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

[Harmoni]

I'm hoping the experts here can help me out. I've been worried about this hatchery-sexed girl since she was a few days old. No particular reason--hopefully I'm just paranoid because I've had an accidental rooster before.

She did have a bit more curiosity than the other chicks when she first came home, but she's settled in since then and now she doesn't stand out in any way, behavior-wise. She is the only Easter Egger in my mixed flock.

She's currently 7 weeks old.

Her comb is large but still very yellow/pale. She doesn't have the rooster posture at all--she walks with her chest horizontally low to the ground like a hen. But I'm still a bit worried about those splashes of red on her wings.

Thanks in advance for taking the time to look and guess!

Right now, I think pullet. I would repost around 12 weeks to see if there are pointy saddle feathers.
The patterning is beautiful and I have seen females have coloring like that.

 

[TheFrogLady]

Right now, I think pullet. I would repost around 12 weeks to see if there are pointy saddle feathers.
The patterning is beautiful and I have seen females have coloring like that.

Thanks! That's what I was thinking, too, but I couldn't tell if that was a typical female color pattern or not. The light red on her neck was throwing me off. She's sure a beauty, though, and her beard looks like it's going to be amazing!

 

[bruceha2000]

I'd say pullet based on the feather coloring. The initial red you would be looking for is a mahogany red on the wing bows. I don't consider "behavior" when guessing chick sex. There are always more assertive, more inquisitive birds and those that are less so. Even at a few weeks they will be chest bumping and starting their pecking order sort.

 

[TheFrogLady]

I'd say pullet based on the feather coloring. The initial red you would be looking for is a mahogany red on the wing bows. I don't consider "behavior" when guessing chick sex. There are always more assertive, more inquisitive birds and those that are less so. Even at a few weeks they will be chest bumping and starting their pecking order sort.

Thank you, that's good to know. I'm pretty new to this, and the "hen" we had last year who turned out to be a rooster showed definite rooster-like behavior from the beginning. I sort of assumed that was normal, to be strutting around early with their chests puffed out! But I guess there wouldn't be a million "is this a rooster?" threads here if it were that easy, right?

 

[bruceha2000]

RIGHT!!!! I've spent plenty of time worrying about a slightly larger comb. Is there some pink there?

The one time I got an accidental cockerel from Meyer he was obvious early on. Mostly due to his VERY slow feathering compared to the other chick of the same breed.

Female Barnevelder - 4 weeks. Fully feathered



Male Barnevelder - 4 weeks. Clearly a LONG way from fully feathered.



Of course I don't know if that "test" holds true for many or all breeds since Trouble was the only cockerel I've ever had.

 

[Iluveggers]

I noticed the OP said that many Easter Eggers could be sexed. I did not read through all 1347 pages, so I was wondering if anyone had a pic of a female and male baby chick (less than 1 week old) that shows the differences?

Thank you!

 

[Harmoni]

I noticed the OP said that many Easter Eggers could be sexed. I did not read through all 1347 pages, so I was wondering if anyone had a pic of a female and male baby chick (less than 1 week old) that shows the differences?

Thank you!

Some people think you can feather sex them, but because they are mutts, that doesn't always hold true.

 

[TheFrogLady]

RIGHT!!!! I've spent plenty of time worrying about a slightly larger comb. Is there some pink there?

The one time I got an accidental cockerel from Meyer he was obvious early on. Mostly due to his VERY slow feathering compared to the other chick of the same breed.

Female Barnevelder - 4 weeks. Fully feathered

View attachment 2761821

Male Barnevelder - 4 weeks. Clearly a LONG way from fully feathered.
View attachment 2761822


Of course I don't know if that "test" holds true for many or all breeds since Trouble was the only cockerel I've ever had.

Trouble is an awesome name for an accidental rooster! Love it!

Ours was an Australorp. He feathered out pretty quickly, but his comb was bright red at 5 weeks. Looking back on his chick pictures you can tell because his posture was extremely upright compared to the others.

I think the pandemic chicken buying frenzy caused Meyer to make a mistake on the sexing. They must have been really overworked. They were great about refunding us, and a fellow poster on here took the rooster, so it all worked out okay. But we're SO paranoid this time around. Which is silly, because now we've got a large enough flock to keep a rooster if we need to, but my husband and son and I are still seeing every little thing and going "ROOSTER??!!"

 

[bruceha2000]

I noticed the OP said that many Easter Eggers could be sexed. I did not read through all 1347 pages, so I was wondering if anyone had a pic of a female and male baby chick (less than 1 week old) that shows the differences?

Thank you!

EEs can not be sexed early. The black and white ones are the hardest. Might even have to wait for a crow or an egg with those

One of the earliest signs of a potential rooster is a 3 row pea comb. But with some people now referring to anything that lays other than brown or white as an EE they might not even have a pea comb. Could even be that the red in the wing bow area indicator might not apply.

If I call something an EE it will be the green legged, muffed and bearded with a pea comb.

 

[Finnie]

Male Barnevelder - 4 weeks. Clearly a LONG way from fully feathered.
View attachment 2761822


Of course I don't know if that "test" holds true for many or all breeds since Trouble was the only cockerel I've ever had.

It kind of does. Not all male chicks start out looking like this one, but no matter the breed, if I see a chick with this obvious of bald shoulders, I consider it a male.

So usually, pullets‘ wings will feather in pretty evenly and males’ wings will have long feathers on the ends while their shoulders remain downy or bald. Other classic signs of cockerels are short tails, tall gawky legs and of course large combs that turn pink early. But not all cockerels show any of these signs, which is where the trouble with sexing them comes in. EEs in particular don’t seem to get any of these signs.

And occasionally there will be pullets that kind of show these cockerel signs, and then surprise you later. But when it’s as exaggerated as your Trouble there, that makes it easier.