Is there any way to pick out the EEs?

[mistymac]

We hatched 30+ babies some of which were pure EEs and the others daddy was an EE and momma(s) are variety of my egg layers (barred rocks, delawares, cuckoo marines, you name it!)

I wanted to keep all the EEs for myself and sell the barnyard mixes only they hatched in the night (and knocked over my dividers) and now there is no way of knowing which was which! Some of the later hatchers from green/blue eggs I was able to mark but there are a lot that I wasn't able to! I can see tufts on some, but would the non pure EEs have tufts considering dad was an EE?

 

[dekel18042]

We hatched 30+ babies some of which were pure EEs and the others daddy was an EE and momma(s) are variety of my egg layers (barred rocks, delawares, cuckoo marines, you name it!)

I wanted to keep all the EEs for myself and sell the barnyard mixes only they hatched in the night (and knocked over my dividers) and now there is no way of knowing which was which! Some of the later hatchers from green/blue eggs I was able to mark but there are a lot that I wasn't able to! I can see tufts on some, but would the non pure EEs have tufts considering dad was an EE?

Are all your roosters EE's and unbarred? If so any chicks developing barring should be cockerels and not EE's.
What about EE leg color. Would that help? If you see yellow legs probably not an EE.
I have an Ameraucana rooster with muff and a beard and bred to other breeds, half of his chicks have muffs and beards. Bred to California greys, you can't tell his black daughters from purebred Ameraucanas, but technically I guess they are EE's. ANd they even lay beautiful blue eggs.
Sounds like you would have some olive eggers in the mix and people argue over whether or not they are EE's.
You can at least make some educated guesses.
Of course that might give you a good excuse for keeping all the girls.

 

[donrae]

If your rooster is not white and not barred, any chicks with a white head spot will be cockerels from the barred or cuckoo birds. All the breeds you mentioned carry barring, so their cockerels should be easy enough to pick out.

The Rocks and I'm guessing Marans, not marines

are extended black, so their babies will be black with white underbellies. The males will be as per above, white head spots. Females will have solid dark heads.

Depending on the color of your EE male, the chicks with the Delaware could also be sexlinked. If he's gold/brown/red based, the males will be silver/white and the females red/gold. But, telling them from the EE chicks may be tricky.

the characteristics from the EE father are partially dominant, so telling which other chicks are EE and which are mixed may be tricky. Beards and muffs are partially dominant in my experience. His pea comb should be dominant, so that's no help. With a mixed bag of genetics, you can't go by leg color either.

So, if you're wanting to sell chicks, sell the black ones. Keep the others until they're a bit more grown and then decide who looks most EE-ery.

Or, sell them all and use this as an excuse to hatch out more chicks

 

[lazy gardener]

Or, just keep the best of the best, and sell the rest. My EE roo produces lovely chicks, and about 1/2 of them produce olive eggs. And, for sure, I'd keep the female sex linked chicks. That way, you'll know you're keeping pullets!

 

[mistymac]

Thank you all! This is my EE roo

Splash mix in told?

 

[mistymac]

Well, the (once) chicks are now 10 weeks old and I kept EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. (so far) I'm amazed at how different they all look! My plan was to wait until I could tell the difference between the pullets and roos (I'm still having a hard time though). A couple have started to crow (barred little guys). I'm pretty sure all of the ones with the red splashing are roos just because of the way they stand.

I have 2 gorgeous white ones (see below) with feathered feet and beards and muffs. I'm assuming these were from my light Brahma hen who we sadly lost a couple months back.

They are all good looking, healthy birds! I will probably pen up the roos that I don't want to breed and fatten them up for the freezer. It's amazing how much 30 birds can eat!

 

[SALPoultryPark]

I am all new to this, so I'm not sure how to post or where to post things. Help!! I have a curious question! What do you think is the most popular sought after back yard breed of chicken?? I am considering raising two different breeds of chickens and raising small number of chicks for resale. Let me know what you think! Thank you!

 

[mistymac]

I am all new to this, so I'm not sure how to post or where to post things. Help!! I have a curious question! What do you think is the most popular sought after back yard breed of chicken?? I am considering raising two different breeds of chickens and raising small number of chicks for resale. Let me know what you think! Thank you!

I think it really depends on your area and your "target market". Are you hoping to target those who appreciate farm-raised, natural, free-range chickens, OR the consumer that really doesn't care but just wants eggs. The price points will be completely different Also, you'll need to evaluate your competition (or whether there is any).

Do you hope to hatch under a broody or in an incubator? Are you raising from chicks or hatching eggs etc. There are so many questions.

I have a background in service based business and LOVE the biz/marketing aspect of it... it suits my personality well Hence the many questions! Hopefully they'll help to get you thinking

 

[SALPoultryPark]

Oh thank you! You pose some really great questions and things for me to think about... I am interested in producing really pretty colorful eggs, to the hobbyist &/or BY chicken lover. Not sure about incubating the eggs or letting a broody hatch them, leaning towards incubation as I have a couple table top incubators. My target breeds would be BCM, Auracanas & Silkies. I can keep the Silkies in their own coop and the BCM's would share the coop with the Auracanas(sp). With a BCM rooster housed with both I think the Auracauna offspring would lay "olive" colored eggs and of course the BCM would be full bloods and produce the dark, dark colored shell egg. Just exploring things for now. I currently have Silkies and a variety of mixed breed standard chickens. Again thank you for you information!!