horselover1999's 2025 flock

[Bockbockbaboq]

I watched most of them hatch, so I know who came out of each egg for the most part. Each bird has subtle differences that I took note of as they hatched.
I have two blue pea comb and bearded birds that I can only really tell apart because one has white around her eye, the other one doesn't, also one has a redder comb.
I can tell the barred cockerels apart because Walnut (not Olive, I misremembered) is blue barred, and Basil has heavily feathered legs and only 3.5 toes per foot. Violet (needs to be renamed) looks like Basil but has less leg feathering and all of his toes.
The one black pullet is Olive. Pineapple is the only Splash from a BBS mating. The two pullets that are white with spots I can tell apart by the location of their spots. Iris has more spots while Maple has one primary large spot at the base of her neck.
Clover was easy, he was the only one that was brown. Crackerjack was barred but had red in his face.

It's easy for me because they are all mixes except for one. I haven't been able to tell apart purebred chicks in the past, so leg or wing bands help.

I've seen the leg bands. I might try those.

 

[horselover1999]

I've seen the leg bands. I might try those.

I use zip ties when they’re little. Easy to replace as they grow. You can get numbered leg bands once they are adults.

 

[Chicken_Obsesser]

Can we change Violet to something completely random...Sting?

 

[Chicken_Obsesser]

I use color differentiation lol, it's not exactly foolproof but I find that's what works best for me.

 

[horselover1999]

Can we change Violet to something completely random...Sting?

Something botanical, Violet is just too feminine.

 

[Bockbockbaboq]

I use color differentiation lol, it's not exactly foolproof but I find that's what works best for me.

A lot of them look they have a twin to me. This isn't the best picture. Leg bands, I think, will help me.

 

[horselover1999]

We had some escapees today when I opened their brooder to refill their food and water! They were easy to catch.

They'll be a month old tomorrow!
I finally got updated pics of the roosters...

Basil's looking at me, Walnut is looking to escape, and Cedar (Violet)(still deciding a new name) is eating.

Basil and Cedar are very sweet, Basil is still the front runner to stay. Walnut is still scared of me, and challenged my hand for the first time today, so he's on thin ice.

 

[Cheekychook12]

We had some escapees today when I opened their brooder to refill their food and water! They were easy to catch.
View attachment 4075196
They'll be a month old tomorrow!
I finally got updated pics of the roosters...
View attachment 4075199
Basil's looking at me, Walnut is looking to escape, and Cedar (Violet)(still deciding a new name) is eating.

Basil and Cedar are very sweet, Basil is still the front runner to stay. Walnut is still scared of me, and challenged my hand for the first time today, so he's on thin ice.

What cute little escapees
Which ones are they?

 

[horselover1999]

What cute little escapees
Which ones are they?

Iris and Pineapple are in the photo. I had already caught Olive and Currant.

 

[horselover1999]

They graduated to the coop today! We had to repair some things and add some things.
We sealed off the space between the roof and the wall with some extra wood to prevent wild birds from coming into the run, tacked loose fencing to poles, and replaced the ramp, since it was falling apart. We built this coop in 2014, so it needed some repairs.

We also re-sealed the very first hole that was dug around the coop by my dog when we raised my very first batch of chicks. Our dog dug under a wall just enough to grab a chick by the leg and rip its leg off.

Currant, Cedar (Violet), and Walnut are being rehomed tomorrow. I had already decided that Basil was my keeper, and then Currant started a fight with Basil, confirming that Currant is a cockerel.

Now for the new task, training them to sleep in the coop at night. They were huddled in a corner of the run when we checked on them, so we put them in the coop. Hopefully they will learn quickly!