IN THE POULTRY YARD

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 19626, 21 October 1933, Page 15

IN THE POULTRY YARD

COLOUR OF NEWLY - HATCHED CHICKS. Novice poultry people are often puzzled when they purchase or hatch out sittings of eggs to find the chicks differently marked to the adult fowls, and are apt to think that a mistake has been made by the breeder they purchased from or that they have been purposely defrauded. Dealing with this subject, the colour of down in chickens, a contributor to "Farm Field, and Fireside.” (England says:—

Where chicks are from the black breed inexperienced rearers, expecting all black chickens, can hardly be made to believe that they can be pure when they see a good deal of white about them. Yet one often finds that in such cases there is more white than black In the youngsters. We see it in the flight feathers, and very often on the neck and on the under-fluff, while those having a good show of white on the breast and on the head are sure to have perfect adult plumage. Black Orpington chicks have mottled legs, which are almost black at the hocks, but lower down they are pinky yellow. In chickens of the barred varieties there are no such markings. The back is black, and on the head there is usually a dull, drab, and sometimes a creamy mixture. In the pullets of such birds the grey is much darker than it is in the cockerels. In the Barred Rock there is a patch of grey on the head, and when this is seen it is a sure indication of very perfect adult feathering; the barring first appearing on the shoulders and then downwards on the breast from the throat. In all chickens of white varieties that have yellow legs the colour of the downs Is in all different shades or degrees, of creaminess, or they may be of a lemon hue. It will be noticed with white-plumaged and white-legged birds that the chickens from such hatched with bluish legs never get rid of the blue colour as they grow up. Buff birds of the white-legged varieties have a yellow or buff down on them, and if such have reddish-yellow legs they are usually found to come all right to the true colour. On some buffs there may be a little black or white in the flight feathers, but these come to the true colour later on. In mottled plumaged birds, such as the Houdan and the Ancona, the down is black and white. The Houdan can be distinguished by the fifth toe and the indicative hump on the head. Between Buff Orpingtons and Rhode Island Reds there is not a great deal of difference. Rhode Island Reds have rather more white about them, and a patch of light brown on the back Is an indication. This varies in shade in the birds, but it is always there. Salmon Faverolles can be known from the muffling of the throat and the feathered legs. In colour they are creamy white, and in the flights there is a touch of grey.