Help Sexing Egger type chickens!

[MotherOfCluckers]

You all have been so helpful that I’m asking again. These kids are coming up on 4 weeks, so it may be too soon to tell, but... The brown one was sold as an Americana and the black two were sold as Prairie Bluebell Eggers. They were all supposed to be pullets. One of the black ones barely has any tail feathers. What do you guys think?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

First looks like an Easter egger, probably a female but it's early. Than I think you have a barred rock pullet and a barred rock rooster.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Ok, no expert here, but... First one looks to me like an EE cockerel, because it has a pea comb with three rows. I know that some pullet EEs can have three rows, but I believe it’s much more common for the pullets with a pea comb to have barely anything there at one month. The two black chicks look like olive egger cockerels to me. We crossed a crested cream legbar hen with a black copper marans roo, and our one month cockerels have a similar comb and barred pattern. They don’t look like EEs to me because they don’t have pea combs, and barring is not a common EE pattern. The last one looks most like a cockerel with that prounounced comb. The first black one looks the most like a pullet of your chicks, but I think that’s a pretty big and slightly pink comb for a one month old single comb pullet...

 

[MotherOfCluckers]

First looks like an Easter egger, probably a female but it's early. Than I think you have a barred rock pullet and a barred rock rooster.

Dislike. I’ve decided no one is going to lay blue eggs, and that Hoover's hatchery is kind of a sham.

 

[MotherOfCluckers]

Ok, no expert here, but... First one looks to me like an EE cockerel, because it has a pea comb with three rows. I know that some pullet EEs can have three rows, but I believe it’s much more common for the pullets with a pea comb to have barely anything there at one month. The two black chicks look like olive egger cockerels to me. We crossed a crested cream legbar hen with a black copper marans roo, and our one month cockerels have a similar comb and barred pattern. They don’t look like EEs to me because they don’t have pea combs, and barring is not a common EE pattern. The last one looks most like a cockerel with that prounounced comb. The first black one looks the most like a pullet of your chicks, but I think that’s a pretty big and slightly pink comb for a one month old single comb pullet...

These are the same two when I got them. This is what they were sold as.
https://hoovershatchery.com/prairiebluebellegger.html

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

These are the same two when I got them. This is what they were sold as.
https://hoovershatchery.com/prairiebluebellegger.html

Ya, I saw this. So this is supposed to be an Araucana x white leghorn cross? Auracanas are so rare and difficult to breed that I figured that they were talking about Ameraucana, which are commonly used to make EE hybrids... In either case, both Araucana and Ameraucanas have pea combs, and the pea combs are associated with their EE progeny laying blue eggs. Also, none of these three breeds has a barred color pattern. So, in order to get your two barred chicks, because barring is dominant, there must have been a barred parent. That could be a legbar, barred rock, etc, but not an Ameraucana, Araucana, or white leghorn. In your young chick pics, I see at least one black chick with a white head spot, so that’s consistent with the barred pattern that you now have in those two chicks. The single comb in the chicks would also be consistent with an olive egger from CCL x BCM, or other single combed, barred breed parents. Again, these are just my guesses based on EE breeding! Was there a guarantee of some kind on sex of the chicks?

 

[MotherOfCluckers]

Ya, I saw this. So this is supposed to be an Araucana x white leghorn cross? Auracanas are so rare and difficult to breed that I figured that they were talking about Ameraucana, which are commonly used to make EE hybrids... In either case, both Araucana and Ameraucanas have pea combs, and the pea combs are associated with their EE progeny laying blue eggs. Also, none of these three breeds has a barred color pattern. So, in order to get your two barred chicks, because barring is dominant, there must have been a barred parent. That could be a legbar, barred rock, etc, but not an Ameraucana, Araucana, or white leghorn. In your young chick pics, I see at least one black chick with a white head spot, so that’s consistent with the barred pattern that you now have in those two chicks. The single comb in the chicks would also be consistent with an olive egger from CCL x BCM, or other single combed, barred breed parents. Again, these are just my guesses based on EE breeding! Was there a guarantee of some kind on sex of the chicks?

Thanks, that’s kind of what I was thinking. So, no real chance for blue eggs in this bunch? Green? Also, no guarantee that I’m aware of.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Thanks, that’s kind of what I was thinking. So, no real chance for blue eggs in this bunch? Green? Also, no guarantee that I’m aware of.

They’re still a little young to definitively sex, but maybe contact the Hatchery and tell them that you think all 3 chicks sold as pullets are actually cockerels and ask for reimbursement, new pullets, or what you think would be fair. They would probably want you to wait to confirm. If any of these are pullets, then they could lay blue, green, or olive eggs. It just depends on what the mix of the barred chicks are. You might consider telling them also that they may have sent olive eggers instead of the prairie blue bell by mistake? They should know how you could have ended up with barred, single comb chicks from their intended EE crossing...

Edited to add: they do have a 90% sexing guarantee. If you really have 3/3 cockerels that were sold as pullets then I think that should honor that guarantee...
https://hoovershatchery.com/our-guarantee.html

 

[MotherOfCluckers]

They’re still a little young to definitively sex, but maybe contact the Hatchery and tell them that you think all 3 chicks sold as pullets are actually cockerels and ask for reimbursement, new pullets, or what you think would be fair. They would probably want you to wait to confirm. If any of these are pullets, then they could lay blue, green, or olive eggs. It just depends on what the mix of the barred chicks are. You might consider telling them also that they may have sent olive eggers instead of the prairie blue bell by mistake? They should know how you could have ended up with barred, single comb chicks from their intended EE crossing...

Edited to add: they do have a 90% sexing guarantee. If you really have 3/3 cockerels that were sold as pullets then I think that should honor that guarantee...
https://hoovershatchery.com/our-guarantee.html

I really feel like two are cockerels. I sent an email to Hoover’s, and I will talk with someone at Rural King as well. I don’t want to brood any more chicks, but I am in contact with a couple of local people who may have started pullets available. The bigger problem is finding homes for cockerels. I sent 3 to pet homes today.

Thank you for the link and guarantee. I don’t know that Rural King pays excellent attention to their chicks and which bin they throw them in, so there’s really no telling what I have.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

I really feel like two are cockerels. I sent an email to Hoover’s, and I will talk with someone at Rural King as well. I don’t want to brood any more chicks, but I am in contact with a couple of local people who may have started pullets available. The bigger problem is finding homes for cockerels. I sent 3 to pet homes today.

Thank you for the link and guarantee. I don’t know that Rural King pays excellent attention to their chicks and which bin they throw them in, so there’s really no telling what I have.

Best of luck trying to figure it all out and get the layers that you want!