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

[Gmr1089]

Oh I’m sorry! How old is he? The red on the wings is what I’m looking for to come in on mine.

I think he's about 5 months old, but had the read starting about a month ago I believe. I didn't know about the red on the wings thing and my other EE who was the same age also had red on the wings... found it dead on Thursday for no apparent reason. Now I'm wondering if it was a homicide since they were fighting off and on.

 

[Gmr1089]

Yep, I think there is no question that @Gmr1089's bird is a roo. I didn't see the "is it a pullet or a cockerel" pictures, what post what that?

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/pullets-or-cockerels.1355194/

Judging by the red wing thing, my other one was also a rooster. We found it dead on Thursday and now are wondering if it was a fight gone wrong. I'm trying to rehome this guy before he hurts our silver phoenix rooster

 

[Wishing4Wings]

Thank you! I’ll definitely post again in a couple weeks so we can figure it out. They were shipped eggs from My Pet Chicken so definitely not a “backyard cross”. At least I hope not for $50 for 6 eggs.

EE is such a loose term... it basically means a non standard Ameraucana... a bird with a pea comb, beard and muffs, and blue/green eggs, but not in keeping with the "correct" feather color, leg color, egg color, or overall shape. Some older hatcheries were breeding and selling these birds under names like Americana, Easter Egger, Rainbow Egger, long before the Ameraucana became an official breed in the Standard of Perfection. These hatchery birds are a specific type, if not actually an official breed. Ameraucana breeders were anxious to differentiate their carefully bred show birds (with only 8 specific colors) from the random, but equally attractive (in my opinion) birds that come from the hatcheries. They used "EE" for any similar chicken that did not meet the Ameraucana breed standard. And more recently EE is applied to crosses between Ameraucanas and other breeds, but I think these should be called crosses rather than EEs.
I don't know if My Pet Chicken breeds their own birds or gets them from other sources, but neither of your EEs have pea combs from what I can see. Pea comb is important because in EEs, the gene for blue egg shells is very close to the gene for pea combs, so the traits are usually inherited together. Even if these chicks hatched from blue/green eggs, they are probably not carrying the gene for blue shells. $50 is pricey. Maybe you can ask for a partial refund?
I still want to see pics when they are a little older. The dark one is very cute.

 

[Mablethechicken]

EE is such a loose term... it basically means a non standard Ameraucana... a bird with a pea comb, beard and muffs, and blue/green eggs, but not in keeping with the "correct" feather color, leg color, egg color, or overall shape. Some older hatcheries were breeding and selling these birds under names like Americana, Easter Egger, Rainbow Egger, long before the Ameraucana became an official breed in the Standard of Perfection. These hatchery birds are a specific type, if not actually an official breed. Ameraucana breeders were anxious to differentiate their carefully bred show birds (with only 8 specific colors) from the random, but equally attractive (in my opinion) birds that come from the hatcheries. They used "EE" for any similar chicken that did not meet the Ameraucana breed standard. And more recently EE is applied to crosses between Ameraucanas and other breeds, but I think these should be called crosses rather than EEs.
I don't know if My Pet Chicken breeds their own birds or gets them from other sources, but neither of your EEs have pea combs from what I can see. Pea comb is important because in EEs, the gene for blue egg shells is very close to the gene for pea combs, so the traits are usually inherited together. Even if these chicks hatched from blue/green eggs, they are probably not carrying the gene for blue shells. $50 is pricey. Maybe you can ask for a partial refund?
I still want to see pics when they are a little older. The dark one is very cute.

Great info! Thank you so much! I find all this very fascinating and am someone who appreciates detailed historical knowledge. I’ll definitely keep posting updates. I probably won’t ask for a refund unless neither one lays blue eggs. Of course we’ll never know if they both turn out to be roosters. Haha I did read that rarely Easter Eggers will lay tinted eggs and not blue. Maybe that’s when for whatever reason they don’t end up carrying the pea comb gene like you mention above?

