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

[Penny Hen]

I see what you're saying, but I have always thought Betty was just frightened. The chick was added last to a flock of 3 other chicks when they were 4-5 weeks old, and was harassed by the others. Every time I go in the coop, Betty acts like what you see in the pics. She/he is always behind the others, or tries to duck and crawl under them.

Do you mean Jade? Because Betty's body language is bold upright and doesn't look like s/he is trying to duck anything.

 

[lablover]

Do you mean Jade? Because Betty's body language is bold upright and doesn't look like s/he is trying to duck anything.

No, I mean Betty. Jade was actually the chick that harassed Betty the most when they were younger. During that time, Betty befriended one of the other chicks I knew for sure was a roo.

I remember thinking how often Betty ducks and hides while I was taking pictures. I just deleted the ones that showed Betty hiding. In fact, Betty is quite flightly, and is never caught away from the others. She/he panics when singled out, even if I'm just adjusting my body to block him/her from joining the others. The other 2 are not like that. But, when I check in on the three of them during the day, I usually see Betty jumping on and off a small roost in the run, and the other 2 girls fluffing up at each other and "play fighting." During that time, Betty does have an upright posture

 

[Penny Hen]

Well it will be interesting to watch how Betty turns out. I have one of mine that I keep flipfloping on whether it is a roo or a hen. This week I think it is a hen. This is Kiwi a BCMaran/Americana with no tail.

 

[Flowerbh]

Both of you need to take the chicken and separate the feathers on its lower back and see if you see any iridescent saddle feathers coming in. They look old enough to be starting to get these. If you see iridescent pointy feathers, you have a roo.

 

[debid]

They don't have to be iridescent -- just pointy and skinny. They are shinier and often a different color than the surrounding feathers.

 

[lablover]

Both Betty and jade had the same shaped feathers coming in on the lower back. They didn't look pointy or shiny, but I'm not sure about the color. I believe they were the same color as their other feathers. I was thinking that 9 weeks was too young for saddle feathers .

 

[CarolinaHen]

This one has me stumped. Color says cockerel. Hackle and tail feathers are rounded so far. I see light brown on the tips of wing feathers, but no red. What do you think?

The bright red is actually a piece of tomato. Comb is pale and appears to be a single row of peas.

 

[my sunwolf]

This one has me stumped. Color says cockerel. Hackle and tail feathers are rounded so far. I see light brown on the tips of wing feathers, but no red. What do you think?



The bright red is actually a piece of tomato. Comb is pale and appears to be a single row of peas.

How old? The comb actually looks pretty red even without the tomato, and the splotchiness in addition to the way there is a black ring of color around the neck makes me say "cockerel."

 

[debid]

Both Betty and jade had the same shaped feathers coming in on the lower back. They didn't look pointy or shiny, but I'm not sure about the color. I believe they were the same color as their other feathers. I was thinking that 9 weeks was too young for saddle feathers .

Mine started their baby feather molt at 8 weeks (!) after feathering in quite young. Not sure exactly when the back feathers came in because I wasn't looking for them but my EE boy had draping saddles at 14 so I'm sure they were coming in then.

 

[CarolinaHen]

About 7-8 weeks. I totally agree that markings all indicate cockerel, but there's no red yet. All of the other males sported theirs a couple weeks ago. Here is a close up of comb and saddle.