Sexing Easter eggers at a week old?

Oct 20, 2020
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I have three Easter eggers but I read that at one week you can tell if they are male or female by the wing feather growth and tail feathers ( the females start to feather out quicker) is that true ? If so I believe all three of my Easter eggers are male :(
 

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@MysteryChicken

Yes, this is possible with many breeds of chicken. Chicks are usually wing sexed when they are between 1 day and 1 week of age.

Why don't you spread out a wing from each chick and @MysteryChicken will attempt to sex them.
EEs are tricky, but I've done this with EE mixes.

I can probably give it a try though.
 
Could you try with my silverlaced Barnevelders ? I think one is a roo as I did try feather sexing at 3 day old - but then seen the post about females wings and tails growing faster so the one that I thought was a female doesn’t have tail feathers yet and only tips of wings - I have Amerucana wheaten blues and buffs orphingtons aswell that have more feathers growth and tail growth - so that’s what I’m comparing them to because they are at the same age ? But Maybe it’s different between breeds. But I’m pretty sure the easters and barnevelders are roosters :( ( I also think one buff is a rooster too )
 

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I read that at one week you can tell if they are male or female by the wing feather growth and tail feathers ( the females start to feather out quicker) is that true? If so I believe all three of my Easter eggers are male :(
People disagree on whether that is true or not.

What is known to be true: there are genes for fast feathering and slow feathering. Either gender can have the genes to grow feathers at either speed. But when someone breeds a fast-feathering rooster to a slow-feathering hen, they get slow-feathering sons and fast-feathering daughters. Such chicks can be sexed by examining their wings when they are young. Such chicks can also be sexed for the next several weeks, because the males look half-naked while their sisters grow feathers much more quickly.

But some people claim to be able to sex chicks by their wings, for chicks that were not bred that way. They think they can do it, but I have not seen enough evidence to be convinced.

You certainly can post pictures and let them try sexing your chicks-- but I recommend you wait until the chicks are old enough to sex by other means before you do anything permanent like culling or rehoming the "males." (I'd also be curious to see an update later, to know whether they were right or not.)
 
Below is a wheaten Amerucana - I’m pretty sure female due to the quick feather growth - but the water king on top of the water jug and all my EE’s ( I have 3 ) seem to have no tail feathers and only the end of their wing feathers but perhaps they are slow feathering genetics as commented by @NatJ 🤷‍♀️
 

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