Do I have all EE"s???? (lots of pics)

[Peregrine]

I bought 5 chicks from an older local guy who said the dark ones are RIR and the light ones are EE. After spending WAY TOO MUCH TIME on this wonderful website, I've seen so many different colored EE's that I'm not sure of anything anymore. And the RIR pictures don't look like mine at all. I'd also love to know if I'm right about the sexes. Here are my chicks at 8 weeks old:

These are the two dark ones (I'm fairly sure they're pullets):

#1) Peregrine

#2) Pepper (it's hard to tell in this pic, but she has feathers by her cheeks that make them look puffy)

Both Pepper and Peregrine

These are the light colored ones (I'm fairly sure they're all roos):

#3) Roady Road Runner (named by my 4 yr. old. He's got puffy cheeks, too)

#4) Streak (lost some tail feathers due to an encounter with the neighbor's dog 3 weeks ago)

#5) Blackwing (who had black wings as a chick, but not anymore)

Oh, and another thing: How do you know if a rooster is an Easter Egger if it doesn't lay eggs?

 

[gamebirdsonly]

I would say for sure 2 is a EE and 3.

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

An easter egger sold by the hatcheries or feed stores as an americana/ameraucana/araucana will usually have puffy cheeks (muff/beard), a pea comb, and 'usually' greenish or slate legs. There are exceptions, but typically you should be able to find at least 1 of these traits in an EE (I have 5 EEs purchased at my local feed store and each one of them has all 3 traits).

An easter egger bred by a private person (mixing a hatchery EE with something else) may be not have these traits (being diluted with another breed) and the only way you'd know if it was an EE mix would be by the color egg it lays.

Pepper is the only one of your chickens that looks like a typical easter egger to me. Her coloring, beard, and comb match. It looks like the rest of your chickens have straight combs? & no fluffy cheeks.

I agree that you don't have any RIRs or production reds in the group and I think you have them sexed correctly too.

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

Quote:
I didn't notice that #3 had puffy cheeks - it does have a straight comb instead of a pea comb, so maybe this person has his chickens all running together. Are the legs on Peregrine green?

I'm thinking he has some hatchery EE's running with his RIR and figured his brown eggs would be RIR's and the green or blue eggs would be EEs. They might all be a mix between the two.

 

[Chris09]

Well there are no RIR's there not one.
I would say EE cross.

 

[Peregrine]

Quote:
What is a pea comb?

 

[pixie12]

I was wondering the same thing... What is a pea comb? Does it mean there isn't much there - not enough to distinguish gender?

It looks lie Pepper doesn't have much of a comb at all - she's gorgeous, btw. We have EEs just like her - 12 weeks, no difference in the size of their combs from when they were 8 weeks. I've read that it's really hard to tell with these guys until they start crowing or laying.

Could someone post a pic of an adult EE roo?

 

[speckledhen]

There are several comb types related to the type breed, one is pea, one is rose, etc. This is a pea comb:

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

Great illustration of a 3-row pea comb (some pea combs have a single row). I believe SpeckledHen's chick is a roo, so the combs on your pullets wouldn't be that big yet.

Here are two examples of pea combs on two 7-8 week old EE pullets...

The comb on this pullet did turn out to be a 3-row pea comb.

The comb on this pullet ended up being a single row pea comb.

versus a straight or single comb in a 7-8 week old pullet:

 

[sherrydeanne]

Quote:
Here's mine, about 12/13 weeks: