess the Muscoveys are here to stay for a while. They are due to be re-homed when they can fly as I have no way to contain them at that point.

Very cute babies! Are silkies the only breed that have extra toes?

Well Porkpal, the Muscovies are not likely to fly away unless they have good reason. Ours can all fly but they stay here. They get fed here, they have their duck friends here, and they are not contained in any way, shape, or form, but they wander around our acreage, and the farm next door, and just keep coming home every night! Sometimes they go in the chicken coop, sometimes they don't. If yours grow up around your place, they are unlikely to leave unless you quit feeding them I guess. I don't think you need to contain them.

Loreen - no, silkies aren't the only 5-toed breed, but they are the only 5-toed breed I have here in my flock. Other 5-toed breeds include Dorking, Lincolnshire Buff, Faverolle, Houdan and Sultan. I think there may be a few others. I'm not sure if any other breeds have the grey-black color skin of the silkies as well, so that's another good clue that it's got silkie parentage. I tried faverolles twice but none of them made it. So silkies are my only 5-toe birds right now.

The reason I want to re-home the Muscovies when they start to fly is that I am afraid that they will be killed by our or our neighbors' dogs if they leave the barnyard. They don't seem very bright, so I doubt they would stay out of harm's way. They have figured out that they better run from the biggest of the Jersey Giants as she is the self-appointed duck disciplinarian. So maybe...

awwww such cute babies.

Well, you've made me long for spring. I have the same kind of flock, and I'm very anxious to see what hatches when the hens choose to be Mommas. My incubator experience indicates that I should leave this to the chickens :(.

Margo

Porkpal....self appointed duck disciplinarian....you cracked me up!!! So funny. My chickens steer clear of my ducks mostly. Except for a couple of my banties who go wherever they please.

Catmad - that's unfortunate. I have great hatches with my incubator - well, like this one. I had 100% hatch on 27 eggs. I loooove my Brinsea incubator and wouldn't trade it for anything else. Momma hens do a great job if you can get one to go broody at the right time. Which mine never do!

Such cute fuzzy butts. I love the 3 spotted one. Do you think it will be primarily white?

I love my Brinsea too. I'm planning on using it again early next year. So easy, no fussing with temps and humidity like I've heard with the styrofoam ones. Even if my girls go broody, they don't have a roo, so bator it is for me, lol.