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

[mymilliefleur]

Wow! pretty bird Faraday40!

 

[FVRM]

Time for my close up!

aww she looks so innocent

 

[cwrite]

Thanks. Here's a close up. The brown is all new. They used to be all white with little bits of grey flecks. It amazes me how much each chicken's feathers changed.

That's gorgeous! Great pic too. Note to self: next bird must have some lacing - after moving the excess chicks on & waiting a couple of years.

 

[bruceha2000]

It is! It took me ages to work it out. We do follow the UK standards, we just don't have rumpless birds in Australia and they have really strict controls on importing birds so I can't see anyone being allowed to introduce them here. It would be so much easier to understand if the Australian version were called Ameraucana's because that's what they are, but with crests and a few colour variations. : )

Nope, you would have to call them Australcanas. Otherwise the confusion continues.

Check out my new article and make shore I got it all right:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/ameraucanas-araucanas-easter-eggers-and-olive-eggers-oh-my

"would be like calling Rhode island reds, Bard rocks, Barnyard mixes, "
Should be Barred Rocks

"In less you have bought your birds from a reputable breeder, you most likely have Easter eggers."
Should be Unless

 

[mymilliefleur]

"would be like calling Rhode island reds, Bard rocks, Barnyard mixes, "
Should be Barred Rocks

"In less you have bought your birds from a reputable breeder, you most likely have Easter eggers."
Should be Unless

I was kind of rushed when I did that article so I made a lot of typos.

Thanks for letting me know though. One of these days I will fix them.

 

[cwrite]

Nope, you would have to call them Australcanas. Otherwise the confusion continues.

Lol. Great name for them. I'm all for it.

 

[mymilliefleur]

My EE's are starting to lay. Not shore if its the pullets starting to lay, or my older hens laying again though.

 

[Faraday40]

My EE's are starting to lay. Not shore if its the pullets starting to lay, or my older hens laying again though.

Did your hens stop laying due to molt or do you think it was b/c of shorter days?

None of my blue eggers are laying. My 2 adult EEs went into molt in Oct & are still taking a break. My Cream Crested Legbar pullets both started laying in early Sept but stopped when it got cold near the end of Oct. I didn't add supplemental light b/c I thought I'd get a few eggs from at least the pullets. Out of 13 chickens, I only have 3 laying. That's why I'm wondering if some breeds (like any blue or green layers) just stop producing in winter while other breeds simply slow down to an egg every 2-3 days.

 

[mymilliefleur]

Did your hens stop laying due to molt or do you think it was b/c of shorter days?

None of my blue eggers are laying. My 2 adult EEs went into molt in Oct & are still taking a break. My Cream Crested Legbar pullets both started laying in early Sept but stopped when it got cold near the end of Oct. I didn't add supplemental light b/c I thought I'd get a few eggs from at least the pullets. Out of 13 chickens, I only have 3 laying. That's why I'm wondering if some breeds (like any blue or green layers) just stop producing in winter while other breeds simply slow down to an egg every 2-3 days.

My girls have been molting the last month. I gave some to a friend about a month ago that were in heavy molt, and she said they are laying again.

 

[cortner1195]

Did your hens stop laying due to molt or do you think it was b/c of shorter days?

None of my blue eggers are laying. My 2 adult EEs went into molt in Oct & are still taking a break. My Cream Crested Legbar pullets both started laying in early Sept but stopped when it got cold near the end of Oct. I didn't add supplemental light b/c I thought I'd get a few eggs from at least the pullets. Out of 13 chickens, I only have 3 laying. That's why I'm wondering if some breeds (like any blue or green layers) just stop producing in winter while other breeds simply slow down to an egg every 2-3 days.

That seems like a long time to be in molt. Do you have any organized bare areas?

I ask because last spring (March) I had some hens molt but two months later still had large bare areas. One had a bare right chest. Completely bare. I started a medical thread to figure out what that was. We thought feather picking so increased the protein with supplements like cottage cheese to help with re growth. None of the birds closed in those bare spots. No sign of new feathers ever. The common area was the base of the tail. I have fifteen hens and we were getting three eggs per day. We were using about 1- 1 1/2 pound of feed per day. That is very little food for them to go through. I finally read something about mites and lice. We decided to go ahead and treat them. We cleaned the coop completely, and the nest boxes. Then dusted the whole flock that night. Within four or five days we had feathers starting to come in. That was pretty joyous after seven months of the girls looking so rough. We treated weekly for three treatments. All but one hen regrew her bare spots in that time. Also, by about day 10 from the first treatment egg production went up steadily. We are now getting eight eggs per day from 15 hens. In the first week from treatment their 12 pound hanging feeder was nearly empty every night. Weight gain, and feathers, and eggs. Yea!

Our problem is coming back however. We are thinking the mites are the type that live in the wood. Our egg production is still about the same, but appetite has dropped off and we have a few bare areas showing up again. Last weekend we cleaned the coop and sprayed the wood. It is tough to do in the cold, as it takes a long time to dry and the days are short. Then we added a sparse layer of bedding, let the girls back in, gave them a few minutes to settle, and went in and dusted them. Today is day six. I am looking forward to getting a close look at them tonight. Tomorrow we will clean again, and dust tomorrow night. This time it will be four weekly treatments.

One of my EE's has had a lot of broken feathers on her back, but all her fine fluffy under feathers are intact. He prominent wing joins are bare, and her little head looks like Charley Brown's Christmas tree. I think her issue is different, or her infestation was much more severe. We will see if she comes out of this, ever. It is tempting to figure out her best friend and separate the two for a while.