Chameleons or chooks??

[Willow]

We have five Black rock ladies now about 17 weeks old. I have overdosed on every bit of chicken info on the web and am now totally confused! I read that when chickens come into lay, their combs, wattles and face go red and legs turn yellow... great.. only mine think they're chameleons or something of the like! they can have deep red faces one day and black the next.. in fact any colour from black through yellow , orange and red can be seen at any one time.. I know they are a touch too young to lay at the mo. (18 - 24 weeks?) but could someone tell me what these colour changes indicate?? They are free range during the day, fed on a mix of growers pellets and layers pellets, plus mixed corn., also have grit available and are all very alert and bouncy!
Tina

[ged]

Hi Willow!
dont panic!From reading what you have been doing,your'e spoiling them!Eggs will come when they are ready to come and colour really doesnt matter IMHO.My girls are black/brown with red combs!
And having read your post have asked if they can come and live with you!LOL
atb
ged :mrgreen:

[wendy]

Hi Willow,
Welcome to the forum.
I don't know how true that is also. As when we get our poor rescued battery hens from the Battery farms. They have VERY light pink and floppy combs and wattles. They are laying their little hearts out bless them.
My girls now have magnificent blood red combs etc. But their laying has gone off considerably now I have had them nearly two years. I would say it was a sign of good health and chicken husbandry rather than their laying capabilities.
Wendy

[Phil Black Rock]

We have five Black rock ladies now about 17 weeks old. I have overdosed on every bit of chicken info on the web and am now totally confused! I read that when chickens come into lay, their combs, wattles and face go red and legs turn yellow... great.. only mine think they're chameleons or something of the like! they can have deep red faces one day and black the next.. in fact any colour from black through yellow , orange and red can be seen at any one time.. I know they are a touch too young to lay at the mo. (18 - 24 weeks?) but could someone tell me what these colour changes indicate?? They are free range during the day, fed on a mix of growers pellets and layers pellets, plus mixed corn., also have grit available and are all very alert and bouncy!
Tina

Hi,
I have six Black Rocks, my first chooks and indeed they were about 24/26 weeks old before they laid an egg. I feed mine on the same stuff you are using, plus the odd green grape which they love. We are getting towards 4 eggs per day now, so do not worry, when they start laying you will receive plenty of eggs from them.
As for the colours, I will watch them and post back in a couple of days.

Phil

[Willow]

Thanks all for your replies,
Phil - I'll be very interested in your 'colour observations'.. also as yours are 6 / 7 weeks older than ours, a recent picture would be great , as our ladies still have very small combs it would be good to get a comparison.