8 week Easter Egger -- help me stop obsessing!

[ShrekDawg]

Definitely girls. And some birds just grow at different rates than others or end up different sizes. One of my EEs is smaller than the others but they’re all definitely girls and yours are too.

 

[msirene]

Thank you all so much for the replies! I was so sure there would be at least one roo in the feed store mix. We had a backup plan, but I am so glad I get to keep them all, especially this one who was my favorite from the start. Now I can finally relax after 8 weeks of worrying!

 

[ShrekDawg]

Thank you all so much for the replies! I was so sure there would be at least one roo in the feed store mix. We had a backup plan, but I am so glad I get to keep them all, especially this one who was my favorite from the start. Now I can finally relax after 8 weeks of worrying!

Often you do get males from feed stores, especially if they were straight run, but sometimes even in the pullet bins (chicks tend to get mixed up easily, both breed and gender, put back in the wrong bin, etc.), so it’s amazing you ended up with all females haha glad you get to keep her!! She’s pretty.

 

[Mamatomany123]

Thank you all so much for the replies! I was so sure there would be at least one roo in the feed store mix. We had a backup plan, but I am so glad I get to keep them all, especially this one who was my favorite from the start. Now I can finally relax after 8 weeks of worrying!

I felt the same way. I kept thinking one of mine would end up a cockerel. All ended up pullets. They're 11 weeks now.

 

[SE WA Guy]

I'm in the very same boat ha ha. All my EE's are about 6 weeks now, and I've looked at probably 1000 google images of every imaginable EE combination of pullet/roo in chick/juvenile/adult phases. And I'm honestly still pretty stuck. I'm fairly confident that two are definitely hens - but I have another pair that I'm really watching closely. But I'm no better at spotting a teen roo in real time than OP here. Until I hear crowing, I'm holding out hope that all are hens lol.

 

[msirene]

Often you do get males from feed stores, especially if they were straight run, but sometimes even in the pullet bins (chicks tend to get mixed up easily, both breed and gender, put back in the wrong bin, etc.), so it’s amazing you ended up with all females haha glad you get to keep her!! She’s pretty.

I know, I feel like we got lucky! They were labeled sexed pullets -- 90%, so I figured with 5 chicks we had decent odds, but I still feel like we were lucky

 

[msirene]

I'm in the very same boat ha ha. All my EE's are about 6 weeks now, and I've looked at probably 1000 google images of every imaginable EE combination of pullet/roo in chick/juvenile/adult phases. And I'm honestly still pretty stuck. I'm fairly confident that two are definitely hens - but I have another pair that I'm really watching closely. But I'm no better at spotting a teen roo in real time than OP here. Until I hear crowing, I'm holding out hope that all are hens lol.

You can post yours on here, although most of the threads said to wait for 8 weeks which is why I waited...I didn't want to get false hope!

 

[ShrekDawg]

I know, I feel like we got lucky! They were labeled sexed pullets -- 90%, so I figured with 5 chicks we had decent odds, but I still feel like we were lucky

Definitely!!! I’ve ordered all mine from hatcheries and they’re usually pretty accurate, they’ve been right about the sex with all mine, but I’ve never gotten them from a feed store before. Even if the hatchery gets it right, other customers or employees can easily mix them up.

 

[SE WA Guy]

@msirene Oh, I can't wait to post mine ha ha. But I know full well that they're still too young to really really get a 100% on them. Mine are almost to that 8 week mark, and I'm just hoping that I got a couple of bigger hens in the mix.

The one thing that gives me hope is the anecdotal wisdom that EE hens are a bit more flighty, and males are a bit easier going with people approaching them. As it stands now, all my little EE's treat me entering the coop like a fire drill - which kind of makes me feel bad because they've never even been looked at harshly, much less treated in such a way that would make them so skittish. So, here's hoping that I just have flighty hens in the making.

At least my little Barred Rock chicks come right up to the mesh wire to let me pet them. Crazy how different they all are.

 

[ShrekDawg]

I think some chicks just go through a phase. All mine have been flighty for a while then they seem to get over it eventually haha all different breeds. Although others I’ve had have been super friendly from the beginning. but even that one went through a flighty “get away from me” teenage stage