2024 Christmas Hatch Chicks

[Slothinc]

I hatched a bunch of chicks over Christmas and New Years. They were both from my own flock, and from shipped eggs. After selling some, I am left with 20 chicks. This thread will follow them! In their hatch along thread I had assigned names to them. But a sold a lot of the chicks with my favorite names, so I have renamed some of the chicks to all of my favorite Christmas-y names. Ps the original hatch along thread can be seen here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/random-menagerie-christmastime-hatch-a-long.1646867/

For each of these first 4 posts, I’ll introduce 5-6 chicks (so that I don’t end up with 20 pics on one post.) Photos posted in order.

1. Tinsel - 12/15/24 Paint with large spot on L wing - silkie feathered. Bred here. Parents are NN paint silkie hen and NN black frizzled silkie. Loud chick.

2. Trifle - 12/16/24 Black satin vaulted. Came from shipped eggs out of Washington state. Out of a cuckoo pen but chick is solid black. Guessing boy.

3. Sugarplum - 12/16/24 Lavender silkie. Wings stick out at the tips. Came from shipped eggs out of Washington state. Skittish.

4. Jubilee - 12/25/24 Lavender silkie. Came from shipped eggs out of Maine. A couple pink toes. Runs to my hand every time I put it in the brooder.

5. Gumdrop - 12/26/24 Lavender silkie. Came from shipped eggs out of Maine. A couple pink toes. Tiny chick, thought initially was failure to thrive but seems to be eating and running around well now. Wingtips stick up at the ends.

 

[Slothinc]

The next 6 chicks are all from shipped eggs, from a friend. They are all a cross between lavender ameraucana bantam and silkie. All 6 definitely carry the lavender gene and the blue egg gene. The 3 light blue ones I am still suspecting could be lavenders… what do you think?

I love this cross - I already have 2 girls that are this same cross (a black and a paint) so I’m thrilled to have more of these cuties!!!

The 3 blacks are almost indistinguishable from each other

The photos on this post appeared in backwards order, so it goes Minty, Figgy, Noggy, Myrrh, Frankincense, Goldie for the photos.

6. Goldie - black satin

7. Frankincense - black satin

8. Myrrh - black satin

9. Noggy (eggnog) - light blue or lavender satin frizzle. Feathers look almost shredded which is one reason I suspect lavender. The black ticking on the feathers is another reason. Suspect girl.

10. Figgy - light blue or lavender satin. Suspect girl.

11. Minty - light blue or lavender with more yellow. Suspect boy

 

[Slothinc]

The next ones are all from my own flock! I put multiple pics of the paints to show their patterns. The picture for French Hen, the all white chick got moved to the end. And it looks like some of the other pics were scrambled too

12. Comet - paint with silkied feathers. Large spot on shoulders. Most likely from my NN paint silkie hen, and a paint amban x silkie cross. Suspect boy.

13. Vixen - paint with satin feathers. From my NN paint silkie hen and paint amban x silkie cross. Suspect girl.

14. French Hen - white silkie with light beak. Most likely recessive white. Super fluffy cheeks. Not sure parentage on this one. Could be either of my silkie hens and most likely the black NN frizzle silkie boy, but not positive on that either.

15. Turtle Dove - paint with silkied feathers. Huge black spot under R wing. So cute. Most likely parents are my gold birchen black silkie hen and the paint amban x silkie cross.

 

[Slothinc]

Sorry the pics got scrambled on this thread too All these chicks are also from my flock. See the next post for pics of the parents.

16. Pear - blue paint, few spots, yellow head. Most of the chicks from my gold birchen silkie have a lot of orange/yellow on them. I am wondering if that is linked to her birchen. Mom gold birchen black silkie, dad amban x silkie cross.

17. Piper - black with silkie feathers. I believe the mom is the birchen silkie and the dad is probably the paint x silkie cross.

18. Milky - blue paint. More spots than pear. Mom gold birchen black silkie, dad amban x silkie cross.

19. Goose - black satin NN. Skin on neck and crop is pink still. Mom is olive egger, dad is NN black frizzle silkie.

20. Swan - white silkied NN. Recessive white. Extra toe. Mom is olive egger, dad is NN black frizzle silkie. Suspect boy.

 

[Slothinc]

For the chicks that hatched from my flock, I’m putting photos of the parents. Many of the chicks I know the parentage for sure, but a couple of them I am not positive on.

Hens:

NN paint silkie - She is almost 5 years old. Found out from this hatch that she carries recessive white.

Gold Birchen black silkie - She is also almost 5 years old. And the only one with a name, Inkwell. She also appears to carry recessive white.

Olive Egger - her father was a recessive white silkied EE (so she carries recessive white and the silkie feather gene plus the blue egg gene from her father.) Her mother was a blue cuckoo marans.

Roos:

Black NN frizzled silkie - he carries recessive white also. He was hatched here and it is likely that his mother is the NN paint silkie hen listed above. His dad was a black frizzled satin.

Ameraucana bantam crossed with silkie - he is paint and was hatched here. His dad is a lavender bantam ameraucana, and his mom a paint silkie. I believe it was not my NN paint hen listed above but another paint silkie girl. His chicks have a 50% chance of getting several genes: lavender, blue egg, and silkied. The chicks that he fathered are 3/4 silkie and 1/4 ameraucana bantam. They have the potential of getting me closer to having blue egg silkies!

 

[Cheekychook12]

So many chickies! Are there any frizzles yet?

 

[Slothinc]

So many chickies! Are there any frizzles yet?

Surprisingly I think the only frizzled chick in the whole batch is the new Noggy - one of the light blue/lavender crosses. I am quite surprised! I think a lot of the chicks that I sold ended up being frizzles. A few of them were looking a little curly before they left.

 

[2ndTink]

You have such an adorable group of chicks and so many unique ones! I'm so excited to follow this thread!

 

[TwoCrows]

Cute fuzz you've got there!

 

[Slothinc]

This batch of chicks is so friendly and I love letting them eat from my hand! I’m hoping that this doesn’t mean they are all boys

Also the craziest thing happened yesterday. I realized that I have an extra black amban/silkie cross chick!! Apparently one of them was always hiding under the heat source whenever I saw them! So I only thought there were 3 - Goldie, Frankincense and Myrrh! Then I also have Piper who is a black silkie hatched from my eggs. And also the older black chick - Trifle. But somehow an extra chick was found. Its name is Joy and it is number 21! Just call me blind for not realizing that it was there for over a week! Pic of all 5 little black ones (Trifle not pictured).

Also I sent in a sample for Noggy to test for lavender, because I really can’t tell if the little light blue ones are actually lavender or not! So hopefully the results of this test will put the issue to rest!! Hoping for results within a week or two.

Oh and one last update. French Hen, the little white chick that I was not sure on parentage - I realized that since this chick has satin feathers, the father HAS to be the am bantam/silkie cross. So how did this chick end up white? Either its mother is the paint NN hen and if so, the chick could be dominant white. Or, if somehow the father carries recessive white then it could be a recessive white chick. I guess it will remain a mystery for now, but at least I realized who the father is!