Identify me before...

[PrplHartJarHead]

Agree on the Easter egger cockerel.

for only 8 weeks, that's a lot of pea comb, and it's quite red. Pullets won't have that much comb at this age, and what they do have will be a fleshy pink color.
The feather color/pattern is also a giveaway. On Easter eggers, you just don't see females with this colombian type coloring too much. Female black and white Easter eggers have more dark, and it's more evenly distributed over the body.

There are some great threads here about sexing Easter eggers by color, with pics of birds at different ages.

Thank you, very informative. I will look into the threads.

 

[PrplHartJarHead]

So, looking for more clarity...

I'm not doubting the majority opinion that says my bird is an Easter Egger cockerel. What I would like to know is why isn't he exhibiting any male behaviors? Does not even try to crow; very timid and afraid of just about everything; has not "practiced" mounting any of the pullets, etc. Nothing.

Is this maturity thing, still to young? By some of the few things I've read about roosters in general, it does seem like we should be seeing some of that activity by now. By my estimation, they are all fully 10 weeks and change old.

Thoughts??

 

[fshinggrl]

So, looking for more clarity...

Is this maturity thing, still to young? By some of the few things I've read about roosters in general, it does seem like we should be seeing some of that activity by now. By my estimation, they are all fully 10 weeks and change old.

Thoughts??

Yes, it is a maturity thing. That is exactly it! Often if there is a more dominant rooster in the flock, he may never crow.. or at least wait for awhile. I have two cockerels right now and have had no crowing. They are going on 13 weeks. Right now they are just young.

 

[PrplHartJarHead]

Thank you, fshinggrl! We're new to it, so trying to work our way through some of the mysteries. We ordered from McMurry and they sent us a "mystery" bonus bird. Personally, it has been a little stressful and I wish they hadn't done that.

It's not that we don't like him, but we only had plans for layers. All of our prep work went into layers and it was a surprise to hear we have, though I suspected as much, a rooster. We are in limbo as we wait for him to develop, but are pretty sure we have a future home for him with one of my bride's girlfriends who is very interested in a EE roo.

 

[donrae]

At 10 weeks, he's still just a baby. I have a 4 month old cockerel who just went into the big girl pen who's living in fear

. He's way too immature to assert himself at all. Even with the younger birds he was with, he still acted like a baby. The 4-6 month age range is when my males usually start feeling their hormones and acting rooster-like.

If you order from MMM again, you can opt out of the "rare/exotic" chick. A good 90+% of the time that's a male.