How do you pick out an EE

[mountainlover]

From a bin of various chicks? Is there anything that I could look for? I've been trying to find out on my own but I haven't figured it out!

 

[tec27]

When dealing with mutts just pick any that appeal to you. Color, size, certain markings. Doesnt really matter. They dont need to be perfect. Look for diseases though. No sneezing or eye problems. Nice wings. With EE's its usually color and markings that interest people.

 

[debid]

Are you meaning the assorted pullet bin at your feed store? Look for puffy cheeks and green-tinted legs.

 

[mountainlover]

Okay thank you! Next time I will look for that. I just came home with a poor chicken I felt sorry for but I don't know what it is. I started another thread with it.

 

[amnich]

Because EE's are mixes they can pretty much look like anything - going for the chipmunk look (basically the trademark EE) can get you a bunch of other things, like brown leghorns, speckled sussex, OEGBs, etc. Most efficient method to figure out which from an assortment is an EE is to look for the puffy cheeks, and sometimes they will also have the green-ish legs depending on which genes came through. Good luck!

 

[goldfinches]

Look for:

Puffy cheeks
Chipmunk stripes
Green/shaded legs
Pea comb, (you won't see obvious bumps)

My feed store only gets brown layers, but they're often classified as exotics/colored layers, so hopefully, they'll be in a separate bin from others that are similar, ie. wyandottes.