Found in the Park

[loveagoodegg]

A good friend has the reputation of finding animals - maybe they find her?

I'm pretty much a chicken novice when it comes to breeds and sex. Can anyone help me identify this little one?

 

[mshuntjump]

Easter Egger- cockerel

 

[loveagoodegg]

How can you tell it's a cockerel? I need to learn this!

Easter Egger- cockerel

 

[mshuntjump]

Well, usually you cannot tell at this age, this guy just happened to be easier to figure out. Well first of all, easter egger hens are usually darker in color than the cockerels. When you get easter egger chicks and you're wanting hens, you should steer clear of the lighter colored chicks. Because usually, they are indeed males. See how your guy has a white- ish face? Second thing is, if i see corectly, he's already getting a red-ish comb.

 

[loveagoodegg]

Okay. That makes sense. Thank you so much for helping me figure that out. I have a couple other chicks - that were NOT found in the park - when it gets light out I'm going to grab a picture. I think one is a cockerel. They are older than this little lost one. Maybe you can help me with those? Cluck! Cluck! From Montana (my sister gets the boys - she lives in the middle of nowhere)

 

[mshuntjump]

I would love to help with the others!

 

[shmccarthy]

I wouldn't be so quick to say it's a cockerel. I have an Easter egger pullet that looks exactly like that.

The one on the right has the same wing pattern and is a pullet mine started out that color and the head darkened as she got older.

Edit: from my experience, Easter egger cockerels have more patchy coloring and get a red/rust color on the wings and shoulders. I have one Easter egger rooster and most, if not all the Easter egger roosters I see are patchy looking, while the hens coloring is more blended and patterned.

Hope that helps!

 

[mshuntjump]

...

I wouldn't be so quick to say it's a cockerel. I have an Easter egger pullet that looks exactly like that.

The one on the right has the same wing pattern and is a pullet [/quote

Yes, but you see how your pullet has a darker face? It's all about looking at facial feature colors. Yours is clearly a pullet, as she has dark features all over. The bird shown above is clearly a cockerel. I've sexed Easter eggers very successfully using this method since I was 10.

 

[shmccarthy]

...

I wouldn't be so quick to say it's a cockerel. I have an Easter egger pullet that looks exactly like that.

The one on the right has the same wing pattern and is a pullet [/quote

Yes, but you see how your pullet has a darker face? It's all about looking at facial feature colors. Yours is clearly a pullet, as she has dark features all over. The bird shown above is clearly a cockerel. I've sexed Easter eggers very successfully using this method since I was 10.

My pullet started off with a light colored head when she was a chick too and her head darkened when her feathers came in

 

[BrendaJ]

Congrats on your rescue chick. Seems to be a few of them this year. I took in a rescue chick a couple weeks ago that was abandoned at a local high school in a plastic rodent cage - very sad.

It seems to be doing fine now