Easter Egger Sexing "tips and tricks" *Pictures Included*

[bbhorsefly]

Any ideas on these two "females" I got from the feed store? I'm wondering if the black one is a roo. They're at least 9 weeks old, probably 10. Thanks!!

How did the feed store know they were pullets? Did they order them sexed from a hatchery? I have my suspicions about both of them. Haha sorry. The brown has a very muted typical pullet color! But I'm suspicious of the level of red/pinking in the comb at just 9-10 weeks and the curved tail feather. Thats more pink/red than my 23 week old pullets have and none of them have any curved tail feathers. Though you would know if she's just been chased or excited which can pink them up for short periods. And I suppose it's conceivable she's just gearing up to lay eggs in the next 5-6 weeks and you'll beat me in the egg laying department too!

I'm suspicious of the black and white because it is typical male coloring and of the "messy" appearance of the feathers at the base of tail area. The floppy feathers hanging over and the patch of down peeking through. Not saddle feathers, but suspicious to me. The saddle feathers should start growing in the next couple weeks if it is in fact a boy. I looked back over all my pictures from my first EEs through both batches up to present and only the cockerels had that "messy" look there. They also have larger and darker combs then my older pullets had at that age, though my first cockerels had bright robust combs by 7 weeks. These have always been bad signs for me, but then my luck has been pretty crappy so maybe I'm just primed for suspicion. Do you have other roosters/cockerels around? I've found later comers to my flock tend to have a bit of repressed testosterone expression when there are already older, larger dominant males around. This is based on my vast knowledge of a whole 5 months of chicken ownership of 22 whole birds of 6 breeds, so take from it what you will! Two months ago, I'd have sworn they were pullets, but 15 times bitten 16 shy? Hahaha

 

[mymilliefleur]

Can anyone help me confirm the gender of these two Easter Eggers? #1 (first two pictures) #2( last 3 pics)

Both appear to be pullets.

 

[mymilliefleur]

Any ideas on these two "females" I got from the feed store? I'm wondering if the black one is a roo. They're at least 9 weeks old, probably 10. Thanks!!

The white one is definitely a pullet (in fact I have one almost identical, see my avatar) and I'm fairly sure that the black and white one is a pullet, though I'm not 100% sure.

 

[junebuggena]

Not all cockerels have red in them to have red shoulders. I don't think they are a trait they develop based on gender, just that if they have red in their coloring, boys have more concentrated patches across the shoulders and girls have more muted or broken up red. I have a cockerel that started out a wild partridge color scheme with brown, black, and white, especially on his wings, but it wasn't red and he molted almost all of it out to be almost totally black and white.

Some silver based males will get the dark red, and some won't. But all red/gold based males will get the dark red shoulders. That's just the way male colors are. Since the chicks in question are both gold based colors, if they were male, they would have the dark red shoulders.

 

[winterhorses]

How did the feed store know they were pullets? Did they order them sexed from a hatchery? I have my suspicions about both of them. Haha sorry. The brown has a very muted typical pullet color! But I'm suspicious of the level of red/pinking in the comb at just 9-10 weeks and the curved tail feather. Thats more pink/red than my 23 week old pullets have and none of them have any curved tail feathers. Though you would know if she's just been chased or excited which can pink them up for short periods. And I suppose it's conceivable she's just gearing up to lay eggs in the next 5-6 weeks and you'll beat me in the egg laying department too!

I'm suspicious of the black and white because it is typical male coloring and of the "messy" appearance of the feathers at the base of tail area. The floppy feathers hanging over and the patch of down peeking through. Not saddle feathers, but suspicious to me. The saddle feathers should start growing in the next couple weeks if it is in fact a boy. I looked back over all my pictures from my first EEs through both batches up to present and only the cockerels had that "messy" look there. They also have larger and darker combs then my older pullets had at that age, though my first cockerels had bright robust combs by 7 weeks. These have always been bad signs for me, but then my luck has been pretty crappy so maybe I'm just primed for suspicion. Do you have other roosters/cockerels around? I've found later comers to my flock tend to have a bit of repressed testosterone expression when there are already older, larger dominant males around. This is based on my vast knowledge of a whole 5 months of chicken ownership of 22 whole birds of 6 breeds, so take from it what you will! Two months ago, I'd have sworn they were pullets, but 15 times bitten 16 shy? Hahaha

I do have a young male EE that's around 6 months old.

The feed store said they were females, but the person I talked to didn't know which hatchery they were from. The light brown one has had a darker comb for over a month now, which made me suspicious.

The black and white one has such long curvy tail feathers! Could that just be the breed it was crossed with? They're also got a bit of a greenish tint to them. I do hope they're pullets, though, because the 1 rooster I have is more than enough! I also reeeally want those blue eggs, lol.

 

[jkdow]

My friend gave me these two EE. I don't know the age but I'm thinking they are both cockerels
They are fighting with each other like roosters, although they are still scared of my grown Redstar hen.

 

[junebuggena]

My friend gave me these two EE. I don't know the age but I'm thinking they are both cockerels
They are fighting with each other like roosters, although they are still scared of my grown Redstar hen.

They look to be about 8 to 10 weeks old. I see dark red on the shoulders on both of them. They are probably both boys.

 

[drumstick diva]

agreed

 

[mymilliefleur]

agreed

X2, I think you have two cockerels.

 

[Gldnrose]

BEAUTIFUL bird! Interesting lavender (I think) tail. As others posted, if she were a he, there would be a LOT of "boy feathers" and crowing by 22 weeks. You happened to get some of the "3 row comb is NOT always a boy" chicks! And yep, the coloring on the neck feathers sure does make them LOOK like they are pointed even though they are not.

Thank you, she has turned out very nice. I always say gray but it could be considered lavender. She was chocolate brown as a chick. It was interesting to see her change as she grew. And yes, they both have the three row combs which I think was making everyone lean towards boys when they were younger.