Today, while completing the chores, I noticed that the chicks are now all fully-feathered. There were a few who still had downy feathers on their heads even a few days ago, but, thankfully, they have ceased procrastinating.
As the chicks have grown in size and their feather cover has improved, I have been reducing the temperature in the brooder room by cautiously turning down the thermostat on the electric heater. For the last two weeks, the chicks were living in a 65-75 F temperature range and they had an infrared brooder plate to sit under if they felt too cold.
Now, I will slowly reduce the temperature until the brooder room matches the layers’ room. In the early summer, when Melissa acclimatizes indoor plants to the outdoor temperatures, she calls it “hardening off.” So, in some fashion, I am hardening off the chicks in preparation for them moving to the layers’ room.
There is no particular hurry. The chicks are still small enough that they can move around the brooder table without unreasonable commotion. It will probably be their size that determines the moving date, rather than the room temperature.
The surprise chick has developed feathers that are a pale gray, with one black wing tip feather, some dark gray feathers near its neck, and light gray feathers on its head. It has gray legs, dark eyes and a light-colored comb. Based on these clues, it could be a lavender orpington, but that conclusion is far from certain.
Usually, there is an accidental male in every order and surprise chicks are often male. So far, though, none of the chicks has much of a comb. Time will tell.
Farquaad, our Golden Campine rooster, is crowing more vigorously but still does not exhibit any other roosterly behavior. I am hoping that seeing physically smaller hens and, perhaps, a maturing competitor will give him some incentive to assume the leadership role in the flock.
It looks to me as though there are possibly 3 combs developing on chicks, so it will be a “to be continued” story about who is or isn’t a rooster.
The mystery progresses! Be sure to let your readers know the eventuality, please.