 

[Mablethechicken]

EE is such a loose term... it basically means a non standard Ameraucana... a bird with a pea comb, beard and muffs, and blue/green eggs, but not in keeping with the "correct" feather color, leg color, egg color, or overall shape. Some older hatcheries were breeding and selling these birds under names like Americana, Easter Egger, Rainbow Egger, long before the Ameraucana became an official breed in the Standard of Perfection. These hatchery birds are a specific type, if not actually an official breed. Ameraucana breeders were anxious to differentiate their carefully bred show birds (with only 8 specific colors) from the random, but equally attractive (in my opinion) birds that come from the hatcheries. They used "EE" for any similar chicken that did not meet the Ameraucana breed standard. And more recently EE is applied to crosses between Ameraucanas and other breeds, but I think these should be called crosses rather than EEs.
I don't know if My Pet Chicken breeds their own birds or gets them from other sources, but neither of your EEs have pea combs from what I can see. Pea comb is important because in EEs, the gene for blue egg shells is very close to the gene for pea combs, so the traits are usually inherited together. Even if these chicks hatched from blue/green eggs, they are probably not carrying the gene for blue shells. $50 is pricey. Maybe you can ask for a partial refund?
I still want to see pics when they are a little older. The dark one is very cute.

Also! I forgot to ask before. Is there any validity to the wing feather method of sexing day old chicks? I checked them on days 1,2, & 3 and all but one (a mystery egg I believe to be a BO rooster) had the alternating wing feather pattern that is supposed to indicate female. The BO was also the slowest to grow wing feathers and they are still a lot shorter in comparison to his body than all all the others whose wings came in more quickly and are now much longer than his. By this test I thought the rest (including the two EEs) were hens.

 

[bruceha2000]

I THINK there are SOME breeds that can be feather sexed. Autosex and Sexlink are obvious at hatch. Other than that, you need an experienced vent sexer.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/pullets-or-cockerels.1355194/

Judging by the red wing thing, my other one was also a rooster. We found it dead on Thursday and now are wondering if it was a fight gone wrong. I'm trying to rehome this guy before he hurts our silver phoenix rooster

Sorry about the dead bird, did it have physical signs of damage?

I looked at the thread you posted, sorry but I'd have voted back then 2 roos based on those pictures. A pullet that color wouldn't likely have the patchy red areas. And the big 3 row comb!

If you have questions about EE gender, this is the thread! @Wishing4Wings is rarely (if ever???) wrong when she makes a determination. And she isn't shy about saying "not sure, wait a week".

 

[Wishing4Wings]

Also! I forgot to ask before. Is there any validity to the wing feather method of sexing day old chicks? I checked them on days 1,2, & 3 and all but one (a mystery egg I believe to be a BO rooster) had the alternating wing feather pattern that is supposed to indicate female. The BO was also the slowest to grow wing feathers and they are still a lot shorter in comparison to his body than all all the others whose wings came in more quickly and are now much longer than his. By this test I thought the rest (including the two EEs) were hens.

see below

I THINK there are SOME breeds that can be feather sexed. Autosex and Sexlink are obvious at hatch. Other than that, you need an experienced vent sexer.

Bruce is right, only some breeds can be feather sexed, and they have to be carefully bred to keep the trait intact. EEs are not one of the breeds, neither are Ameraucanas. It's fun to try, though. I find it's right about 50% of the time!

 

[MochaChickMama]

Just wanted to update them at 8 weeks and the shock that I got them both together in focus. We still thinking left is a pullet and right is a cockerel? Coco’s beard/muff is much more noticeable and she’s really gaining size wise.

 

[bruceha2000]

I'm not necessarily sold on the darker one being a cockerel. Looks like a single row comb and I've had pullets with a bit more red comb than others (which yes made me nervous!).

 

[sealer39]

Just wanted to update them at 8 weeks and the shock that I got them both together in focus. We still thinking left is a pullet and right is a cockerel? Coco’s beard/muff is much more noticeable and she’s really gaining size wise.

It’s really looking like a cockerel now. I hope you can keep him!?