8-week Easter Egger "pullet" - is it actually? *Updated 10-week pics pg 3 - Boy or girl?*

[wordgirl]

Hi everyone! I'll try to get some pictures up later today or tomorrow - there's been a lot going on lately and I didn't get to my Tuesday Sneaky Update unfortunately! No, no crowing yet. Her tail is filling out - looks more hennish, but still not decisively one way or another. But there are NO saddle feathers that I can see, and no red at all (maybe a little bit of more brownish coloring on her shoulders, but not red). Comb hasn't gotten bigger. Body shape still is a bit confusing to me (not as filled out as some of the other girls), but Fred (my BO cockerel) has definitely surpassed her in rooster-body-shape and strutting.

So perhaps Sneaky is a girl after all??? I'll let you see what you think when I get the pictures up. Stay tuned!

Thanks everyone for all your help and the pictures! I have one other EE who is also black and white and has cockerel coloring (but NO red in plumage and comb is flat and pale) that maybe I'll have to include a picture of. If Sneaky is a girl, then maybe Sprinkles (my other EE) is the mutant.

She's got a mostly white body with black in the tail and head. Although, I think most of her down is dark, even under the white, so maybe that's not true boy-coloring? I'm pretty positive she's a girl, because she's 13.5 weeks old and her comb hasn't developed at all. But I think that it's funny that her coloring is what I would expect a cockerel to have. I'll snap a picture for you guys when I'm out photographing our friend Sneaky!

 

[thomaschickens]

patiently waiting for updates on Sneaky

Not that you could possibly have anything else to do besides post pictures for all of us to see

 

[wordgirl]

Okay! Sorry for the delay - we had some dear unexpected visitors the last couple of days and my sister and I didn't get a chance to get out and snap some pictures until this evening. But here they are! 13.5-week pictures of the mystery Easter Egger, Sneaky. For your viewing pleasure (or puzzlement):

Side of face and comb

Comb



Back



Any saddle feathers???



Tail



A couple full body shots (sorry for the poor quality)

And for fun, a pic of my other EE, a pullet named Sprinkles - with almost Delaware coloring (except her down is dark, even under the white parts) - shouldn't this type of coloring normally belong to a male EE?


Let me know what you think about Sneaky!

 

[Whittni]

I really want to say girl, but that tail is a weird one...as for the other chicken - EEs are mixed with anything and they have girl chickens with the coloration like hers called "penciled" when they are all solid.

 

[thomaschickens]

For our puzzlement is right!!! I still have absolutely NO idea

but I'm going to stick with my original guess and say roo. I think I'm starting to see saddle feathers but when the feathers are pencilled (not sure if that's the right term or not, where they have a different color around the outside) sometimes they look more pointy than they actually are. The only thing throwing me off is that the pattern is so beautifually even which is a sign of a pullet. I keep thinking, next time she posts pictures we're going to know for sure...and then I see the pictures and am no longer sure lol. I'm really starting to think we're just going to have to wait for a crow or an egg. Very beautiful birds you have though!!!! Hope you're having a great Labor Day weekend!

 

[Wishing4Wings]

Sneaky is aptly named! Still not sure, but on the 5th pic down (side view of tail), does anyone see saddle feathers? Is that a row of thin feathers just above Sneaky's wing? The comb is confusing too! I'll be interested to see what everyone thinks!

 

[debid]

Still looks like a girl to me! And no, I see no boy feathers at all at this point.

 

[wordgirl]

Whitni - yes, the tail does look funny right now (and has always been confusing). Most of the feathers in it look hen-like to me, but there's a few that seem like they shouldn't be there!

thomaschickens - Yes, I know - I'm having a lot of trouble settling on one gender or another. Even now, after I said I was pretty sure Sneaky's a girl, I'm still not 100%.

And he/she's almost 14 weeks old!

Wishing4wings - Yes, I see what you're seeing. I'll go out and look at those feathers and see whether they're saddle feathers, maybe take a picture, too. I know, the comb has always been a puzzler - not very large at all (a 14-week-old "normal" EE cockerel's comb ought to be much taller, I'm assuming???) but it's been red for over a month.

debid - Yay! I do hope you are right!

Thanks, everybody! Anybody else?

 

[blueeyeddemon]

I vote 99.99% pullet But, not completely sure yet

 

[birdherder]

I say cockerel. At 8 weeks, she shows lots of red in that comb. No way that's a pullet, IMO, sorry. I could certainly be wrong here, but after raising so many Ameraucanas and a few EEs, I've never had any pullets show that much red at 8 weeks of age.


Here is an EE pullet at 12 weeks old, a full month older that your bird--see how her comb is still barely even pink yet?

i agree, i had male EE that looked JUST like that... im sorry but im saying its probably a cockerel