Easter egger hen or rooster?

[csaylorchickens]

My chicks looked about 1 week old when I got them. I believe they are now 5 weeks old. Two have feathered out nicely so far but one is seriously delayed in feathering. I fear this is a rooster not a pullet. I tried to get good pics. It acts like a rooster as attitude is seriously there. But I had a hen years ago that I thought was a rooster but she was just a lead dominating hen. The bored in question is the light colored one with less fathering. It doesn't have 3 rows to its comb but a lot larger? Maybe a different mix with ameraucana?

 

[Runt of the Flock]

looks like a male though i could be wrong. hard to tell

 

[csaylorchickens]

Good thing is the local hatchery will trade out if you got a rooster at 6 weeks for a pullet at 6 weeks.

 

[JedJackson]

My chicks looked about 1 week old when I got them. I believe they are now 5 weeks old. Two have feathered out nicely so far but one is seriously delayed in feathering. I fear this is a rooster not a pullet. I tried to get good pics. It acts like a rooster as attitude is seriously there. But I had a hen years ago that I thought was a rooster but she was just a lead dominating hen. The bored in question is the light colored one with less fathering. It doesn't have 3 rows to its comb but a lot larger? Maybe a different mix with ameraucana? View attachment 1320304 View attachment 1320305 View attachment 1320307 View attachment 1320308 View attachment 1320309 View attachment 1320310 View attachment 1320311 View attachment 1320312 View attachment 1320313

The light is a little too glaring in the pictures to be sure, but I don't see anything that says cockerel yet. Behavior isn't a reliable indicator of sex in a bird so young. The coloring is unusual for an Easter egger but it looks like it has a pea comb and beard, so I think it is an EE. If it were me I'd wait until the bird matures and feathers out before trading it in, as it could very well be a pullet. A little protein boost in the form of meal worms might help.

 

[Wagging Tail Ranch]

I have a couple of EE from last year that were bantams. I don't know if it holds true with all of them but when they were a week or two old, the partridge ones, and the yellow ones with the chipmunk stripes and eyeliner turned out to be pullets. The ones that were mostly white or grey [even if they had stripes and eyeliner] were males when they were grown. I only had 5 so that may have been a fluke.

 

[JedJackson]

I have a couple of EE from last year that were bantams. I don't know if it holds true with all of them but when they were a week or two old, the partridge ones, and the yellow ones with the chipmunk stripes and eyeliner turned out to be pullets. The ones that were mostly white or grey [even if they had stripes and eyeliner] were males when they were grown. I only had 5 so that may have been a fluke.

That doesn't always hold true-- there are plenty of silver Easter egger hens and pullets out there and plenty of red or gold male EEs. I think with this bird it will need to be feathered out for accurate sexing.

 

[drumstick diva]

agree with Jed Jackson

 

[debid]

Good thing is the local hatchery will trade out if you got a rooster at 6 weeks for a pullet at 6 weeks.

6 weeks?! That's a bit soon. The patterns will usually tell the tale even in juvenile plumage but I can't see enough of it yet to be sure of anything. Post once the feathers fill in.

 

[csaylorchickens]

I guess I can wait it out but I think they won't trade them back if I wait too much longer. I wish I could have a rooster. Don't wanna push my luck with my neighbors and I think you need at least 1 acre of land for rooster and we have 0.64

 

[Killer Tomato]

That tail (or lack thereof) just screams rooster to me! Especially compared to the others. Those legs are pretty sturdy too. "Climber's legs", lol.

My EE rooster began crowing between weeks 4 and 5, and pretty much confirmed it to us, so there was *that*. He was my darling boy, until he got his hormones, and then was the biggest A-hole ever. Oh, well.

I hope I'm wrong!