Are these little feathers coming off tail of EE a sign of roo or a breed thing?

[susanah]

There are tiny little pieces of feathers coming off the tips of her back feathers today. Does this have to do with sex or could it be a genetic trait?

 

[Kev]

Not sure what you mean about the pieces.. however from picture, both birds are females, from their color pattern(males in those colors would have very different colors and patterns).

 

[susanah]

It's the one in the front. That's some good news. She is our favorite. Someone else called her a male in another post, but we are still hoping girl. But if you click on the pic and look at the end of the tail feathers, they are not smooth. And the one we know is a roo has the same thing going on.

 

[Kev]

OK so it was tail not back..

if it's the clear bar close to the tip of tail feather, it's called a fret or stress bar. If a bird is stressed during a feather's growth, it can develop a line through the feather. This is not genetic and will eventually disappear once the bird molts out again.


That one most definitely is a female. No question about it. A boy in this same color would have loads of white on neck, wings, back and big solid black patches on breast. Similar to silver duckwing rooster- look up pictures of roos with this color.

 

[BantamFan4Life]

They look like pullet to me

 

[susanah]

Here is a better pic of the tip of the tail. If you click on the pic and look closely at the end of the longest feathers it looks kind of hairlike instead of smooth.

 

[susanah]

Hooray! Any more votes for pullet?

Is there a specific color name for this EE? Or are they pretty much just mutts since EE's aren't a true breed?

 

[Ducclelover10]

Looks like a pullet for sure!

 

[donrae]

I see what you're talking about with the ends of the feathers, but have no idea what it means. The bird is definitely a female.

 

[Happy Chooks]

I see what you're talking about with the ends of the feathers, but have no idea what it means. The bird is definitely a female.

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