Sold 11 roos & kept this one - did we keep the right one? EE @ 9wks.

[chickenguysmom]

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Ok, here is the situation -- we ordered some straight run bantam chicks from McMurray 4 of each breed. We have the worst luck because we got mostly roosters. Dumb Luck! So we wanted at least one EE and we know for sure the others will be roosters because at 3 weeks they had little red/pink combs. Sage is my DDs pick and was the only girl until now at 5 weeks.... Sage's comb area is turning pink, sometimes it looks orange and sometimes it looks red. However it is no comb poking up it is just the color of the area that has me concerned. Tell me if you think she will be a she or if like the other 11 she will have to be rehomed. Out of 17 chicks under 8 weeks old we have only 4 of 17 that still look like girls, 2 that are confusing, and 11 that are def. cockerals. What do you think? All the other boys we could tell at like 3 weeks.

Sage from the top

Sage from the side

A blurry one of her comb

 

[Break an Egg]

Doesn't look like a roo to me. EE's can be hard though. Very pretty bird, by the way.

 

[chickenguysmom]

She's got me confused -- she acts like a pullet while all the boys are rough-housing she stays out of it. So we were hoping pullet because we want the funky colored eggs.

 

[speckledhen]

Hate to tell you, but a wide pink comb like that at that age in this type breed usually means cockerel. I say boy.

 

[PeeperKeeper]

I'm having the same concerns with 3 I won on Ebay. I'm hoping for a roo and 2 hens but the way they are built and the progress of comb growing.... well they are all different to some degree.

 

[Sock Puppet]

The tail looks like its a pullet, comb ? but still could be a pullet

but that doesnt mean anything. Mine turned into a roo and it has pointy feathers on the tail and neck area. His feathers are not round like a pullets.

Good luck, hope its a girl for you

 

[PeeperKeeper]

Don't you just wish the hens would just somehow put a stamp on the eggshell "roo" "hen" ?

 

[chickenguysmom]

Quote:
Why, Speckled Hen, oh why?. I respect your opinion too much to tell you that you are mistaken. I have watched you guess correctly for quite sometime, and know that you are spot on about these things.

Tell me though, are you sure or is there hope? Maybe just a tiny-teeny bit of hope, like a small shreadlette of hope. Not for me but for DD.

 

[chickenguysmom]

Quote:
Yes, I am liking this idea.... like a sex-link on the color of the egg. Wouldn't that be convenient? That way we could eat the eggs that we didn't want and let the others hatch.

Why isn't someone on the genetics thread working on this? We need to take up a collection and get this funded? How about a government study as part of the bailout? Let's say 2 million to study the question and then like 10 million to actually work on a solution. Anybody in with me?

 

[speckledhen]

Quote:
Why, Speckled Hen, oh why?. I respect your opinion too much to tell you that you are mistaken. I have watched you guess correctly for quite sometime, and know that you are spot on about these things.

Tell me though, are you sure or is there hope? Maybe just a tiny-teeny bit of hope, like a small shreadlette of hope. Not for me but for DD.

Oh, I'm not always right, trust me! I raised Ameraucanas for awhile and when the comb is really wide like that and red at that age, it's rarely a pullet, however, sometimes the little rule-breakers can fool you, so nothing is 100% certain till it's older.