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

You sound like me sbrown. I have noticed a lot of redness to my 6 week old chicks and I go "red comb - boy, red as the other one - boy, not as red but you don't look yellow anymore so I suspect you're a boy too" Then I have two black/whte chicks, and one of them has a black-ish comb..."You seem to be my only hope for a girl because your comb isn't reddening up like the rest, but that comb color makes me wonder what your daddy has in his family tree " Out of 6 babies hatched, I am afraid that I've got 6 cockerels but I keep thinking some of them have to be girls so I look at the combs again. And the daddy comment is because my roo has some walnut or strawberry cushioning influences to his comb. With a chick having a black colored comb...well, silkies are the only black combed chicken I know of. My roo is quite big and doesn't have any silkie like feathers or dark skin so I don't know what to think.

CG
I have a Bantam pullet I got from TSC that has black feet (4 toes) and solid black comb. Her feathers are also black with silver lacing around her neck. She's quite pretty. No idea what breed she is though. And back to EE's, what is the average age for a pullet EE to start laying? Mine are 16 weeks and the Roo is just starting to crow so I'm thinking the hens will also be slower to mature? A couple of my other breed hens started laying this week but they're about 3 weeks older.
 
You sound like me sbrown. I have noticed a lot of redness to my 6 week old chicks and I go "red comb - boy, red as the other one - boy, not as red but you don't look yellow anymore so I suspect you're a boy too" Then I have two black/whte chicks, and one of them has a black-ish comb..."You seem to be my only hope for a girl because your comb isn't reddening up like the rest, but that comb color makes me wonder what your daddy has in his family tree " Out of 6 babies hatched, I am afraid that I've got 6 cockerels but I keep thinking some of them have to be girls so I look at the combs again. And the daddy comment is because my roo has some walnut or strawberry cushioning influences to his comb. With a chick having a black colored comb...well, silkies are the only black combed chicken I know of. My roo is quite big and doesn't have any silkie like feathers or dark skin so I don't know what to think.

CG
Actually there are some Naked Necks who have black skin and therefore, black combs. My girl is at POL, but it is hard to tell how far along she is because of her black comb!
 
Ok so here goes. I'm not even sure if these r EE. They were supposed to be.
400

And this one
400

This is same one as previous
400

Here's a different one
400

And another one
400

And one more lol
400
 
The 4 and 6 pic they have white legs and the 5 has yellow. But they were all supposed to be EE when we got them. So I need to know if the r even EE and r they boys or girls? :( keep in mind they r 6 months old and we had an outbreak of coccidia when they were just a few weeks old and I have a few that believe it stunted their growth.
 
Thanks for your input. Here are newer photos - a few days shy of 6 weeks... Pullet or cockerel...? Anyone else?






 
Keep in mind that the pea comb and blue egg gene are related in the same way that ear color is linked to brown tint. It has more to do with what was selected for and subsequently missing the desired traits during a cross than pea = blue. Otherwise, you wouldn't see pea combs on Brahmas or single combs on cream legbars.

So I am confused. I have a black and white, single-combed EE with a beard. Her comb is red and she's approaching 18 weeks now so I'm hoping for eggs soon. What color should I be looking for? Here's the pic again:




Ok so here goes. I'm not even sure if these r EE. They were supposed to be.
And this one
This is same one as previous
Here's a different one
And another one
And one more lol

The one in pics 2 and 3 I am pretty sure is an EE pullet. She looks like my two traditionally colored ones.
Thanks for your input. Here are newer photos - a few days shy of 6 weeks... Pullet or cockerel...? Anyone else?






I would guess boy with the comb pinking up and what looks like red coming in on the shoulders IMO, but I think it's too early to call it for sure.
 
Quote: The short answer is that your very pretty EE pullet will likely lay brown eggs, but you won't know for sure until she does.

Here's why:
In Ameraucanas (and Arraucanas), the gene for pea comb lies very close to the gene for blue eggs. Due to their proximity, the genes usually travel together during reproduction, so if a chicken of this ancestry has a pea comb, it is very likely (but not absolute) that the chicken will also carry the gene for blue eggs. Muffs/beards and blue legs are also Ameraucana traits, and may help determine ancestry, but they are not connected to the blue egg gene.

Since EEs can have other breeds in their background, new genes and different outcomes can occur, including mixed type combs. The outcomes are not as predictable as in purebred birds. To confuse matters more, other breeds have pea combs but do not carry the blue egg gene, and there are some single combed birds that do lay blue eggs (Cream Legbars and a breed developed at the University of Arkansas that crossed blue Araucanas with Leghorns). Adding these breed types into the mix will make predictions even harder.
 

New posts New threads Active threads

Back
Top Bottom