Our first chickens

Today, April 22nd, 2010, is an anxious day for us. We are incubating eggs at this point and time. And either tomorrow, or Saturday, our new Orpington babies will hatch. There are only three eggs. We're not looking to have a lot of chickens. Just a few. From the beginning, we have been thinking that the smaller egg may not hatch, but only time will tell. We are very excited. We have two kids, but waiting for the eggs to hatch makes us feel like anxious new parents. It's so exciting. Right now we are making last minute preparations for their indoor accommodations. Yes, we know they will go outside eventually. Our only thought right now is... Is there any way to mark them in a safe way so we can tell them each apart? As baby chicks that is. I know that some use metal bands on adult birds' legs. But what about while they are still young chicks? We'd like to be able to tell them apart. But, we don't want to do anything that would hurt them, or paint them. We've heard of some people painting their young birds for a while to tell them apart. And we don't want to do that either. So, if anyone reads this before we figure it out, any advice on safely marking them? As for now, we wait anxiously for our new arrivals!