Is it a roo?

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I'm sorry you can't keep him, he's very pretty. As far as early indicators that will help you identify male chicks in the future, along with his comb that will be comparatively redder than pullets of the same age, the patchy white color on his wing and back is a huge give-away. If he was a pullet, you would see a very even color pattern; in this case a pullet's entire color pattern on her wings would be brown/partridge like the color on your boy's back before his tail. Often a young cockerel's patchy color will be red instead of silver. The patchy color doesn't always appear, but in Easter Egger cockerels it is extremely common, and usually begins to show at about six weeks of age.

Here is a group of 8-week old Easter Eggers. There are several examples of early male feathering here. Of the 2 standing on their feed bowl in center of pic, the silver chick is a pullet, and other is a cockerel. The pullet has a uniform feather color/pattern over her wing and back, and her comb is much lighter pink than the cockerel. He has patchy red feathers growing in, as well as a larger and redder comb. The cockerel at 3:00 shows extremely patchy red feathering even though you can't see his comb, and the silver cockerel at 11:30 also has random red feathers growing in. Not all cockerels will show the patchy colors, but when you see this, it is an early sign you can expect them to crow a few weeks later.
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Allsfairinloveandbugs said:
View attachment 3572525
I'm sorry you can't keep him, he's very pretty. As far as early indicators that will help you identify male chicks in the future, along with his comb that will be comparatively redder than pullets of the same age, the patchy white color on his wing and back is a huge give-away. If he was a pullet, you would see a very even color pattern; in this case a pullet's entire color pattern on her wings would be brown/partridge like the color on your boy's back before his tail. Often a young cockerel's patchy color will be red instead of silver. The patchy color doesn't always appear, but in Easter Egger cockerels it is extremely common, and usually begins to show at about six weeks of age.

Here is a group of 8-week old Easter Eggers. There are several examples of early male feathering here. Of the 2 standing on their feed bowl in center of pic, the silver chick is a pullet, and other is a cockerel. The pullet has a uniform feather color/pattern over her wing and back, and her comb is much lighter pink than the cockerel. He has patchy red feathers growing in, as well as a larger and redder comb. The cockerel at 3:00 shows extremely patchy red feathering even though you can't see his comb, and the silver cockerel at 11:30 also has random red feathers growing in. Not all cockerels will show the patchy colors, but when you see this, it is an early sign you can expect them to crow a few weeks later.
View attachment 3572562
Click to expand...
Well done, @Allsfairinloveandbugs
 

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