We officially have four long necks now. The largest, Blue, has some really interesting feathers coming in, with visible quills and everything. The smallest, Orange, is just starting to stand up more "upright" and has started to stretch out her neck, but, being the smallest, she is less "assured and assertive" so she seems to be more prone to staying compact in size.
We are still working with Red to get her more tame and less flighty. She was finally willing to peck at my fingers a little today while I fed them some hard-boiled yokes, but that only came near the end of the feeding. She was very leery of my hand anywhere near her without the food. The others are significantly more comfortable with being held.
I've been reading more about Russian Orloff chicks and some individuals seem to believe that since they were on the endangered list for so long that the breed has lost some of its purity and resiliency, hence, the stock from some of the breeding/hatcheries may not be quite as strong or quality as the more traditional breeds in the US. I suppose that might explain why we have lost the number of chicks with this batch. I may want to talk with some of the breeders on the west coast to the north of us since there appear to be several farms breeding the Orloffs in the Pacific Northwest.
