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

[lizardandchicks]

Checking in again at around 7 weeks, hoping for girl but thinking boy....

Hate to say it, but I am pretty sure that is a boy.

 

[kristaschics15]

Alright I was able to hold Penny (or Peter I don't know) and look at her comb real good. I didn't have my phone for a picture but it is no pea comb at all. It's not flat either but there are no distinguishable rows of anything. She's 8 weeks old. Does that tell me anything? I will attempt a picture tomorrow. Kicking myself for walking out without my phone today.

 

[bruceha2000]

Thank you for your kindness. Yes, it was a lesson hard learned. This is our first time raising chicks, and I was stupidly confident about the lack of predators we've had around here. I feel terrible.

Live and learn, move on. We have all been there!

Sylvester can tell you about all the predators, wild and domestic, that exist in residential areas. You don't see them until you put out the free and very fresh chicken buffet!

I've not lost any in what I consider a secure area and the ONLY one I consider to be so is the coop (converted horse stall in an old barn) which is plywood on stud walls with all openings covered with 1/2" hardware cloth OVER the pre-existing 2x4 or poultry wire that was on the stall when we bought the house. I figured I had the easiest coop build ever since I only needed to make people and chicken doors until I read about the size holes you can NOT expect to keep out preds. And that does NOT include 2x4 welded wire fence. It will keep out larger predators but it is a HUGE hole for a weasel. 1/2" hardware cloth it is!! The floor had rubber horse mats which I picked up and put back down over 1/2" hardware cloth run up the side walls AFTER we saw an ermine by the house and knowing that mice and voles routinely tunneled into the coop coming up between the mats. The chickens have an "indoor run" which is the barn alley and I do NOT consider that predator proof though their auto chicken door opens to it every morning. Rodents routinely dig under the barn walls (no real foundation) and the floor everywhere is dirt. A fox could get in with no effort other than tunneling and since they LIVE in tunnels, clearly not a problem for them.

Where I did lose 2 was outside to foxes. One late April 2014 in a "fenced" (*) area behind the little barn, not 50' from the barn where their coop is. The second was this May - I stupidly "remembered" the first being lost early in April so wasn't concerned in late April. She was outside the "fenced" area about an hour before sundown but the fox could have easily taken her inside it. In fact, only because my favorite Black Australorp put up a BIG ruckus and we ran outside, did I not lose her to the fox that was going for her and I think actually had her in its (probably a her with kits) mouth wen we scared it off. She was not 50' behind the house, again not a bit of fox deterrent even though she was inside a fence. But it is a 3 rail fence, no wire at all.

I "fixed" the fence removing the wood running "post to post" at the top that was rotting and falling off and pulling the poultry wire down since it was air gun stapled to the wood. I ran a wire through the top of the poultry netting and pulled it tight, poultry stapled to the posts so it has tension. I replaced wire in short sections and put a 100' roll of 48" 2x4 welded wire fencing along the north side where the poultry wire was really bad. So the chickens are safER when they are in the area (unless they fly over, which they can) but a larger predator could rip through the poultry wire and any that dig would have little trouble going under the fence. It would just take more time and perhaps the activity would alert the chickens. No sneaking up.

* weasely and run down, open "gate areas", it was most recently used for horses and had hot wire but since it had poultry wire all around, prior owners must have had chickens, ducks and/or turkeys in there.

Here's a challenge. This one is exactly 8 weeks old. I 1st thought male b/c the comb is wide. It is 1/2 English Orpington (11 lb roo) + 1/2 EE.
Now he/she looks so small & petite next to its siblings.





Here's a 6.5 week old brother: (See what I mean?)



Any guesses?

Don't need to guess. If a 6.5 week old bird from the same parents has that big a comb, the 8 week old is a pullet.

gender guesses? 8 weeks old

Pullet based on coloring and age.

My spastic Wester.

Geez, give us a break!

Not sure I want to venture a guess on this one. Some things go one way, some the other.

Here are my chicks. I'm guessing Patches is a roo, not sure about Tulip. They are 6 weeks old.

Patches:



So any guesses? My guess for Patches is based off the big patches of white on the wings, but what do I know? They both have small combs still and they are pinkish in the pictures, but it was pretty warm.

I think the black and whites are really hard to figure out. Patches doesn't seem to have much of a comb but the lack of uniform feather patterning on the wings is "notable". Maybe a pullet working on the next moult?

Checking in again at around 7 weeks, hoping for girl but thinking boy....

Looks like it came from the same hatch as NewMarch's "Wester" a few posts up! The uneven feather pattern is concerning, doesn't really look like a "basically red" bird. Wester seems to have more red across the back. Taking no bets on either

 

[sharol]

Here's a challenge. This one is exactly 8 weeks old. I 1st thought male b/c the comb is wide. It is 1/2 English Orpington (11 lb roo) + 1/2 EE.
Now he/she looks so small & petite next to its siblings.





Here's a 6.5 week old brother: (See what I mean?)



Any guesses?

It looks like a triple pea comb, though, so who knows. It looks pretty feminine, but that comb.

 

[lizardandchicks]

Okay, here is my little EE. Sugar is about 8 and a half weeks old. She has the red on her wings, but she only has a single comb. Any guesses?







Thanks in advance!

 

[junebuggena]

Sugar is a pullet. The red that's coming in isn't quite dark enough for it to be 'rooster' red.
My boy at about 8 weeks old. This is the shade of dark red that indicates rooster.

 

[Faraday40]

Okay, here is my little EE. Sugar is about 8 and a half weeks old. She has the red on her wings, but she only has a single comb. Any guesses?







Thanks in advance!

Sugar looks like a pullet. I'm guessing one of the parents had some RIR or similar breed. She has a small, pale, single comb. It reminds me of one of my former pullets. She went through a splotchy stage as she got her adult feathers.:

 

[rlhagan56]

Russel Crowe

Purdy Pullet (her mom is Pretty Chicken, and Blue a rooster

Russell Crowe again
Stinkerbelle ? still trying to figure her out

two blue wheatons in the middle,

Looks like more than one of us had the same colored Easter Eggers. My rooster a blue wheaton, and I wish the pictures were better, two blues pullet and rooster (darker blue one) two blue wheatons, one has a blush blue head with light buff/marks whereas the other pullet is a darker version, and the third pullet who is a dark blue grey ? with gold and rust streaks here and there. Very unusual little flock I have now. Wish my pictures were better.

 

[rlhagan56]

fAnd here are the two blue wheaton pullets that look very similar to those previous. Both pullets and the rooster is above. So this may help a few of the previous posters questions. Looks like quite a few of us got the same hatchery chicks! I love mine, i wanted to start breeding blue Ameracaunas and these chicks all came out so nice looking I am happy with just them.

Newmarch, I love your *Easter the frankenstein chicken* lol Very unusual looking.

 

[rlhagan56]

Russel Crowe

Purdy Pullet (her mom is Pretty Chicken, and Blue a rooster

Russell Crowe again
Stinkerbelle ? still trying to figure her out

two blue wheatons in the middle,

Looks like more than one of us had the same colored Easter Eggers. My rooster a blue wheaton, and I wish the pictures were better, two blues pullet and rooster (darker blue one) two blue wheatons, one has a blush blue head with light buff/marks whereas the other pullet is a darker version, and the third pullet who is a dark blue grey ? with gold and rust streaks here and there. Very unusual little flock I have now. Wish my pictures were better.

Here they are as chicks.