Flixflaxnoob
Chirping
Not the greatest picture.
From left to right: barred rock, white plymouth rock, buff orpington, silver laced wyandotte, and golden laced wyandotte.
They are about 3 weeks old now. Got them when they were about 10 days old. I decided on different breeds mainly to be able to tell them apart. It's been fun watching them grow and see their different personalities come to light.
Surprise! Surprise! The Orpington, who was supposed to be my "guaranteed" friendly hen, is I think the meanest of them. If I put my hand near her, she will aggressively peck my finger as if to tell me to back away. She is clunky though and entertaining to watch. Her attempts to perch when another chick is on a perch often results in both of them falling off.
The barred rock, so far, has been the friendliest and hasn't put up any fight to being picked up. She loves watching me work around the brooder and is usually the first to look up when she hears my voice. She has quickly become my favorite.
The white plymouth is/was the smallest of the bunch but may be in the running for alpha hen. She is super fast, was the loudest when being held, and is usually the first to explore something new in the brooder. She has been the only one to perch on the one swing shown I think because she is most agile when it comes to flying and landing on something. I have another larger perch that they all share.
The silver laced is quite skittish and seems as small as the white plymouth now. I was a little worried she wasn't growing as fast as the golden laced, but I still see her eating and drinking.
The golden laced doesn't like being held but she will perch onto my finger and stay for a while. Recently, she has been trying to escape the brooder.
This morning, I noticed some of them seem to be sizing each other up. One girl would run towards another and they would both stand tall and sometimes do a little peck at each other. I assume this is them determining their pecking order?
I am so looking forward to when we can spend time with them outside. They are starting to outgrow their brooder. Not to mention making that one corner of the kitchen super dusty!
