Poultry Talk Ontario (pto.ca)

I've examined his tail, and he definitely has one. Tiny little triangular affair, it feels normal shape, if small. His tail is now sprouting feathers finally. He's still very small, not bantam small but slow-growing small, but seems healthy and keeps up with the rest easily. I never hear any distressed noises from him. They are now outside full time, and mama did a great job of keeping them all dry during the rain yesterday and today, and still doing a fair job of trying to cover them all at night, even though she has FOURTEEN total, and some of them are almost as big as she is!

Mama still tries to cover these guys at night! Little silver guy in the very back of the first pic, you can just see his tiny, dark grey tail tuft. He's still very small and mostly down covered. He now looks blue, and is only shiny silver in certain lights. His down is still silvery, but it's so sparse (he's outgrown it lol) you can't tell.

He/ she looks like the lavender chicks, also slow to feather. They are silvery when chicks.
What a good mama she keeps her chicks pretty close!

How old is that little one now? So tiny!

Awww. He's awfully cute.

kenya wrote: ↑

Thu May 10, 2018 8:21 pm

He/ she looks like the lavender chicks, also slow to feather. They are silvery when chicks.
What a good mama she keeps her chicks pretty close!

So strange. But I guess all colour genes start somewhere! I had a cockerel last year that I swear had chocolate paint markings and barring. None before or since though, but since it happened once, I expect it to happen again. Oddly enough, that one died suddenly in his sleep at about 6 months old.
Yes, she's an excellent mama, and doesn't let them get far from her...except for one little black girl that's ALWAYS off doing her own thing.

Happy wrote: ↑

Thu May 10, 2018 8:58 pm

How old is that little one now? So tiny!

Almost 6 weeks, and only a few days younger than the other chicks he's with. One of those barred boys is already trying to mount the girls! And here is little Blue, just praying for feathers LOL.

Jaye wrote: ↑

Thu May 10, 2018 9:08 pm

Awww. He's awfully cute.

I agree! I'm not getting attached though. Going out of my way to limit contact so that doesn't happen, I'm still firmly convinced that he's going to crap out any day now. If he does, he's already lived almost 5 weeks longer than any other shiny guys. I'm cautiously optimistic that he'll live until I can see his adult colours, but I'm not holding my breath.

Update.
His feathers have barring in them, a darker blue on the lighter. Curiouser and curiouser! He's still tiny, and weirdly shaped...almost perfectly round. He's about the shape and size of a softball lol.

@windwalkingwolf Nice photo's Jan, best yet

This guy is (mostly) grown up now, and yes, most definitely a guy, though he shows no interest in the girls. His underfluff is still very silvery and shiny, but his regular feathers/outcolour looks blue with some barred, and also some red leakage. I am not surprised at the red leakage, as all my blue EE's have it to some extent, I'm just surprised he's lived so long.
He is still quite small compared to his hatchmates, more like 2 months behind rather than only 3 days. He seems very healthy though, and also seems to fly under the radar so to speak of the pecking order--he's a loner, but freely commingles at feeding time, and is never picked on or even noticed at all. He's invisible, even to elderly cranky RSL hens and patrolling dominant roosters. He has lost his (rather adorable, if concerning) round shape, and now looks much more long and streamlined like the EE he is, so much so that he resembles his distant Mediterranean heritage more than his Ameraucana. I will try and get some good pics again...I took a bunch yesterday, but they're truly awful and he just looks like a grey blob lol

OK, this guy is now very obviously blue, with red leakage. He has no dark lacing at all, just solid medium blue, with brick red shoulders. His underfluff is very pale blue and silver, and his cover feathers only look shiny coin-silver if the light is just right, but he's definitely blue for all intents and purposes. He's also finally caught up with his other hatchmates, not only in size, but also in attitude. He's a healthy, normal rooster. Surprised the crap out of me. To me, every week he was alive once I saw that silver colour, was a bonus. Borrowed time. I've never had one his colour live this long. I tried again to get pictures, but my photography skills seem to have gotten worse, not better, with practice. Type-wise, he is nothing like what I expected him to be. He was so round and swollen when young, that I expected him to (if he didn't die first) end up much like a Giant in shape...but now he looks like a large 1/2 Ameraucana. He's got that tall game-y shape and attitude to boot. He has a cushion comb, and is a favourite of several ladies, who he services with great aplomb while fending off a couple roosters which are otherwise rarely contested. He's not top of the pecking order, but I'm amazed daily at how far up there he actually is. What the difference is between this guy and other silver chicks I've hatched (dead...dead...dead...dead...dead...dead, etc....) is, I have no idea. Some little dna snip no doubt. I will NOT be deliberately breeding this guy, but I'm sure some chicks I will hatch this year will have him as sire, and also, his parents are still breeding, no doubt. Interesting thing to watch, going forward.