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

[whitmore]

My EE's at about 8 weeks old.

still not sure about this one but he/she is now getting some 'facial' fluff.

My guess is pullet. It is hard to see the wing color with the shadows in the last photo though.

 

[vweers]

I will try to get a better one. They tend to be rather uncooperatvie. lol I need to get the rest of my chicks up to make sure. I am leaning towards pullets on all of them but you never know. lol

edited: here are a few:

 

[kristaschics15]

What a great thread to happen upon! My two EE's are so different. They looked almost identical when I got them just a tad variance in color shade but now they are so different.

as babies Easter weekend

Today

 

[vintagechick]

I know what you mean by getting hooked. We got several birds, 13 thanks to feed store minimums and them not having the breeds we wanted at the same time. We just figured out last week that we likely have 2-3 roos and one of them being my son's favorite & likely only one of the 3 EE's we had was a pullet. We all wanted pretty eggs and one would just not due.

Hubby and I couldn't stand it when we went into the store for a wheelbarrow tire and came out with 6 more, 3 EE and 3 barred rocks (son wanted them the first time around but they were marked wrong and we got Australorps). I'm thinking one of the barred rocks may be a too as well, at just a few days old. Much different looking than the other two. Guess we'll have some finding of homes to do.

Oh my goodness! That's a lot of chicks! My boys would be in heaven! They keep asking me to get more this year since they know our number of hens are down now, but I've decided to wait until next spring. For reasons like yours and mine I've had it with feed stores! Mislabeled chicks! Both you and I came home with breeds we weren't expecting. And since obviously buying "sexed" pullets doesn't seem to mean a whole bunch, I think I'd rather buy from a nice breeder. In the meantime I focusing on building a very large coop and run with my hubby so I have room for more lovely ladies.

I hope you end up with more EE hens though! I totally get wanting the colorful eggs. I personally don't mind as much, but my 3 boys are very much looking forward to bringing hard boiled green eggs in their lunches to school next year. Lol I guess they want that brag factor.

 

[jeanetteiacovon]

Which chick? The black one was tuxedo. Now (s)he just has white under the chin. That my most curious and bold bird of the bunch. Now the tan and black, will they look  like that before the ominous shoulder feathers come in? She has a lot of bown on her chest so thats what got me thinking shes patterning like a pullet

the black and tan one and the Grey and tan one in another post is also gorgeous. Do you know what breed yours are?

 

[jeanetteiacovon]

How do they vent sex chicks? What do they look for? Years ago I was told they seed chicks by the primer wing feathers. Does anyone know about that type of sexing? Thanks

 

[Wishing4Wings]

I will try to get a better one. They tend to be rather uncooperatvie. lol I need to get the rest of my chicks up to make sure. I am leaning towards pullets on all of them but you never know. lol

edited: here are a few:

Looks more like a pullet than a cockerel to me, but you're right, it's a tricky one. Post again next week if there are any changes. If there aren't changes, then most likely it's a pullet, but post anyway!

 

[Wishing4Wings]

How do they vent sex chicks? What do they look for? Years ago I was told they seed chicks by the primer wing feathers. Does anyone know about that type of sexing? Thanks

It's not pretty. They press down on either side of the vent to expose part of the inside. Males will have a small lump that females don't have (or I could have got that backwards). This is done on the first day after hatch, by people who have had extensive training. 90% accuracy is the most common claim, but you can imagine how many mistakes a newbie would make! They don't vent sex bantams, too small and fragile. There are videos out there showing the technique, but I would worry about hurting a chick so I've never been tempted to try it.


I've only read a little about primary feather sexing. There are some breeds for which this works, but only if the trait is diligently maintained by careful breeding (ie, not in the big hatcheries). It has to be checked in the first few days after hatch, and you look at the emerging primaries. One sex has longer feathers, or one sex has feathers of differing lengths on the wing. Again, can't remember exactly how it works. I imagine there are lots of birds out there that might have this trait, but without consistent breeding, it's probably not that reliable.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

What a great thread to happen upon! My two EE's are so different. They looked almost identical when I got them just a tad variance in color shade but now they are so different. as babies Easter weekend

Today

Cute! It's amazing how subtle the differences in the chick down can be. I read on a thread where it's all about getting new colors (dun, khaki, porcelain, ...) and people can tell on day old chicks what color they are.

Not me!! Gold based birds and silver based birds, genes that dilute colors and genes that mask colors, partial dilutions and incomplete dominance. Makes my head spin. And that's not even considering the patterns!

My birds are pets more than anything, and I love them having different colors so I can tell them apart. Don't want to offend anyone by calling them wrong name or they might not lay me an egg!

You have a nice bunch there. Now the wait is on to see the eggs!

 

[NickyPick]

I got 4 "Ameraucana" pullets from Privett Harchery and 1 of them is starting to look different. It's head is getting really dark. All of the others are light like the one on the far left. The dark headed one is on the far right. Is it a cockerel?

They all look like pullets to me. Best thing about EE's, in my opinion, is how differently they all can look. Certainly makes it easier to tell them apart when you're slapping names on them!