Feature Breed: Red Sex Link

Here is a picture of my Red Sex Link (also called a Red Star) chick. This one is supposed to be guaranteed to be female because the coloration is linked to the sex chromosome. However, this one is not looking so red. If she is indeed female, she is supposed to be a stellar egg layer! She is supposed to be rather un-phased by cold or hot weather and should just keep laying. You can see her feathers have been coming in on her wings, back, and tail. Her head is still mostly fluffy. She has been getting her feathers before the Buff Orpingtons and Barred Rocks. I do think she's older than the others, maybe as much as a week older.

Damon continues to work on the coop. Here you can see most of the hardware cloth up. Soon the chicks will be able to spend their days out in their coop!

For the past couple of days, I have put the chicks in their cage out on the front patio. But today, I put the cage down on some dirt. The girls spent a lot of time pecking in the dirt from their cage. In fact, their poop turned dark today, most likely from the dirt. It seems as though the chicks don't rest when they are outside. They are busy pecking, chasing each other around, etc. So when I do bring them back inside around dinner time and refill their food/water, they eat and drink for a few minutes and then fall alseep for a while. They always look so wiped out!

This picture of the chicks in their cage was taken after they had a couple hours of rest this evening. On the top bar are the Red Sex Link and one Barred Rock. In the middle of the photo are the Silver Laced Wyandotte and a Buff Orpington. Front left is another Buff Orpington and front right is the other Barred Rock. They got quite curious tonight. A couple ventured out of their cage and came to perch on my fingers.