Sexing Easter Eggers

[ThePhoebeFive]

Three ridges is pea comb. Three ridges with the middle being highest is definitely pea comb.
Easter Eggers often have pea combs.

Buttercup comb would have a tall ridge on each side, and be low in the middle.
Someone could breed an Easter Egger with a buttercup comb, but I've never heard of it happening.

If you found a chart showing a buttercup comb having three ridges, with the middle one being highest, then the chart is wrong.

Oh, okay, I probably misunderstood. Thank you for clarifying that for me!

 

[ThePhoebeFive]

The sex of each chick is determined before the egg is laid.
Neither a hen nor an incubator is going to change the sex of the chick as it incubates.

We KNOW that chicken sex is determined by genes, not incubation temperature, because of all the sexlinked crosses. The Z and W chromosomes determine the sex, and carry some of the color genes.



That is a possibility, but not guaranteed.
A 50% chance of each gender can still give you very uneven amounts sometimes, especially with small numbers.

See, that makes more sense, since that's the way it works for humans, I just thought they were created differently.

 

[NatJ]

See, that makes more sense, since that's the way it works for humans, I just thought they were created differently.

There are some kinds of reptiles where sex is determined by incubation temperature.

People (and most other mammals) have females XX and males XY.

And bird sex chromosomes are backwards of that. So ZZ is a rooster (male) and ZW is a hen (female.) The hen determines the sex of the chick by giving it either Z or W.

Every time I think I know all the options, I encounter another one

 

[ThePhoebeFive]

There are some kinds of reptiles where sex is determined by incubation temperature.

People (and most other mammals) have females XX and males XY.

And bird sex chromosomes are backwards of that. So ZZ is a rooster (male) and ZW is a hen (female.) The hen determines the sex of the chick by giving it either Z or W.

Every time I think I know all the options, I encounter another one

I wonder if whoever said that chick's gender was determined by temperature was believing that birds evolved from reptiles and so they assumed that chickens are similar to reptiles. Obviously, since birds didn't evolve (nothing evolved), they could easily be, and are, completely different from reptiles.

 

[TheOddOneOut]

I wonder if whoever said that chick's gender was determined by temperature was believing that birds evolved from reptiles and so they assumed that chickens are similar to reptiles. Obviously, since birds didn't evolve (nothing evolved), they could easily be, and are, completely different from reptiles.

 

[ThePhoebeFive]

Number 1 is for sure a cockerel. Numbers 2, 3, and 4 are also looking like cockerels. Number 6 looks like it may be a slower developing cockerel, but I'm on the fence. Both numbers 5, and 7 are pullets.

Post updated pics of 2, 3, 4, and 6 in two more weeks.

I'll be sad if 6 is a roo. It helped me raise 7 because 7 was sick. I hatched her, so she imprinted with me. She had spraddle leg, so I had to splint her legs. Because she was imprinted with me, even though the mama would take her back, she wouldn't have it. But then she got lonely, so I brought 6 in to keep her company. 7 though she was a human, but 6 taught her to be a chicken! I'm not kidding! 6 has won a special place in my heat for that.

EDIT: Oops! I mean heart, not heat!

 

[Painted Calls]

Every time I think I know all the options, I encounter another one

This is true for a lot of things!

 

[NatJ]

I wonder if whoever said that chick's gender was determined by temperature was believing that birds evolved from reptiles and so they assumed that chickens are similar to reptiles.

Yes, that is one possible explanation.

Some people have also tried incubating at different temperatures, in hopes that more males would die, leaving all the females alive (summary of results: does not work well enough to be useful in any practical sense. And I think I've seen it claimed for both high and low temperatures.)

A while back, someone did post a study where researchers did something different during incubation, I think temperature related, and some of the males (genetically speaking) developed as females, even laying eggs. That was not useful in a practical sense either, and of course it would give trouble for anyone trying to breed another generation from those "females"!


People have been trying for thousands of years to find a way to tell what eggs would hatch what gender of chick, or get more females and less males when hatching chicks.

For an ancient example, Aristotle in about 350 BC said: "Long and pointed eggs are female; those that are round, or more rounded at the narrow end, are male."
http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/history_anim.6.vi.html
(Some modern people say the opposite, that long pointed eggs are male, but it appears that neither version is actually useful for determining gender before hatch.)

 

[ThePhoebeFive]

Yes, that is one possible explanation.

Some people have also tried incubating at different temperatures, in hopes that more males would die, leaving all the females alive (summary of results: does not work well enough to be useful in any practical sense. And I think I've seen it claimed for both high and low temperatures.)

A while back, someone did post a study where researchers did something different during incubation, I think temperature related, and some of the males (genetically speaking) developed as females, even laying eggs. That was not useful in a practical sense either, and of course it would give trouble for anyone trying to breed another generation from those "females"!


People have been trying for thousands of years to find a way to tell what eggs would hatch what gender of chick, or get more females and less males when hatching chicks.

For an ancient example, Aristotle in about 350 BC said: "Long and pointed eggs are female; those that are round, or more rounded at the narrow end, are male."
http://classics.mit.edu/Aristotle/history_anim.6.vi.html
(Some modern people say the opposite, that long pointed eggs are male, but it appears that neither version is actually useful for determining gender before hatch.)

Sounds to me like there isn't much of a sure way that someone can do it from home! I know even professionals can be wrong.

Speaking of, these are most definitely not EEs, but since we're on the subject, I thought I would ask. I have six Cuckoo Marans. They are maybe two weeks old, possibly three, so too young to sex. But, I just want to see if anyone else suspects this one particular chick. It's bigger than the others, bossier, louder, and the feet and legs are huge! Also, I know you can tell Barred Rock gender by feather color (I can't remember if lighter or darker is a rooster). I don't know if it's similar with CMs since they look like BRs, but this one is really light two. I'm fine if it is a roo, I want a CM roo, I'm just wondering. (BTW, these were sold as pullets, that's how it ties in with what I said about professionals.)

 

[NatJ]

Sounds to me like there isn't much of a sure way that someone can do it from home! I know even professionals can be wrong.

I agree. Not anything practical to try at home.

I know you can tell Barred Rock gender by feather color (I can't remember if lighter or darker is a rooster). I don't know if it's similar with CMs since they look like BRs

For the Barred Rocks, lighter is male.
It should work on any pure barred or cuckoo breed.
Barring is on the Z sex chromosome. So a male, with ZZ, can have two copies of the barring gene (more white.) A female with ZW can only have one copy of the barring gene (less white.)

The only problem is when the "more" and "less" white look similar enough to be confusing. And of course there can be some variation even among same-gender chicks, just to make it even more complicated

Speaking of, these are most definitely not EEs, but since we're on the subject, I thought I would ask. I have six Cuckoo Marans. They are maybe two weeks old, possibly three, so too young to sex. But, I just want to see if anyone else suspects this one particular chick. It's bigger than the others, bossier, louder, and the feet and legs are huge! Also, I know you can tell Barred Rock gender by feather color (I can't remember if lighter or darker is a rooster). I don't know if it's similar with CMs since they look like BRs, but this one is really light two. I'm fine if it is a roo, I want a CM roo, I'm just wondering. (BTW, these were sold as pullets, that's how it ties in with what I said about professionals.)

It might be male, but based on the photos I would not be certain at this point. It could also be a big, bossy female with color at the light end of the "female" range.