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

[debid]

Applying that logic, this should have been a male...

Look at those thick legs and upright stance!

That's a fine example of why certain things are only clues to be considered as part of a bigger picture and not a guarantee of future crowing.

 

[junebuggena]

She's a brick. Love that hen. She's my foundation for my line of Easter Eggers, and she has produced some monster sized sons and grandsons.

 

[chicks are life]

Example in this pic the oegb in the front is a very young rooster. Im not talking about the whole tail pointing down I'm talking about the very tip curving over like it will in future

 

[chicks are life]

The hackle feathers starting could also be a early sign. Here's another example of the curving tail tip.

 

[debid]

Both of your examples are old enough to have obvious saddle and hackle feathers. This is a juvenile Speckled Sussex pullet. Tail feathers have pointed tips and curl down at the top.

At 12 weeks, tail is still arched plus green and comb/wattles apparent (this pic fooled a ton of people, sorry it's sideways):

 

[junebuggena]

But you have to remember that male specific feathers don't even begin to develop until around 10 weeks of age, and take many more weeks to really be visible. Under 10 weeks, there is no difference in the feathering of male and female chicks.
Point is, I've raised enough birds to know that shape of the tail feathers alone, prior to 16 weeks, is not a reliable identifier of gender.

The bird on the far left is a female, in spite of the curved downward tail feathers.

And then there is the occasional cockerel that never does grow tail feathers at all. Not rumpless, they always have normal looking tails once plucked. They just don't grow the normal tail feathers.

 

[suchcutenails]

Okay! Here are my four babies...almost nine weeks now. I posted about them before. They all have the same daddy, a white and black EE. The two on the right have the same EE mom. The white one on the left was hatched from a SLW hen, and the white cockerel in the middle (Fabio) came from a Golden Comet.

I think I'm ready to say Fabio is the only cockerel, and the other three are pullets.

I keep going back and forth on these two, Ava and Scarlet. I'd like to try to settle it. I have someone who will be getting to EE pullets from me, if I have them. She can't have a rooster, so I have been waiting to try and determine the sex before I give them to her. What do you think?

This is Ava. Her coloring had me worried, but the comb seems to be staying yellow.

This is Scarlet. Her coloring also had me worried at first, but I'm hoping that yellow comb means pullet. It is kind of hard to see, but she has some coppery feathers on her back and wings.

Sophia has always looked like a dainty little girl

And just for fun, Fabio...my hunka-hunka-burning-love, lol...he was obvious at hatch!

I just wanted to give an update on my babies! Scarlet laid hey first egg yesterday! She had EVERY sign that we expect to see in a young EE cockerel. Except that she always 'looked' like a pullet...BUT early on she had a wide, pinking comb, and red patches on her silver wings. Every thing I read about sexing them said this baby was a he, and every post I made asking for an opinion got the same response...cockerel. Her shape was all wrong, though. Especially compared to her brother, Fabio.
Here she is today...

So...if you aren't sure, don't make any 'fatal' decisions! You might get surprised if you just wait

 

[debid]

Cushion comb! I don't remember her but yeah, wide combs aren't necessarily 3-row pea combs and orange splashes aren't always red shoulders. Excellent reminder.

 

[junebuggena]

I just wanted to give an update on my babies! Scarlet laid hey first egg yesterday! She had EVERY sign that we expect to see in a young EE cockerel. Except that she always 'looked' like a pullet...BUT early on she had a wide, pinking comb, and red patches on her silver wings. Every thing I read about sexing them said this baby was a he, and every post I made asking for an opinion got the same response...cockerel. Her shape was all wrong, though. Especially compared to her brother, Fabio.
Here she is today...




So...if you aren't sure, don't make any 'fatal' decisions! You might get surprised if you just wait

She's got a Mahogany gene. Makes sexing really difficult since it produces red coloring that mimics male specific leakage. She's got a cushion comb, so what looked like a wide, pink pea comb in the photos was not exactly accurate.

 

[suchcutenails]

Yeah! She's just a bit of an anomaly! Her dad has that same comb. My husband says it looks like Worf from Star Trek

I was told dad hatched from a blue egg, and I know she hatched from a a mint green egg, so I was surprised we still got hers as a pale brown. I knew it could happen, but I was hopeful for another color.

She's a sweet, beautiful girl! I'm glad I kept her! I was going to rehome her, but she would have gone to a place where no roosters are allowed. Since I just couldn't be sure, she stayed with me