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

[LadyCluck77]

Okay here we are at 6-7 weeks. this is the only one I don't know yet. I'm thinking roo though

This one is for some reason saying "rooster" to me as well. The comb is narrow, it looks like it might be a single comb, though. The curvature of the tail in that first pic is what my boys usually look like at that age.

 

[chickmammy]

Okay here we are at 6-7 weeks. this is the only one I don't know yet. I'm thinking roo though

Hmmmm I'm not sure. They say black under belly is male, plus you have red patches (but they do look like overall pattern). I really am not sure, but what a pretty bird.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

Okay here we are at 6-7 weeks. this is the only one I don't know yet. I'm thinking roo though

Is this one that's half RIR (or production red)? Comb is not conclusive, but I think it's a cockerel. Has the red on wings and looks like black coming in at base of the neck in front.

 

[ajhunt2]

This is it's comb a few weeks ago, so you can see what it's shape is.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

This is it's comb a few weeks ago, so you can see what it's shape is.

That looks like a pea comb, but they can be a mixture of types. Still think it's a male, although the comb seems a bit undeveloped for 6-7 wks. Are there other dominant cockerels in with it? Not sure if it actually is the cause, but seems like the submissive males develop more slowly around other males. Maybe they are just slow developers (with less testosterone) and that makes them less aggressive? If the breast keeps getting dark, I'd be pretty sure it's a cockerel. That or if he starts to crow.

 

[TripMomma]

OK back again with "Belle". I posted pics a while back and the thought was pullet...I am starting to have doubts again. These are my first ever chickens, so I don't really know what I am doing...but is "she" getting saddle feathers? That means boy right? Still no comb to speak of. What say ye experts, boy or girl?
Almost 11 weeks old.




That extra bump on the beak by the nostril is a healing injury...someone got in a pecking tiff with a flock mate.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

TripMomma, Belle is a pullet. (Great pictures, by the way!) Her comb would be much larger at this point if she was male. The feathers you are worried about are not male saddle feathers, but nice short, wide pullet saddles with rounded tips. Male saddle feathers are long, narrow and very pointed at the tips, usually shiny and glassy looking, and hang down.


My accidental EE, RuPaul, before his saddle feathers came in. About 8 weeks here.



RuPaul at 13 wks. See the shape of the saddles and how they hang down. Narrow and pointed. So are his hackle (neck) feathers, but you can't see them well.

 

[TripMomma]

Thanks so much...your lesson in saddle feathers was perfect. Whew. I want a roo one day, but not now and I want a Salmon Faverolle roo not an EE LOL. Though if Belle had been a boy, he would have stayed

 

[HerbGir1972]

OK chicken people here's our newest EE
EE X Polish blended

While photographing these chicks along with all their darks colored family (only 2 hatched white - ish
Could this be the secret to sexing chickens...???
Goodness gracious me I hope so because I have separated our based on this assumption and out own little testing.
Look at these birds nostrils..
males have more open nostrils...I've looked back at all my images of all our past questionables.
The females nostrils are more closed and males more open.
but these two are apparrantly BIG differences

Maybe you can help us make this call
but we've made our guess on gender.

.

I'm putting together a presentation paper on this for upload as a possible gender indicator.
It'll be next week when I finish.

 

[bruceha2000]

Yeah I am finding it really interesting that all the "rules" of how to distinguish difference b/w male and female go out the window if they are from big hatcheries. I am wondering when they breed them do they just hatch any old egg for a sale? What kind of standards are they going by that lead to such differences?

On a side note...what a pain it was to get the barred rocks into the coop tonight! They still haven't figured out the chicken ladder. I found them scared, huddled together in the run, making a crying sound. I scooped them up and put them away for the night- earlier tonight they were running away from me. I guess they got scared enough, that I was less scary.

Um, when you say ladder do you mean a LADDER? Chickens don't climb ladders well, they have to hop and flap to go up rung by rung. If it is a ramp, they should have no problem as long as the cleats are close enough, like 3" apart and maybe 3/4" wide.

OK back again with "Belle". I posted pics a while back and the thought was pullet...I am starting to have doubts again. These are my first ever chickens, so I don't really know what I am doing...but is "she" getting saddle feathers? That means boy right? Still no comb to speak of. What say ye experts, boy or girl?
Almost 11 weeks old.

Girl! "Ugly teenager" stage. She will probably look a lot like Andromeda:



Sadly taken by a predator about a year ago, she laid blue eggs.