CCL mixed easter egger

[Echelontheory101]

Hi all,

I ordered a cream legbar and was sent this Easter egger (I've already gotten my money back). Because I initially thought she was a CCL she was the only one i was positive was a pullet since her coloring was so dark compared to what male CCL look like so I didn't ask or show pics of her in my last post asking for guesses on the rest of the flock. Now that I have an Easter egger and not an autosexing CCL curious if we think pullet or cockerel.

I still thing pullet shes 11 weeks old and her comb is still very light, and her tail feathers are very blunt and rounded but am not experienced enough to know for sure.

Also not related to the CCL this is one of the raw images I took to clean up for one of the winter farm contests of my exchequer leghorn, do those super upright tail feathers have any significance for sex? Thinking still pullet since comb is yellow and the feathers arent floppy but just trying to learn what to look for across breeds when I start incubating so I dont have to keep them in grow out pens more than 12ish weeks before knowing who's staying and who's going

 

[Winderdear]

The EE has female specific coloring, so she’s certainly a pullet.

The Leghorn looks like a pullet to me based on lack of comb and wattle development. The tail feathers do not look like male specific feathering. Mediterranean breeds like Leghorns often have a high somewhat fan-shaped tail. Both birds are very pretty!

 

[Echelontheory101]

The EE has female specific coloring, so she’s certainly a pullet.

The Leghorn looks like a pullet to me based on lack of comb and wattle development. The tail feathers do not look like male specific feathering. Mediterranean breeds like Leghorns often have a high somewhat fan-shaped tail. Both birds are very pretty!

Awesome thank you so much. I'm trying to learn more about visual sexing. The combs and wattles, and colors of those things makes a lot of sense to me but I'm still pretty lost on the feathers part because I know feather sexing isn't consistent across all breeds just like you pointed out with Mediterranean breeds, and I'm trying to teach myself what to look for before I start hatching more next summer, so I'm not waiting past 12 weeks when obvious signs start to show up, before getting birds out of the grow out pen and either integrated, sold or processed. Also thank you they are both pretty cute haha!

 

[pnw_urban_chix]

EE looks female to me. Leghorn is definitely female.

 

[WingItRanch]

Both very pretty pullets.

 

[Echelontheory101]

EE looks female to me. Leghorn is definitely female.

Thank you! Just for my educational purposes can you explain a little bit about what you looked at to make that decision? The combs wattles and colors of those things makes a lot of sense to me but I'm still totally lost on what saddle, hackle, tail feathers etc really are and what theyre supposed to look like etc across many different looking breeds so curious to soak up some of your knowledge!

 

[Echelontheory101]

Both very pretty pullets.

Thank you! The Leghorn is a menace so her cuteness does a lot for her

Just for my educational purposes can you explain a little bit about what you looked at to make that decision? The combs wattles and colors of those things makes a lot of sense to me but I'm still totally lost on what saddle, hackle, tail feathers etc really are and what theyre supposed to look like etc across many different looking breeds so curious to soak up some of your knowledge!

 

[WingItRanch]

Thank you! The Leghorn is a menace so her cuteness does a lot for her

Just for my educational purposes can you explain a little bit about what you looked at to make that decision? The combs wattles and colors of those things makes a lot of sense to me but I'm still totally lost on what saddle, hackle, tail feathers etc really are and what theyre supposed to look like etc across many different looking breeds so curious to soak up some of your knowledge!

Absolutely. So I knew instantly that your EE was a pullet because of her coloring. That is a typical female color pattern for EEs. A male EE is typically more splotchy and uneven in the color pattern. Also, her pea comb is nice and pale. The boys will be redder faster and typically will have a wider pea comb.

As for hackles, saddles, and sickles (tail feathers), the females will be nice and round and the males will be shiny and pointy. Sometimes feather patterns make it hard to tell but when they get older, it will be pretty obvious.

 

[Echelontheory101]

That is a typical female color pattern for EEs. A male EE is typically more splotchy and uneven in the color pattern.

By pattern do you mean the barring? Or the colors themselves?

As for hackles, saddles, and sickles (tail feathers), the females will be nice and round and the males will be shiny and pointy. Sometimes feather patterns make it hard to tell but when they get older, it will be pretty obvious.

Got it! This is where I get stuck because the roundness of her tail feathers is pretty obvious to me but if you were to ask me if those neck feathers are slim and pointy Id say yes but it sounds like males are like really really pointy

And then on the tail feathers floppyness doesn't always mean male right? Like one of my ameraucana has rounded tail feathers but theyre pretty flopped over they definitely dont swoop up at all but I kinda suspicious squinty eye at her lol because in my head I thought floppy meant male but thinking thats not actually the case.

Also thank you for letting me pepper you with questions haha just trying to learn

 

[WingItRanch]

By pattern do you mean the barring? Or the colors themselves?

Got it! This is where I get stuck because the roundness of her tail feathers is pretty obvious to me but if you were to ask me if those neck feathers are slim and pointy Id say yes but it sounds like males are like really really pointy

And then on the tail feathers floppyness doesn't always mean male right? Like one of my ameraucana has rounded tail feathers but theyre pretty flopped over they definitly dont swoop up at all but it kinda suspicious squinty eye at her lol because in my head I though floppy meant male but thinking thats not actually the case.

Also thank you for letting me pepper you with quesitons haha just trying to learn

Hey! We're all always learning!
When I was talking about pattern, I was referring to the coloring. Here's an example of 2 EEs I had that looked identical at birth. This is when I knew which one was the cockerel.

Do you see how the one in front has an even color pattern? Starts with a light head and then gradually gets darker.

The boy (arrow) was very uneven in his coloring then when the rust color started popping up in his wings, it was a confirmation that he was a cockerel. This doesn't work on all breeds but often does with EEs.