Color Chiks / Easter Chicks

This happened long back.. must be when I was 6 or 7..

When I happened to see a man having about five dozens of colorful chicks in a closed basket, I wanted to buy set of them, one chick of each colour. But my parents told, all would turn them white in two weeks time. 


I came to know that these chicks are given artificial colours. I was under impression that those were painted with color after it was born. Later came to know that in some places, the eggs are injected with the dye and the chicks are born in the color of the dye. Even this dye in not permanent and the feathers eventually come in the normal color of the bird.

Many places have made it illegal to dye baby chicks as it makes more people impulse buy them, and eventually dump them when they are no longer baby chicks.
 
I had not seen those stuff after that. Recently I came across a man with similar basket with colourful chicks inside in Chennai. 

It is still found in market. If my son had seen that , he would have pestered us to buy.

--Dhanesh Amma