Baby Chicks Photo Shoot Vol. 2

After sharing the photos from my chick photo shoot, here and on social media, my Instagram DMs BLEW UP with people requesting more baby chick photos!

Their fluffy cuteness, against a cheery backdrop of props, is what people want to see right now, I guess.  I know I do!  The world is a scary, uncertain place, so here is a reprieve: another batch of chick photos. 

Very soon they’ll become awkward teenage chickens – in fact, some of them have already started to look a little bedraggled, but they still have that puff of cuteness – so please enjoy.  Silkies in tea cups might be my current favorite theme…

I still have only managed to recognize and identify a few of the chick breeds I ordered, but the brown ones are all a mystery to me and their markings are only slightly varied.  Every time I Google and think I have it figured out, I doubt myself again, so we’ll have to wait for them to grow a bit.

The problem with being unable to tell the brown chickies apart is that I’m not sure I’m handling them all equally.  Today I picked one up and it settled down into my hand and gave out a delighted little chirp and fell asleep.  It was so comfortable with me…have I been picking up the same chick, again and again, lol?

But I DO know that these are Silkies (splash coloring).  Silkies are distinctly fluffy with black skin, plus they have an extra toe!

Double trouble.

I had originally ordered two different colors, but got two splash instead, because they hatched well.

So I have two identical Silkies, but one is small and shy and the other is larger and more calm.  I am officially betting on the larger, calm Silkie being a hen and the smaller, skittish one being a rooster, because that’s what happened with Coal and Pearl, the two Silkies from my last batch of baby chicks.

I worry about this little yellow one because he sleeps a lot and is often colder than the rest.  He is a little runt and may not have developed 100% healthily in the egg, so I try to make sure he has extra protein and that he eats and drinks and stays warm.  I have added a poultry supplement to the water, with extra nutrients and good stuff, and I’ve been boiling our well water so it doesn’t have any nasties in it, and hopefully that helps.  He’s growing feathers, he’s just stayed smaller and puffier than the rest.

See? So sleepy.  I put him back when I realized that he was super sleepy, so he wasn’t out from under the heat lamp for more than a couple of minutes.  I watch him and he will eat and drink and run a bit, but then he immediately goes back under the heat lamp and will aggressively snuggle another chick for warmth. 

A few days later… still sleepy.  Our friends made us this 3D printed chicken and I set it down and sleepy chick snuggled up to it and my heart cracked in two.

This is a Swedish Blue Hen, his pair died during the journey (I ordered these baby chicks in pairs).  It’s a rare breed and is all black, like my beloved Jet, but lays an aqua/blue egg!  I hope this one is a hen but I have a feeling it’s a rooster because it’s extra annoying, lol. 

The little one is also a singly, after its pair died in my hands.  It’s growing really strong and healthy – and seemingly faster than the others! 

It’s got new feathers springing up every day – if you watch the chicks long enough, you can almost see them grow more feathers because it starts to happen so rapidly.  It’s amazing how quickly chickens grow and develop. 

He walked off set and found my secret egg stash, lol.  They still love a hard boiled egg all mashed up, and some prefer the yolk while others prefer the white.  What’s up, chicken butt?

There are a lot of complaints about my photo shoots, lol.  Sometimes they peep loudly – loud peeps mean they’re unhappy.  Little chirpy, twittering sounds (like bird song) mean they’re content.  This is a loud, angry peep:

Sometimes they refuse to look cute, lol.  They’re naturally adorable, so I am convinced that they do it on purpose just so they can skip to the treat part.

When they get tired of posing, they run past the camera and either want to explore – or climb my face and snuggle.  I lie on my stomach to take these photos and I love when they come close to snuggle.  It’s so nice.    

I set up my “sets” on the ground so if they bolt they don’t fall and are safe.  I also keep the dogs in the bedroom, just in case!  I’ve been having fun putting together these backdrops and it’s good to handle the chicks – that’s how my last batch ended up so friendly.  Plus I think baby chicks suit vintage McCoy pottery planters… 

And vintage Cathrineholm:

And vintage Pyrex (are you sensing a theme, lol?):

On an unrelated note, look at this little chick foot:

Although some of these baby chicks are a mystery, I know that I have two Black Copper Marans, which will lay chocolate brown eggs. 

Well, one of them will, because I think I have a hen and a roo.  I confirmed with the hatchery when they were trying to figure out which breed of chick died in transport, so at least I can identify this breed among my chicks.  I think this is the rooster:

And that this is the hen (but it’s just a guess, based on comb development, personality and feather colors):

If one of these ends up being a roo, I think I want to breed him with my Ameraucanas and hatch Olive Egger babies – chicks that will lay olive green eggs.  I think that’s how it will work, from research I’ve done, and I also found a turquoise incubator, haha.  I think it would be amazing to hatch some myself, just for the experience and to add to my colorful egg basket with some chicks I’ve bred myself.  Obviously there’s lots I still need to research, but that’s my next step in the chicken obsession happening over here. 

What I think is the roo also has more copper coloring already, which I have read could be a sign…

Hopefully you liked this batch of chick photos as much as the first.  Having these baby chicks in the house has definitely brightened my days and I hope just seeing them brighten yours a little too.  I’m eggcited to watch them grow up, join my flock (fingers crossed that goes smoothly) and start laying some beautiful eggs.   Click here to get caught up on all of my chickens adventures in the last year, from building a coop to getting the first eggs!

Which chicks are your favorite?