Gender reveal and Coop trouble at The Chick Inn

Warning!!!

This is a long post about chickens J

An adorable little chick named Smithy

Smithy @ 1 week

went through this funky looking stage,

Smithy @ 3 weeks

and we had no idea if he/she was a pullet or cockerel,

Smithy @ 5 weeks

or if he/she was going to be a hen or a rooster.

Smithy @ 9 weeks

At this point in Smithy's development, I posted about him/her and several 

thought a pullet based on the comb.

Well, now we know for sure. 

Smithy is in fact a...

Smithy @ 11 weeks

ROOSTER because he CROWS!!!

Although every time he sees the camera, he stops. 

I cannot sneak up on him! 

He is a wiley dude :)

Now the big question remains...

Smithy @ 14 weeks

What breed is Smithy? 

Look at those saddle feathers! They are awesome.

Here's a close look at his neck feathers, which are changing color!

It is the weirdest thing. I promise he is not dirty! My son managed to catch him, which caused a major ruckus in the run. I thought those brown blobs on his sides were injuries or poop but you can see they are brown feathers. Here's a close-up of his wing feathers.

He was a rare breed bonus chick included in our order from McMurray's Hatchery this spring. After searching high and low on their website and on the internet, I think I have his breed narrowed down to two or three possibilities. The most probable is a Silver Leghorn but his legs have a slight slate tint to them. They are not the yellow color of the other chickens. Not that his breed really matters. We're just curious. If you know anything about breeds of chickens, what do you think?

Here he is a few weeks ago before the feathers started changing, with Gracie, his 'chick' friend. She is definitely a Silver Leghorn pullet and as a chick looked identical to Smithy except much smaller. He was huge compared to all the others!  

But we also have a problem. 

Smithy and Gracie and the four Barred Rock pullets are so different in color, they seem to get picked on a lot by the Rhode Island Reds. They have all been raised together from the time they were put into the box at the hatchery and shipped to us. I was told there wouldn't be a problem with several different breeds being together but we just are not seeing it with our flock. 

Gracie @ 13 weeks

My husband has decided that he and our youngest son will make an addition to our already brand new coop and move the six black & whites over there. Big sigh...I am not happy with this as it is an added expense but I really don't want these beautiful birds to be picked on anymore and eventually end up sick or dead. And I am not getting rid of them. They are the least friendly of the birds (maybe because they get bullied) but so pretty and I love them! 

Also, we ended up with three Rhode Island Red roosters. Two of them will be getting their own little Quonset huts to live in pretty soon. One will remain in the main coop. I'm trying not to stress over this but we are on a count down to egg laying time and I was really wanting one single friendly flock.

Hindsight being what it is, if I had to do it all over again I would not have ordered a variety. The Rhodes are big and supposed to be great layers, so I would have exclusively ordered them. Even though they aren't exotic looking, I would rather not have so much dissension in the flock. 

Has anyone else ever had this problem? 

If you read this whole post, you are awesome!!! Thanks for sticking with me! 

Have a blessed day!

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