Sexing 3 week old EE

[Gingasnap]

This spring my family and I decided to raise five easter egger chicks to add to our current flock (2 wyandottes and 1 EE). The chicks we bought were advertised as all pullets, but Im beginning to have suspicions with one of the chicks.

Here is Lucky, the chick who I am suspecting might be a roo. Compared to her siblings, Lucky is considerably larger, has thicker legs, shorter wing feathers and no tail feathers as of yet. I also noticed her comb is growing larger than her sister's. Personality wise Lucky is very self assured, and leads the other chicks. She also stands up very straight which makes me a bit suspicious that we were accidentally given a roo.

Here is another chick (named Lemon), same age as Lucky.

I know how varied EEs can be, so I really dont want to accidentally missex Lucky and give away a perfectly good pullet. Then again, out of all of her siblings she really stands out in the above mentioned factors, so knowing I have a rooster now would save my family (and flock) a lot of trouble. Thank you for taking the time to read this!

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Also Lucky does not appear to be an EE. Looks more like a Delaware.

 

[Gingasnap]

Also Lucky does not appear to be an EE. Looks more like a Delaware.

Thank you for the advice! I am definitely planning on waiting a few more weeks before I mark her as a roo. I never even considered she could be a delaware, I got her at a feed store that labelled all of the chicks of their respective breed but perhaps a few got mixed up during transport (I know they were selling some delawares at one point)

 

[Gingasnap]

It's hard to say when they are so young.

Did you buy these from a breeder?
Were they advertised as EEs or called something else?

Reason I am asking is because there is a relatively new breed, called Whitings, that will lay blue or green eggs and they are not based on an Ameraucana type chicken... they don't have pea combs, beards/muffs, and leg color seems optional from what I've read. They do come in a variety of feather colors.

If your chicks were sold as "blue egg layers" it could be that they are from Blue Whitings. It really depends on the source of the chicks.

I got them from tractor supply, and they were all advertised as easter egger pullets. That being said I dont know which hatchery they originated from (Ill have to ask next time I go there). Either way, now I am even more excited to see what colors these chicks will be once they're full grown!

 

[LadiesAndJane]

This spring my family and I decided to raise five easter egger chicks to add to our current flock (2 wyandottes and 1 EE). The chicks we bought were advertised as all pullets, but Im beginning to have suspicions with one of the chicks.

View attachment 2639168
View attachment 2639169View attachment 2639170

Here is Lucky, the chick who I am suspecting might be a roo. Compared to her siblings, Lucky is considerably larger, has thicker legs, shorter wing feathers and no tail feathers as of yet. I also noticed her comb is growing larger than her sister's. Personality wise Lucky is very self assured, and leads the other chicks. She also stands up very straight which makes me a bit suspicious that we were accidentally given a roo.

Here is another chick (named Lemon), same age as Lucky.
View attachment 2639180View attachment 2639181View attachment 2639185
I know how varied EEs can be, so I really dont want to accidentally missex Lucky and give away a perfectly good pullet. Then again, out of all of her siblings she really stands out in the above mentioned factors, so knowing I have a rooster now would save my family (and flock) a lot of trouble. Thank you for taking the time to read this!

You may be right about Lucky, but it is too early to tell. The comb will pink up and get quite a bit larger at about 5-6 weeks. You may also see some wattle formation if Lucky is indeed a boy.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

You are quite welcome. Feed stores are quite well known to mix the bins. People come home with a different breed than they expected all the time.

 

[Wishing4Wings]

I don't think Lemon is an EE either.

 

[Gingasnap]

I don't think Lemon is an EE either.

What breed do you think she might be?

 

[Wishing4Wings]

What breed do you think she might be?

It's hard to say when they are so young.

Did you buy these from a breeder?
Were they advertised as EEs or called something else?

Reason I am asking is because there is a relatively new breed, called Whitings, that will lay blue or green eggs and they are not based on an Ameraucana type chicken... they don't have pea combs, beards/muffs, and leg color seems optional from what I've read. They do come in a variety of feather colors.

If your chicks were sold as "blue egg layers" it could be that they are from Blue Whitings. It really depends on the source of the chicks.