Charlottechicken Posted June 26, 2010 Share Posted June 26, 2010 (edited) I'm a bit miffed as I bought light sussex bantie hatching eggs off ebay( when I came out of hospital, for something to do!), and only one hatched so I've now got a lone chick to care for. It hatched on 15th June. Good news is 'it' is doing fine and appears to be as happy as a lone chick can be. I've given it a mirror, which it talks to and sleeps near (and poos on ) and for the first week I spoke to it in little 'peep' noises, which 'it' got all excited about I've purchased more hatching eggs (Vorwerk LF this time) and they have 2 weeks to go. Now for the difficult bit. I am trying to tell if it is male or female, it grew enormous long wing tip feathers from day 2, and now at day 11 wings are completely feathered (wing tip feathers are now dark too), and it has the little angel wing type feathers on it's shoulders. It has tail feathers too. It has dark feathers appearing around it's neck. It does not stand erect, but keeps it's body horizontal. It hatched with a teeny little comb, all squished over, and this hasn't changed. finally, I read somewhere that if you fake overhead bird flight, females flatten and stay quiet, whilst male chicks stand erect and make a noise. My chick flattened to the floor the first time I did this, but then ran off on the second attempt I'll post a pic, but any ideas would be appreciated. Edited to add pics: Pic 1, chick a day old Pic 2 chick a week old Edited July 8, 2010 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Griffin Posted June 26, 2010 Share Posted June 26, 2010 It's so hard when there are no siblings to compare with. Can you take a photo of it's comb? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted June 27, 2010 Share Posted June 27, 2010 Bccause of the advanced wing development within a week, I'd hazard a guess that Juan might be Juanita. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jules. Posted June 27, 2010 Share Posted June 27, 2010 Bccause of the advanced wing development within a week, I'd hazard a guess that Juan might be Juanita. Hope you're keeping & recovering well, Claire x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joza2210 Posted June 27, 2010 Share Posted June 27, 2010 I had this exact same problem this week I bought 6 hatching eggs of ebay and put one of my own wyandotte eggs in and it was only the wyandotte that hatched and none of the eggs i bought off ebay ... He / she is fine by its self ... Its eating and drinking but tomorrow i am going to get some more chicks off some one for company - other wise i would put a teddy in the brooder This Is The One Chick I Hatched (In this picture he/she is 3 days old) Any idea if its a boy or girl ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted June 27, 2010 Author Share Posted June 27, 2010 Bccause of the advanced wing development within a week, I'd hazard a guess that Juan might be Juanita. That's what I hoped Egluntyne, 'it' is really well feathered now, has the little angel wings and I can see dark neck feathers coming through too, and chick is just 12 days now. Little comb has not yet stood upright (comb was flattened when chick hatched) but I'm having trouble taking a front on pic of the comb as the little beggar won't keep still It flies out of the brooder when I open the door. Hope you're keeping & recovering well, Claire x I'm feeling great and full of beans, Jules. Looking forward to summer off work too, don't have to go back till I'm 3 months post op and I'm only 6 weeks on Monday Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted June 29, 2010 Author Share Posted June 29, 2010 Well, chicky was 2 weeks old today, so here's a couple of pics. It has dark neck feathers coming through and carries its little tail upright, tail is well feathered too. Chick has feathers on its back and a few on the body too. Comb still not upright. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tom123 Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 I'm thinking boy from those pics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 Same here now. What a difference a week makes The stance is typical. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted June 30, 2010 Author Share Posted June 30, 2010 Oh bother! Daft question but what is it about the stance that makes it a boy? I really need to learn all these tell tale boy/girl signs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 Upright and inquisitive tends to be how the boys stand, and the girls tend to have a squatter stance and a less bold attitude. Not foolproof though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madchickenlady Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 I would hazard a guess at boy too Its all about the attitude! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted June 30, 2010 Share Posted June 30, 2010 I thought boy from that last picture Boy too Josh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted June 30, 2010 Author Share Posted June 30, 2010 I'll have to get it some hormones, might start feeding it phyto-oestrogen rich products It's a greedy little piggy too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis Posted July 1, 2010 Share Posted July 1, 2010 If only we could do that My brothers friend asked how we made them grow into girls instead of boys (she's 16!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted July 5, 2010 Author Share Posted July 5, 2010 If only we could do that Never underestimate the power of plant hormones Lewis JC (Juan chick) is 3 weeks old tomorrow morning so here's a couple of pics taken this evening. It has white feathers overall and lovely dark feathers coming through over it's little head and neck, pity they are covered in yellow fluff as it can't reach to preen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craftyhunnypie Posted July 6, 2010 Share Posted July 6, 2010 That's a girl in my opinion! Very sweet. Emma.x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted July 6, 2010 Author Share Posted July 6, 2010 I really hope so, Emma! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted July 12, 2010 Author Share Posted July 12, 2010 Well, little JC, the light Sussex bantam, is now 4 weeks old. Does it look like a boy or girl this week Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jellykelly Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 I would say............... girl thats just a guess though and not backed up with any real reasoning! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 Not much at all in the way of head furniture, so I'd say girl this week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bronze Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 I would say girl right from the beginning as the wing feathers are u ish shaped though that stance was very male Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted July 12, 2010 Share Posted July 12, 2010 Its well feathered so I'd say girl but I agree that stance is very upright! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted July 13, 2010 Author Share Posted July 13, 2010 The stance might be explained by the fact that in week 2 pics, chick had just been cleaned out and was rather fearful of the piece of kitchen towel on the floor of the brooder, and floor grille, hence in pic 2 it is craning to jump out of the doorway. Now chick is in the kitchen, where I have velux windows, and chick sees the wood pigeons flying overhead (they also land on the roof and you can see them through the velux) there is also a bird table near one normal window. So chick is pretty alert most of the time it is out on the kitchen floor, probably why it spends a lot of time under the table and chairs. I have a bin liner covering half of its night time box, so the poor thing isn't totally traumatised! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craftyhunnypie Posted July 13, 2010 Share Posted July 13, 2010 Still a girl. A little beauty too. Emma.x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
