All pullets?

[chooks4life]

Quote: Male feathering. I strongly recommend you check out those dark wing feathers and compare them to hen's wings. You will not see the same feathers on her wings. It's not the shade of red that makes it male, it's the actual structure of the feathers. If you don't look close enough to see the structure difference, then it just seems darker. But the darkness is due in part to the different structure.

It's a definite rooster. Also, since its wing feathers are showing its gender, you will also see male-structure neck hackles and rump feathering.

Best wishes.

 

[DuckieTam]

I thought I would update with pics of their combs.

Head shot of the red/brown one

Head shot of the small black one

Head shot of the black/red one this is a confirmed Roo, long feathers male color patterning. His comb is black and red? how strange.
As requested a side shot of the barred rock one

I didn't take a shot of the barred rock's comb since it is not a pea comb it has a single comb like you would find on a barred rock.

From reading other posts the combs tells me they are all cockerels. I'm disappointed in that I didn't get any pullets from my experimental hatch, I wasn't looking forward to finding homes for 4 cockerels. The little brown one hasn't developed the longer neck feathers nor the tail feathers, which tricks me to think it is a pullet. I don't know why I am sad that it is a cockerel instead of a pullet we wanted him to be a cockerel.

 

[chooks4life]

Not sure about the barred one. Stance (in that pic anyway) and comb suggest male, but I don't see any for-sure-guaranteed male feathers. Sorry about the amount of males you got when you were after females... But it happens to us all. You'll have better luck in future when you're more experienced with telling them apart.

About the black and red crest, it's pretty common for mixed breeds. He may grow out of it. Some mix-breeds develop from black/green/purple/blue/-skinned juveniles into red-crested adults. Some keep their mottled crests and faces. One of my hens had a face striped like a zebra, red and black. Looked cool. Too bad she was a nasty one. A lot of mix breeds also have what looks like black eye makeup all around their eyelids.

I once had a male with striped legs, which were patterned like a gecko's tail, blue and white. Also have had many hens with the front of the legs and upper part of the toes dark, and the rest pale, so combinations of red/brown and yellow or green and pale pea color or yellow or white. I've also had such a variety of crest colors and shapes in my flock of mongrels... Not to mention the sheer amount of patterns and colors you can get on one animal in terms of feathering... It's one reason I prefer mongrels to purebreds.

Best wishes.

 

[DuckieTam]

The color variety is why I fell in love with the EE. I have 20 hens and can tell each and every one of them apart. I have one with a red head, but she has a black stripe down the center of her head. The barred one along with the little black one are developing a narrow curling tail which screams male to me. The little brown one I noticed just this morning a few narrow long feathers on it's tail.

When I set the eggs I was just seeing if the chicken would stay broody and hatch them out. I was kind of expecting a 50/50 mix of males and females, not a 100/0. I hate falling in love with the little chicks seeing their colors develop and them grow up only to find out I have to re-home them or make my husband buck up and become a butcher.

I am torn on which one of them to keep now, we have the pretty white and red one, and now a black/red, and the red one. If that black one hadn't turned out so pretty it would have been an easier choice.

 

[chooks4life]

Quote: One or both parents being under a year old can result in 100% male clutches. I breed young parents to get clutches I know will be for culling, no future breeders among them, partly because it guarantees so many males, rarely any females, and in my experience the offspring of young parents are never as good as the offspring of the same parents when they're over a year or two of age.

I like mongrels for the same reason you like EE's... Endless variety. Though EE's are supposed to have some traits in common from what I've read, and of course mongrels don't.

Best wishes.

 

[DuckieTam]

Ahh thanks for that bit of info. That explains the male ratio, funny thing is as more time goes by that little brown one is looking like a pullet. I will wait a few weeks and take new pics of them to update.

Mine were just over a year old, the lady I got my Roo from said he hatched July of '12 and I know all my girls I got the eggs from were a July 11, 2012 hatch. I set the eggs at the very end of July, and they hatched on day 21 August 20th. So a week or two older than a year, spring chicks might yield more of a 50/50 result.

I learn something new everyday.