Ways to tell if male or female?

I'm so excited. I'm going to buy 4-6 weeks Olive Egger and Copper Maran chicks tomorrow but the owner is not sure if they are male or female. Is there a way to tell? I really don't want or need any roosters at this time so I'll be taking a risk buying them. Does anyone know if there are any tricks to telling male from female particularly with these two breeds? Thanks!

This is the 64 million dollars question! Welcome to the club. You most wait and look for the signs. Good luck

Signs of a rooster are:

1. Long narrow feathers at the base of the tail (saddle feathers)
2. Large red comb
3. Droopy waddles
4. Thick legs
5. Crowing
6. Dark red blotches on the wings

The copper marans chicks should have drastically different comb and wattle sizes by that age (males have much bigger, redder combs and wattles). Those should be easy to tell apart.

The olive eggers are going to be harder, as they have small pea combs. That being said, I was able to tell the difference between my male and female pea comb birds by that age, based mostly on the comb color. Another thing with Easter Eggers that I've seen people refer to is that if you have a generally solid color or solid pattern bird, the males will often have different colors popping out on the wings and neck. That's probably a less reliable indicator, but it was true for my hatch at least. I hatched several Easter Egger/Marans cross chicks, and all of my chicks were mostly gray, but the boys had some yellow or brown on their wings and necks.

In the back is a pullet, and in the front is a cockerel. These guys are 10 weeks old in this pic, but you could see the difference in coloration earlier than that.


Here's another pic, again at 10 weeks (sorry, I don't think I have pics of them when they were 6 weeks). On the right is a cockerel, in the middle is a pullet, and on the far left halfway in the picture is another cockerel. Notice the difference in coloration and size of the combs for the pullet and cockerel.


And here's a clearer picture of the pullet:



There's a really good thread on tips for sexing easter eggers:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/463817/easter-egger-sexing-tips-and-tricks-pictures-included

Thanks for the reply, although not the answer I was hoping for lol

Wow, even more info was posted before I got my last comment posted. Thanks for all the replies!

Amina wrote a nice post.

at the age you're looking at, there aren't going to be hackle or saddle feathers. Comb size and color is going to be your red flag, along with color and possibly leg thickness. Any bird with red to the comb, I'd avoid. Pullests should have minimal size to the comb at this age, and it should be fleshy colored, not pink or red. Patched of different color--red, silver or gold, just different than the main body color--on the shoulders/wings is a male sign, but 4 weeks might be too young to see this. Thicker legs are usually a cockerel trait, as is a bold attitude.

I'd say spend some time looking at pea comb pictures here. At this young age, the triple row is a pretty good indicator of a male. Females will have a single row of bumps, males will have a main, larger row with smaller rows on each side.

If in doubt, post some pics here and we can guide you.

donrae said:

Amina wrote a nice post.

at the age you're looking at, there aren't going to be hackle or saddle feathers. Comb size and color is going to be your red flag, along with color and possibly leg thickness. Any bird with red to the comb, I'd avoid. Pullests should have minimal size to the comb at this age, and it should be fleshy colored, not pink or red. Patched of different color--red, silver or gold, just different than the main body color--on the shoulders/wings is a male sign, but 4 weeks might be too young to see this. Thicker legs are usually a cockerel trait, as is a bold attitude.

I'd say spend some time looking at pea comb pictures here. At this young age, the triple row is a pretty good indicator of a male. Females will have a single row of bumps, males will have a main, larger row with smaller rows on each side.

If in doubt, post some pics here and we can guide you.

Click to expand...

X 2

donrae said:

Amina wrote a nice post.

at the age you're looking at, there aren't going to be hackle or saddle feathers. Comb size and color is going to be your red flag, along with color and possibly leg thickness. Any bird with red to the comb, I'd avoid. Pullests should have minimal size to the comb at this age, and it should be fleshy colored, not pink or red. Patched of different color--red, silver or gold, just different than the main body color--on the shoulders/wings is a male sign, but 4 weeks might be too young to see this. Thicker legs are usually a cockerel trait, as is a bold attitude.

I'd say spend some time looking at pea comb pictures here. At this young age, the triple row is a pretty good indicator of a male. Females will have a single row of bumps, males will have a main, larger row with smaller rows on each side.

If in doubt, post some pics here and we can guide you.

Click to expand...

x3

donrae said:

Amina wrote a nice post.

at the age you're looking at, there aren't going to be hackle or saddle feathers. Comb size and color is going to be your red flag, along with color and possibly leg thickness. Any bird with red to the comb, I'd avoid. Pullests should have minimal size to the comb at this age, and it should be fleshy colored, not pink or red. Patched of different color--red, silver or gold, just different than the main body color--on the shoulders/wings is a male sign, but 4 weeks might be too young to see this. Thicker legs are usually a cockerel trait, as is a bold attitude.

I'd say spend some time looking at pea comb pictures here. At this young age, the triple row is a pretty good indicator of a male. Females will have a single row of bumps, males will have a main, larger row with smaller rows on each side.

If in doubt, post some pics here and we can guide you.

Click to expand...

X4