Easter Egger - 5 weeks old - hen or roo?

[Rosalita4660]

I purchased my EE from a reputable hatchery. She was born on May 3, so she is in her 5th week. She SHOULD be a pullet.

However, she isn't feathering like the others, and she's just so large! I'm worried that SHE is really a HE, and that I'll have to get rid of her since roosters are not allowed in residential areas.

Any insight provided would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!!!


EE on the left, comparing foot size to my buff orpington.




Profile view



Front view of beak



Back


Close up of feathers:

 

[Chicken Girl1]

Hello and Welcome to BYC!
It is to young to sex accurately, you could post again in another 1-2 weeks though.

 

[BantamLover21]

Too young to sex accurately; size and feathering are not usually reliable methods of sexing. If I had to guess, though, I would say cockerel.

 

[ImNotYogi]

Ive been told feather pattern is an indicator. Pullets will have a consistent pattern while males will have a splotchy/quilted one. Also, normally a male will have 3 rows on his comb while a female will have one distinct row. One of my EEs turned out a cockerel, he's also 5 weeks. His comb was noticeably flat from the start in comparison to the others. It started to look more like a lump then last week it started turning pink. And he crowed last Tuesday.

Edit: I should stress the "normally" in regards to the comb. People on this site have said they had females with 3 rows and males with 1. I've looked at the feather pattern on my EEs more than anything.

 

[Wyandottes7]

Too young to sex accurately; size and feathering are not usually reliable methods of sexing. If I had to guess, though, I would say cockerel.

x2

 

[Rosalita4660]

Would the hatchery or an avian vet be able to tell for sure? I'm just dying to know before I get even more attached to her!

 

[JanetS]

Sometimes you don't know until they crow or lay an egg. Good luck.

 

[enola]

I am going to guess cockerel, sorry.

 

[junebuggena]

The comb already has three well defined rows. I'm going to guess cockerel on this one.
This is my cockerel at six weeks old, with his nice even pattern. He had already tried to crow, so I knew full well he was a boy.

 

[Rosalita4660]

Is it normal that he/she has hardly any feathers yet?