OllieNLucy Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 Hey everyone and thanks for letting me on to the forum. I have recently obtained two rescue chicks, i have been told they could be absolutely anything as the the person i rescued them from went round collecting eggs from anywhere he could and incubated them, he is now in trouble with the rspca as was over run. I think one of the chicks is a cockeral and the other i have no idea, Pics below, http://i561.photobucket.com/albums/ss60/horsemansam/DSCF2897.jpg Ollie is the yellow one in all pics, we think he is a cockeral and we are not sure what Lucy(the other one) is? any ideas?? http://i561.photobucket.com/albums/ss60/horsemansam/DSCF2899.jpg http://i561.photobucket.com/albums/ss60/horsemansam/DSCF2902.jpg http://i561.photobucket.com/albums/ss60/horsemansam/DSCF2768.jpg This one was taken two days after i got them. So any ideas anyone? Many thanks for all your help in advance! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 You have a boy and a girl there, but other than that it's hard to tell at this stage. The white chook (boy) looks like a leghorn or white star. The dark one (girl) looks to have some maran in her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smanners Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 I agree with Claret, the white one looks like my white leghorn chick and the other one looks like one of my maran chicks although my marans all have feathered trousers. Time may tell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redranger Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 Looooove the leghorn!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 Definitely agree that you have one of each. Interesting story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffin Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 I agree Leghorn type boy and Cuckoo Maran type girl. The girl Cuckoo Marans are generally a lot darker than boys. I have one similar, she's about 18 weeks old now, same yellow legs too. Here she is at around 6 weeks: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newmarcell Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 Hi OllieNLucy, We have a couple of hybrid girls, and your chicks look very much like our 'Sweetie' (cream with brown specks) and our Cuckoo (black and grey spotty). Hope this helps, Newmarcell Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tidygirlsuk Posted June 5, 2009 Share Posted June 5, 2009 Can you keep them both ? They are lovely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RosemarysBaby Posted June 6, 2009 Share Posted June 6, 2009 Awwwwwwww they are sooo kyoooot They look like a cuckoo marans and a white star i am knew to this too but i have had both and the dark one looks like a younger version of my little ones (cuckoo marans) x sooo beautiful though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OllieNLucy Posted June 6, 2009 Author Share Posted June 6, 2009 Can you keep them both ? They are lovely. I hope I will be able to. I still live at home and my Mum wasn't too impressed to find the chicks in the family room under a heat lamp when she returned from a weekend away Fortunately now we have had them 5 weeks we are all quite attached to them. Provided only one is a male we may be able to keep them. They are fast outgrowing the guinea pig cage they are in and have pooped all over the carpet when I have them out oops. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OllieNLucy Posted June 8, 2009 Author Share Posted June 8, 2009 Hello everyone I am the Mum. My son who incidentally is 21 has just shown me this post. It's a shame we probably have a cockerel as if he makes a lot of noise he will wake up the neighbours in their farmhouse, maybe he won't crow until I let him out with the horses in the morning I don't know. I reckon its going to end up being me who looks after the chooks (as I do all the other rescued animals I have had landed on me over the years by the kids) I am thinking that if i am going to have to feed water clean out etc it would be nice to get some eggs for the family and one girly won't be able to provide enough. I was thinking maybe if I got a couple of ex battery girls then I would have 1 boy and 3 ladies.Is this a workable idea? Maybe they would all fight Due to the ease of cleaning out and the fox proofing we had hoped to get an Eglu. they will be kept on our land with the horses where I spend a lot of time but don't actually live there. I regularly find dead chickens left in the sand school when I exercise the horses left by Mr fox so am worried he will get ours. When any of us there the chickens can be out free ranging possibly 4-6 hrs a day but the rest of the time they will have to be in the run or the eglu are the eglu’s big enough for a cockerel and 3 ladies who size I won’t know until they are grown? Maybe we should get a cube. I don't like the look of them so much and they look harder to clean out and of course they cost a lot more. As you can probably tell I am clueless Ollie and Lucy are getting bigger by the day and i need to get them out of the house. Ooh and thats another thing can they just go straight into an eglu it still can be pretty cold at night. Help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
..lay a little egg for me Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 Hi and welcome to the forum. Re fox protection: if you have horses you will be familiar with the idea of electric fencing. Electric poultry netting is a very effective way of keeping Mr Fox at bay. Numerous members of this forum (myself included) use it and have been most impressed. One member (Gamebird) has her girls protected by electric netting with no losses to date despite foxes living in the woods very close to the chicken run. There are several threads devoted to the subject, so I would recommend you have a look there. With the electric netting, the girls can free range all the time behind the netting. You can open it up to let them have the run of the place while you are out and about, but naturally that will increase the risk. Our friends have used this approach, but we have "chickened" out and keep ours behind the netting all the time. I don't know much about introducing new girls at the age of your current chicks, but I expect an expert will be along soon. The cockerel is likely to crow as soon as dawn breaks and carry on intermittently all day. Our neighbours at the other end of our 3 acre field have a cockerel and I can hear him all day. I'm sure you will find your chickens a rewarding addition to your family! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted June 8, 2009 Share Posted June 8, 2009 Great idea, and welcome to the forum. You may well find it hard to introduce ex-batts to an existing flock - they tend to get picked on and wouldn't be strong enough to withstand any amorous attentions from a cockerel for a while after you get them. If you're after more eggs, then perhaps just get a couple of hybrids to go with the current two. You'd need either an extension on the eglu run to accommodate that many chooks, or perhaps a cube to make sure that you have enough room. Good luck with whatever you decide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OllieNLucy Posted June 8, 2009 Author Share Posted June 8, 2009 Thanks for replies had decided to go for the cube as then we can expand our flock in the future. Big problem though apparently i can't get one until july I don't think I can keep them in an indoor guinea cage for that long I may have to risk putting them in an empty stable during the day and back in the cage at night and locking them in tack room if i can stuff them in. Am just so worried about foxes. I have been looking for a second hand cube but haven't managed to find one. We are in Wiltshire if anyone knokws of one. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
