Hello, I am new here and to chicken raising! We have 4 birds currently 11.5 weeks old. 3 are from TSC. 2 EE and 1 Cinnamon Queen. I’m pretty sure at least one of the EE is a pullet. The other two birds from TSC i’m iffy on! I thought we were safe on the CQ because of color sexing, but I don’t know that it’s a 1st generation CQ, so I’ve read that’s not 100% after that. 1 is from a small local hatchery. It is supposed to be a 1st gen Olive Egger. She said it was sexed by its head color. But I’m unsure now! So here are the three I’d like some outside opinions on. . Thanks for any input! Olive Egger 11.5w Cinnamon Queen 11.5w Easter Egger 11.5w
Hello and welcome to BYC! Can you post additional pictures of each bird showing the entire bird from the side so we can see legs and saddle feathers too?
They all look like females to me. Especially the CQ, my CQ looked the same at 12 weeks and she is a hen The OE is definitely a female, and I'm pretty confident the EE is also.
Yep, they are all pullets. Cinnamon queens are sex linked-- TSC wouldn't be selling second generation sex links, so yours is the right color for a female. Also, its comb and wattles are pale and small, like a pullet of that age. The olive egger is probably a black copper Marans/ cream Legbar cross. I don't know what the breeder was talking about with being able to sex them by head color, unless she or he meant the head spots that are present in barred birds. A male legbar crossed to a female BC Marans would give barred males and non-barred females, so only males have head spots as chicks, not the females. But yours is a definite pullet, regardless. The Easter egger is also definitely a pullet. Small, pale comb, and female type coloring. So you lucked out, unless you wanted a cockerel.
Whew - thanks everyone. We can't house roosters in my town, so we have been crossing our fingers and toes! @JedJackson - yes, that's what she meant, the head spot. I worded it wrong, my bad.
The only one that I have any doubts about is the 'cinnamon queen'. I don't think it is a cinnamon queen, and although there is no male specific feathering conformation is a bit masculine. The other 3 are pullets.