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

[Wishing4Wings]

Can the size of an EE help to determine sex? I have two hatchery EEs with the same hatch date. Bambi was a light chipmunk chick and Daphne was a dark chipmunk. Within two weeks, Daphne started getting much larger than Bambi-- out of all 7 of my chicks, Daphne is by far the biggest. Her legs are thicker, her comb is close to her head but is wider than Bambi's.

Here are some pictures of her from this week, at 6 weeks old. In the lower left, Bambi is the smaller one and Daphne is the larger one.



Too soon to tell, or any early guesses from the EE experts out there?

Both of yours have the classic EE pullet coloring. My pullet was larger than the same age cockerel, even though as 3 day chicks, they seemed equal. She had the pullet-only color, so we were really hoping that the smaller one was also a girl.

When the hormones kicked in at 12 wks, the cockerel grew like a weed, and turned into a hulking teenager.

 

[aoxa]

How in heavens name do you keep live grass in your run without them eating it to death???? I let my chickens out to free range...we have 25 acres and where do you think they end up every single day? On my little back strip of grass behind the house!!!. It use to be the only place I kept really beautiful....hostas, ferns, flowers, grass....the rest of the yard is woods (wild ferns, flowers, weeds, etc)...NOOOOO they want my cutivated stuff... and it looks like locus have been there! There is no way to keep them out of there....too many ways to get to it....side of the mountain...either ends, etc. And of course they want to roost on my steps (and poop there, too!) I have roosts all over, but NOOOO they want the steps! As far as coops and runs, we had a bear get into the run last week ...thankfully the chickens were, of course, behind the house on my steps, so they were safe. We had left the door to the run open so they could come and go...the run and coop held up fine....great job my DH did in making it preditor proof....so now we modified the door to have a smaller "chicken only" size door built into the normal door. Like a cat/dog type thing. Yea, I know, raccoons and stuff can go in and out, but we close everything up by 7pm. And we do have 3 dogs that help with that problem. So, anyway, thanks to you all for suggestions on run stuff. Does anyone use saw dust? I have access to some. Don't have much grass left to use grass clippings!!!!! And I haven't even gotten my first egg yet!!!

I guess it's because I free range 24/7. Have been since we moved in April. Only grass deterioration seems to be right outside the door to the coop.

Wish I didn't have to mow so much. Oh well. Just need more chickens >=D I don't have any clue how much land we have. They spend the majority of their time in the woods keeping cool.

 

[aoxa]

Both of yours have the classic EE pullet coloring. My pullet was larger than the same age cockerel, even though as 3 day chicks, they seemed equal.  She had the pullet-only color, so we were really hoping that the smaller one was also a girl. :/   When the hormones kicked in at 12 wks, the cockerel grew like a weed, and turned into a hulking teenager.

x2 Both girls!

 

[flcityslicker]

I bought my "girls" as Ameraucanas. After questioning the lady about their leg color, she told me that they were Araucanas. I told her that I thought they were EEs, which was fine because that is what I wanted anyways. I have no idea what my girls are, and after posting them on this forum, I have been told they aren't EEs either because their combs are wrong or they don't have muffs and beards.
I still call my girls EEs, and can't wait to see how they mature. So far, no one is crowing, but there are a couple that I am suspect of.
Here are some pictures I took of my "girls" yesterday...

Mork (~14 wks)


Mindy (~14 wks)


Cher (~14 wks)


Sonny (~10 wks)


Ruby (~14 wks)


Pearl (~10 wks)


Opal (~10 wks)


Groucho (~14 wks)


Harpo (~10 wks)


Camo (~10 wks) had a nice tail until a couple of weeks ago. The other babies turned it into a bloody stump, and new feathers are just starting to come in.


I also have some 5 week old girls, that all pretty much look the same.


Here are some pics of them all moving around.

 

[DMRippy]

I bought my "girls" as Ameraucanas. After questioning the lady about their leg color, she told me that they were Araucanas. I told her that I thought they were EEs, which was fine because that is what I wanted anyways. I have no idea what my girls are, and after posting them on this forum, I have been told they aren't EEs either because their combs are wrong or they don't have muffs and beards.
I still call my girls EEs, and can't wait to see how they mature. So far, no one is crowing, but there are a couple that I am suspect of.
Here are some pictures I took of my "girls" yesterday...

Mork (~14 wks)


Mindy (~14 wks)


Cher (~14 wks)


Sonny (~10 wks)


Ruby (~14 wks)


Pearl (~10 wks)


Opal (~10 wks)


Groucho (~14 wks)


Harpo (~10 wks)


Camo (~10 wks) had a nice tail until a couple of weeks ago. The other babies turned it into a bloody stump, and new feathers are just starting to come in.


I also have some 5 week old girls, that all pretty much look the same.


Here are some pics of them all moving around.

Camo and Harpo are roos for sure. Pearl is making me think roo too. They are EE.... EE come with all kinds of combs, with and without beards and muffs. EE usually have pea combs, and I don't see any straight combs. Egg color to me is what makes them EE.... blue- green and anything in that range makes them EE to me.

 

[aoxa]

Only roo I see is Camo - they are indeed EEs.

Beautiful too!

ETA: I missed Harpo in there, yes he is a roo as well

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Yep you have a lovely bunch of EE's no idea who would say they aren't. Camo and Harpo are deffinetly roosters.

 

[flcityslicker]

Do pullets tend to beat up cockerels? Just wondering, because all fifteen of the babies live together, and Camo and Harpo have both been beat up by the others. None of the others even have so much as a feather out of place.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

Do pullets tend to beat up cockerels? Just wondering, because all fifteen of the babies live together, and Camo and Harpo have both been beat up by the others. None of the others even have so much as a feather out of place.

I have heard a lot of people report that cockerels can be really sweet and docile as youngsters. Never noticed any pullets picking on my cockerel, and he only pushed the girls around to get to the food, so he wasn't really involved in the pecking order; seemed to leave it to the girls. Things can change a lot when the hormones kick in.

 

[debid]

Do pullets tend to beat up cockerels? Just wondering, because all fifteen of the babies live together, and Camo and Harpo have both been beat up by the others. None of the others even have so much as a feather out of place.

I wonder if maybe your cockerels are picking on each other? I know my EE cockerel started trying to mate and crowing at 14 weeks but the pecking order squabbling was going on with all of them before that.