EE - Male or female?

Acre4Me

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Nov 12, 2017
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We bought 3 sexed EE females (along with 5 other breeds). They are now 11.5 weeks old. We have one EE that is making us wonder if it is a male or female. So far, no crowing like the 4 other males of the same age.

Here is a previous thread with pics of my chickens at 7 weeks and I point out this EE in the pics.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...les-are-almost-certain.1237211/#post-19855246

Here are some pics outside - they are harder to photograph now that they are older!

Screen Shot 2018-05-21 at 7.17.46 AM.png
Screen Shot 2018-05-21 at 7.18.14 AM.png
Screen Shot 2018-05-21 at 7.18.29 AM.png
Screen Shot 2018-05-21 at 7.21.07 AM.png
 
that's a cockerel. The red wing bars over the shoulder, the color and size of the comb, and the start of the saddle feathers all coming in are the indicators.

<sigh> yup, I think that this is not an egg laying female that I wanted. It is interesting that it hasn't tried crowing yet. Spouse keeps thinking its female since it hasn't started crowing, but those pointy feathers near its tail seem to be an indicator of male. Oh well, if this is really truly male, then we have 5 cockerels currently (age 11.5 weeks all of them). This EE male and the very aggressive leghorn male will be culled within a few weeks. The other 3 will get a chance to show off their personalities (especially once the very overbearing and aggressive leghorn is removed) to apply for the job of flock cock.
 
Your boy may be keeping his beak shut to avoid being trounced by the others.
Once you cull the one, be wary at how much flock dynamic will change, especially if the LH was the dominant male as well.
If Spouse doesn't believe you its a cockerel, show them this.
Saddle Feathers.jpg
 
Your boy may be keeping his beak shut to avoid being trounced by the others.
Once you cull the one, be wary at how much flock dynamic will change, especially if the LH was the dominant male as well.
If Spouse doesn't believe you its a cockerel, show them this.
View attachment 1398097


Thanks! Helpful pictures!

Also, the Dark Brown Leghorn that is very aggressive at 11 weeks is really a great flock protector - he takes his job seriously already, but he LOOKS for trouble too. He tries to engage the other males in confrontations, and then he grabs the females by their neck feathers and tries to pull them down (he is not mounting them), or just chases a hen all around, etc. He went after my spouse's arm when he was putting water in the coop (human aggression), but when I was sweeping some shavings away from the door (the coop is elevated, so the bottom of the doorway hits me just below my chest), he ran when my arm was sweeping in his general direction, so he has given me wide berth so far.

As we expect to remove the aggressive leghorn, I know that the other 3 males will definitely be vying for top spot and they may turn out to have nasty personalities too. The other 3 males are: Black Australorp (he will back down when confronted by the aggressive cockerel), Black Jersey Giant (large and so far pretty gentle - seems to stare down the aggressive leghorn and we have not witnessed altercations between them yet), and another Dark Brown Leghorn (he crows, and will stand tall when confronted by aggressive one with maybe a peck at each other). Being new to chickens, I'm hoping we are making the right decisions!
 

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