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

[aoxa]

Sand, rakes clean, drains well, stays cooler in our heat

That would be SOO expensive.. And sand is hot in the heat.. Ever go to the beach and burn your soles? Yeah.. I wouldn't want that in the summer.. Unless the run is very well shaded.

Mine are on grass 24/7 (live grass), and I thought about the coop being sand, but I can't imagine the costs..

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Uumm I live in FL on an island, yep have lots of sand around here so very aware of what sand can and can not be. We also don't use coops like northerns do. all open air, under roof pens. No runs, no coops like most think of. The pen doors are opened allowing free range into the pastures and yards. So all of their (what you would call coops) are sand floored. They work great too, rake level again after they dig their dusting holes, spray down with water in the hottest months to give an extra cool place to cool down. All of the goose houses have sand floors with hay added on top for nesting/padding. We can't get straw here, so hay is used in its place. How we house the birds doesn't work for everyone, but it works very well here on our island in high heat and super humidity with severe summer storms to include hurricanes.

 

[aoxa]

Uumm I live in FL on an island, yep have lots of sand around here so very aware of what sand can and can not be. We also don't use coops like northerns do. all open air, under roof pens. No runs, no coops like most think of. The pen doors are opened allowing free range into the pastures and yards. So all of their (what you would call coops) are sand floored. They work great too, rake level again after they dig their dusting holes, spray down with water in the hottest months to give an extra cool place to cool down. All of the goose houses have sand floors with hay added on top for nesting/padding. We can't get straw here, so hay is used in its place. How we house the birds doesn't work for everyone, but it works very well here on our island in high heat and super humidity with severe summer storms to include hurricanes.

Oh so you have roofs over the pens. That would be better than

I can't walk on the beach unless the tide just went out, otherwise my feet get blistered.

Open air coops.. sounds like a dream!

 

[Flowerbh]

How in heavens name do you keep live grass in your run without them eating it to death???? I let my chickens out to free range...we have 25 acres and where do you think they end up every single day? On my little back strip of grass behind the house!!!. It use to be the only place I kept really beautiful....hostas, ferns, flowers, grass....the rest of the yard is woods (wild ferns, flowers, weeds, etc)...NOOOOO they want my cutivated stuff... and it looks like locus have been there! There is no way to keep them out of there....too many ways to get to it....side of the mountain...either ends, etc. And of course they want to roost on my steps (and poop there, too!) I have roosts all over, but NOOOO they want the steps! As far as coops and runs, we had a bear get into the run last week ...thankfully the chickens were, of course, behind the house on my steps, so they were safe. We had left the door to the run open so they could come and go...the run and coop held up fine....great job my DH did in making it preditor proof....so now we modified the door to have a smaller "chicken only" size door built into the normal door. Like a cat/dog type thing. Yea, I know, raccoons and stuff can go in and out, but we close everything up by 7pm. And we do have 3 dogs that help with that problem. So, anyway, thanks to you all for suggestions on run stuff. Does anyone use saw dust? I have access to some. Don't have much grass left to use grass clippings!!!!! And I haven't even gotten my first egg yet!!!

 

[Simmonsfunnyfrm]

I use pine shavings in my coop. Cheap and easy to find. I use the flakes instead of sawdust because the younger chickens sometimes think the sawdust is food and that's not good for them.

 

[Wetherwell]

Can anyone help me tell if my EEers are hen or roo ? They were born approximately March 10-13 . I purchased them the same day from Rural King ( like a TSC ).

About 7 to 8 weeks in this photo below






the same chick as the first photo and about 14-15 weeks in this photo.(above )


The two below are about 7-8 weeks and I am thinking they're both hens but we get into trouble when I start thinking LOL

 

[DMRippy]

Can anyone help me tell if my EEers are hen or roo ? They were born approximately March 10-13 . I purchased them the same day from Rural King ( like a TSC ).

About 7 to 8 weeks in this photo below






the same chick as the first photo and about 14-15 weeks in this photo.(above )


The two below are about 7-8 weeks and I am thinking they're both hens but we get into trouble when I start thinking LOL

Both look like pullets to me.

 

[Wetherwell]

Both look like pullets to me.

What do you think about the chick in the first and 2nd photo ? It's the same chick just different ages when I took the photo.

Thanks ~

 

[DMRippy]

Quote: Pullet, I did catch that was the same chicken.

Typical pullet colors.

 

[MySuburbanLife]

Can the size of an EE help to determine sex? I have two hatchery EEs with the same hatch date. Bambi was a light chipmunk chick and Daphne was a dark chipmunk. Within two weeks, Daphne started getting much larger than Bambi-- out of all 7 of my chicks, Daphne is by far the biggest. Her legs are thicker, her comb is close to her head but is wider than Bambi's.

Here are some pictures of her from this week, at 6 weeks old. In the lower left, Bambi is the smaller one and Daphne is the larger one.



Too soon to tell, or any early guesses from the EE experts out there?