What breed?

[Bashney]

Hoping to give these two chickens a home, any idea of what breed they are or as they are only six to eight weeks old is it too hard to tell yet? I know that they are too young to s.ex.
When they are big enougth I will intergrate them with my ex free range girls.
Also will I have to vaccinate them. I've never had young chickens before so all this is new to me any advice would be much appreciated thanks.

http://www.rspca.org.uk/findapet/details/-/Animal/SALT/ref/127471/rehome/

[KarenE]

Hi

Sorry, I can't tell what breed they are. Maybe someone who has bred chicks might be able to tell.

I just wanted to say that they'll probably need some heat source, as they look very young, so do have a think about that. I think people use heat lamps. And they'll need chick crumb too.

The other thing to bear in mind is that one or both of them may turn out to be boys! So have a plan/two plans in p[lace for if you can't keep them.

As for vaccinations, having never had chicks I'm not sure. They may well have been vaccinated already but you'll probably never know., Marek's is done at a day old so too late already I think for that one. Hopefully some chick keepers will be on to give you some advice

[ChickenCarol]

I got my two bantam brown leghorns at six weeks old (last summer) and they didn't look as young as these so I think they may actually be a bit younger. I don't know what they are but they are so cute. Not much help but just wanted to point to the possibility of them being a bit younger.

[Bashney]

I must admit I also thought they looked younger than 6 weeks but apparently the vet said they were that age, thanks for the replies already and yes they do look cute.
I am concerned about how long it would take before I could do the introductions as my girls have a big run and they would be in a small area for the time being.

[Totally Scrambled]

Re introducing them into the flock. It is possible to do it from this age but I wouldn't recommend it until the are at least 16 weeks old as they should have food suited to their age as it has what they need to grow healthily.
The big girls would nick their food and layers doesn't have what young chooks need.
But there's no reason they can't be in sight of the bigguns.
We have a hard run surrounded by our main chook free range run that we either have a broody rearing a clutch or if we are brining on choocks we have hatched. Everyone can see each other fron day one and we have had relatively pain free introductions when the young ones have been released into the general population
Dom

[kitla]

Its hard to tell from the pic, does the black one have feathered legs? perhaps
they are cross breeds.

[Bashney]

I was told that the black one is starting to grow feathers on its legs so may be a bantam and its smaller than the White one, I would love to have a bantam and especially one in need of a home.

[kitla]

I wonder if they could be silkie crosses which could explain fluffy legs and them
being more downy than usual, hence looking younger.
When you get them please post lots of pics, we'd love to watch them grow up &
see what they become. If these 2 do need a heater at night I have a barely
used "electric hen" that I'd be happy to loan. (I used to live near Blackberry farm
& still visit the area sometimes) pm me if that would be helpful.

[manda]

Wouldn't surprise me if they are bantams of some description the little whilte one has got a bit of a frizzle thing going on and if you say the black one has feathers starting on it's legs might suggest that.

If not bantams then they are younger because they are quite small looking at the crate they are in.

Keep them apart from the others initially if you can for 4 weeks (makes sure nothing comes up once you get them to your place)...later you can have them in sight until they big enough as Dom says preferably at 16 weeks (there's too much calcium in layers for small chicks which can muck up their kidneys).

After that it's intro's as normal

[Bashney]

We've picked up the chicks from the RSPCA today – how do I upload pictures?

[Totally Scrambled]

You can't upload photos directly from your PC they have to be on a hosting site like photobucket, picassa, FB etc.
Go to the photo you want and copy the URL.
In your post left click the "Img" tab and paste the URL between the two sets of square brackets and submit.
Dom

[Bashney]

Thank you Totally Scrambled! Here's the pics, can't quite get the images in but at least you can go and see them here:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/132002428@N04/

They're believed to between 6-8 weeks. Black one is starting to grow a few feathers on its legs. More pics to follow.

[Totally Scrambled]

I managed to get a small one first with your details next to it, then I managed to get rid of your details but still had a small photo.
Then I worked out how to make it bigger and removed your details.
I've never used Flickr before so it was a bit of a learning curve.
I went to the link you gave and left clicked my choice of photo so that it filled the screen. At the bottom left of the screen is a bendy arrow to "Share" the photo. I left clicked this and it gave me a window which is split in two, the lower half is titled "Code" I left clicked the BBcode tab. In the box below this was "Square 75 x 75" which gave me the small photo. I left clicked the down pointing arrow on the left side of this box and selected large 1024 x 768.
In the box below was highlighted text that I copied and pasted into the post and got the big photo with your details attached. I then removed all the text that was outside the [img] boxes and was left with just the large photo.
It sounds more complicated than it is and is anyone knows a simpler way of doing it I'm sure they'll let you know.
Dom (now going for a lie down in a darkened room)

[Bashney]

Thank you so much. Hope your lie down was OK! Yes, managed to embed here:









Can anyone help tell the breed?

Just seen the awful forecast for the rest of the week. They have been out today in their run with the hutch during the day time and I've been bringing them in at night. I'm a bit concerned for the forecast this week is in single digits, so although they are meant to be 6 weeks old and have feathers I'm a bit concerned about the smaller one and the temperature being sufficient for the rest of the week. What do you think?

[Mo]

Great photos. The top one of the white chick with such big eyes, and a grumpy beak. And the black one eyeing the washer.
They've found a soft touch there. House hens.
(Never had younger than 16 weeks so can't advise)