UPDATE: 11 Week Old EE Gender Check *PICS ADDED*

[hokankai]

Alright, the babies are now 10-11 weeks old and it's about time to start pruning the boys from our flock. Just wanted to post updated pics!

Hootie (hatched): he/she's started doing this hen-like behavior where when I stroke his back he'll arch his back and lift his tail...and then when I put him back down he ruffles his feathers like a hen after being mated with

Clover, Hootie's sibling (hatched)

Hootie and Clover together

Big Baby, (came from hatchery) pretty much a roo, but just wanted to make sure before he goes to a new home

I have a couple EEs that I'm not sure are boys or girls yet. They are 7 weeks old, and their coloring is throwing me off. One of them has very distinct brown/orangey patches on its shoulders and back, the other looks like pullet coloring with random brown feathers mixed in. Both have small combs with a little color, no wattles, and pretty dainty legs. I'll get pics in the morning.

Pics:
Big Baby, the hatchery boy (red coming in on shoulders)

Clover, hatched

Hootie, hatched

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

There is no "color coded" rule for EEs. EEs can be a mix of literally ANY parentage, being an EE just means that it "could" carry the blue egg gene. Since you know that yours hatched out of blue eggs, then you know that they do carry the blue egg gene. If they are girls, they could lay blue or green eggs, depending on what breed their father was, and also if their mother was pure Ameraucana, or a mixed EE herself that just laid a blue egg.

If momma only carried one copy of the beard/muffs gene, and daddy was clean faced, or also carried only one copy of that gene, you have a good chance of clean faced chicks. Also, if momma was slate legged and daddy had white skin, you won't get the typical green legs of an EE...

 

[hokankai]

Ok great! Thanks so much, that gives me hope...

.

In the ad, the picture he provided was of the hens and they were a plain buff color with muffs and beards. Not sure if that's a pure Ameracauna or not, but that's what I saw

. Not sure what these little cuties are a mixture of!

 

[Cloverleaf Farm]

If they were solid buff with NO black markings anywhere, with slate legs, they sound like pure Ameraucanas. Any way to find out what kind of roo he has??

 

[hokankai]

No it was awhile ago now and it was just a craigslist transaction really. All I remember is that he had an ad for "Ameracauna/Araucana" eggs so I was thinking EE, but the picture he posted was a group of those buff, muffed, bearded hens. I don't remember the color of the legs. I think he also said he had green eggs too, but I asked specifically for blue so that's all I got. I don't remember if there was a rooster in the pic or not

 

[fshinggrl]

If I understand your question, you are asking if you can tell the gender of EEs by color. The answer is no... for example most black/whit EEs are cockerel, but not all. The splotchy coloring coming in over the back and shoulders does sound like a cockerel however. Cannot wait to see pictures!

 

[kcaywood]

Ameracauna/Aracauna chicks can express the "traditional" genes or not, it's true. I hatched four recently - three with muffs, one clean-faced - all with feathered legs - two with green legs, two with black - one solid black, two black with yellow chests, one white with a single black dot. Always a surprise!

Hoping to receive some Icelandic eggs this week - can't WAIT to see what hatches from those!!

 

[ranchhand]

Quote:
Keep in mind that people don't always post their own pics! It's becoming a real problem when buying eggs, they just lift a nice pic from somewhere and present it as theirs.

 

[hokankai]

Quote:
Keep in mind that people don't always post their own pics! It's becoming a real problem when buying eggs, they just lift a nice pic from somewhere and present it as theirs.

When I went to pick up the eggs, the pen in the picture looked like the pen on the property, and the picture really wasn't good enough quality to be worth stealing

I didn't see the hens because they were out and about, but yeah.

Pics added on 1st post!

 

[Pele]

Quote:
I hate to disagree, but you can actually pretty accurately tell an EE's gender by how they are colored. For example: Ivy is a red female, and Hootie is a red male.

You can tell by the wing bow. If you look, you can see that Hootie's coloration is very different, even though they are both 'red' EEs. Hootie has red that is leaking into patches on his wing-bow. If we could see his chest, it would be the same color as that leaking rust.

Now Ivy, however, only has the red on her head and chest, while the rest of her body is a tidy wild-type pattern. She will not have any splotches of red leaking onto the wing.

It is true that EEs are very mixed, and that you can have coloration sexing break down if there is too much mixing, but hatcheries tend to keep within 1 to 2 generations close to the EE 'ideal' ( ie muffs, willow legs, blue-green eggs, pea comb).

I hope that helps clear things up a bit.