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

[Cotton42]

Okay, FINALLY got a picture of my elusive 5th EE - could this one be a roo? I see darker splashes on his wings and neck that could be red... Also had the chipmunk patterns as a chick, if that matters.

How old is this chick? It could be a roo.

 

[milo1108]

I have a pullet that looks almost identical to that one.

 

[EggieRowe]

How old is this chick? It could be a roo.

They are almost 10 weeks.

 

[Cotton42]

They are almost 10 weeks.

At only 10 weeks with a comb like that and red patches coming in on the wings, I'm gonna have to guess roo.

 

[marlowmanor]

Ok, I got some better pictures today of the chick we hatched from our flock that I still haven't figured out what gender is. The chick is 15 weeks old now. The comb honestly seems half single and half pea. It has not gotten any bigger like my other roosters when they were that age. Yes it is red but I have an EE hen (the one I think is the genetic mom) that has the same red coloring. I have seen no hackle or saddle feathers. It gets picked on by the adult chickens and they have pulled out the feathers around the tail. There was a little blood on it today from a pulled feather which you can see in the photos. I am really still thinking it's a pullet. It certainly sounded like one when I picked it up earlier today. It was not happy with me at all. I was going to try to pick it up and get closer pictures of the face/comb but it was struggling too much for me to try to handle it and the camera at the same time.


Here is the back of it. It was busy finding scratch.



Here's the best full body shot with comb I could get.



Just for fun here it is with hatch mom Hazel. Excuse Hazel I believe she is starting to molt.

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

Roo, and looks like someone is picking on him too near the tail base.

 

[DMRippy]

Ok, I got some better pictures today of the chick we hatched from our flock that I still haven't figured out what gender is. The chick is 15 weeks old now. The comb honestly seems half single and half pea. It has not gotten any bigger like my other roosters when they were that age. Yes it is red but I have an EE hen (the one I think is the genetic mom) that has the same red coloring. I have seen no hackle or saddle feathers. It gets picked on by the adult chickens and they have pulled out the feathers around the tail. There was a little blood on it today from a pulled feather which you can see in the photos. I am really still thinking it's a pullet. It certainly sounded like one when I picked it up earlier today. It was not happy with me at all. I was going to try to pick it up and get closer pictures of the face/comb but it was struggling too much for me to try to handle it and the camera at the same time.


Here is the back of it. It was busy finding scratch.



Here's the best full body shot with comb I could get.



Just for fun here it is with hatch mom Hazel. Excuse Hazel I believe she is starting to molt.

I do believe that is a roo, my NH roo have that darker red on the wings. Some roos are slow to mature, others not so much. I have 2 GNH roo and one is HUGE and the other is not. I put the smaller one in with the pullets to growout. Maybe without another roo for competition he will bloom. He also looks like he has split wing, but he does not... so hoping that some BIGGER spaces his wings will tighten up. I HOPE SO, I SURE NEED A NH ROO.

 

[marlowmanor]

Roo, and looks like someone is picking on him too near the tail base.

Yeah. It gets picked on by a couple of the adults.

I do believe that is a roo, my NH roo have that darker red on the wings. Some roos are slow to mature, others not so much. I have 2 GNH roo and one is HUGE and the other is not. I put the smaller one in with the pullets to growout. Maybe without another roo for competition he will bloom. He also looks like he has split wing, but he does not... so hoping that some BIGGER spaces his wings will tighten up. I HOPE SO, I SURE NEED A NH ROO.

I was looking at pictures of my current roosters when they were 13 weeks old and they had much more pronounced combs as well as hackle feathers at a younger age than this one does. The comb on this one is also half single and half pea (best way to describe it). I'm seeing no hackle feathers either as I could at 13 weeks with my other cockerals. I guess we keep this chick till we see more cockeral characteristics. He'll sell better in spring probably too if it is a rooster. I'll have to try to get a picture of the EE hen we have that I think is this chicks genetic mom. She is just as red as this chick is. Almost as dark as my RIRs. Thank you everyone for your opinions though.
Just for reference here is a picture of my 2 current roosters when they were 13 week old. The white one is my Ameracauna (mixed colors so technically EE). See how obvious his comb is. The black one is EE/Polish. Both had prominant combs at 13 weeks and this chick doesn't have that prominant of a comb.



I'll keep checking it though.

 

[RiddleMe]

I purchased eight straight run EE/OE chicks, posted pics of them on the What Breed or Gender thread, but wanted additional input on this one from the EE experts. S/he's ~8 weeks old, general feedback is pullet. I was thinking cockerel because of the three distinct rows of "peas". Would be thrilled if it's a pullet, just trying to clarify sexing "tricks". #5

 

[Simmonsfunnyfrm]

Wow, that's a tough one. It's still hard to tell and I have never seen a feather pattern quite like that. Whatever it is, it's gorgeous and is going to turn into a real dandy one day! The comb looks pullet, but the tail and the thick legs makes me think more roo than pullet. Hope I'm wrong! I'm not exactly an expert anyway, but I have raised EE's for a while.