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

[my sunwolf]

debid, what an enormous, beautiful pullet

 

[bruceha2000]

I also think one of my sex links is a cockerel as well. So, I may end up with 3 out of 11 chicks :-(

I thought the point of sex links was that you COULDN'T get it wrong??

And now at 4 weeks. Neck feathers are coming in light with black centers.




Look at these legs!

I think you may want to invest in some super jumbo sized egg cartons!

Bruce

 

[Wishing4Wings]

When I first got her (3 days old). Agnes is the chick on the right. Chipmunk striping, very dark center of the back, head is brown-red patterned.

And now at 4 weeks. Neck feathers are coming in light with black centers.

Look at these legs!

I'm glad you posted! I have a girl that was huge like this as a pullet. Yours is going to be pretty. Hope you show her in adult plumage.

 

[missnu01]

I have 2 red sex links that are forever walking around making rooster faces and even though they are the smallest chicks in the brooder they have the thickest legs...they are female red sex link colored though..red body white tipped wings....looks good no combs and such, but man their legs.

I also have 4 sexed EEs but I know hatcheries sometimes get it wrong...but I'm going to keep assuming they are female, but 2 had chipmunk stripes while one had like spots and the 4th had face markings like a giraffe...one of the chicks is getting in spots that look like cheetah print on its head parts. It's crazy how much they way they look cganges

 

[huffchickens]

Bruce,

I thought so also. However, I friend of mine ordered 6 "pullets" from Tractor Supply last year and 2 ended up being cockerels. I guess they get it wrong sometimes. The funny thing is that the chick I think may be the cockerel is the sweetest one. However, he has a larger comb, it is redder, his waddles are starting to show (the other chicks are not) and he will bow up to my two other cockerels at times. Other than that, he's (hopefully still a she) an angel. I'm hoping it's a she that is just maturing quicker than the others? Here is a close up of the one I think may be a cockerel:



compared to this other chick




Any thoughts?

 

[ChickenChatten]

I would say rooster, with such developed comb and wattles, I could be wrong though

 

[debid]

Huffchickens, can you get a picture of the whole chick? Is the body red & white like your other sexlink or more of a solid red? I'm suspicious that it's a cockerel and not a sexlink at all. Maybe New Hampshire. It's rare that sexlinks are mis-sexed but a substitution to fill an order might make sense.

 

[huffchickens]

debid,

He looks alot like my other chicks. Red and White and is the sweetest of all of them. He is a little larger and has slightly bigger feet. Here are two shots:



From the top:



Not trying to hijack the easter egger thread. I have some updated pics of them as well. They are a a few days over 5 weeks (assuming they were a week old at Tractor Supply when I got them) I forgot to ask.

The back two are my roos. the one in front is my pullet. I kept hoping the darker roo was a pullet, but his red comb is giving him away. Plus he and my other roo (the one in back) fight sometimes.



My Pullet below. I think she is going to be pretty.

 

[popsicle]

Ok, I'm still thinking this one is cockerel, mostly on comb development at 5-weeks old:

 

[debid]

I wouldn't worry about your sexlink. The boys are almost solid white. Don't read too much into a little pinking of the comb/wattle. I've had lots of pullets blush pink at 6 weeks and one that blushed at 4. If the comb isn't growing, it's not a freak male. Now, I will throw this out there just because it happens so often. If you buy "sexlinks" from some random person you find on, say, Craigslist, you might get second generation birds where the color differences no longer align with gender. I've seen many males patterned like females posted here and that is how it happens. But not from a big hatchery. Ever. The mis-sexed ones are more like sorter fatigue situations where they are clearly male and were tossed in the wrong box.