Easter Egger Sexing "tips and tricks" *Pictures Included*

[aoxa]

Bwahaha I got the hackle feathers mixed up with the saddle feathers. Man I'm loosing my mind.

I didn't even notice to tell you the truth LOL.

 

[SmittenChicken]

Hi Everyone,
This may be way too early, but I'm wondering about a little EE that my broody hatched out 17 days ago (the EE is on the left). To me this looks like the common brown-and-black pullet pattern, with no trace of any other color yet, so I'm really hoping this one's a pullet (I'm also hoping the same about the Speckled Sussex to the right, who is very similar in terms of behavior, feather development and leg size.)

Have any of you had an EE chick like the one on the left that turned out to be male?

 

[CelticOaksFarm]

way too early to be taking a guess at that chick.

 

[aoxa]

Hi Everyone,
This may be way too early, but I'm wondering about a little EE that my broody hatched out 17 days ago (the EE is on the left). To me this looks like the common brown-and-black pullet pattern, with no trace of any other color yet, so I'm really hoping this one's a pullet (I'm also hoping the same about the Speckled Sussex to the right, who is very similar in terms of behavior, feather development and leg size.)

Have any of you had an EE chick like the one on the left that turned out to be male?

I think it's still too early. I have one that is about the same age and looks the same. First guess for me is how fast they are feathering out. Since it looks a lot more feathered out than my EE boys at this age, I'd lean more towards girl.

 

[Simmonsfunnyfrm]

One thing I have found about sexing those chipmunk chicks early is to look at the darker blaze on top of their heads. It's definitely not 100% accurate, but I have found more often than not the ones that have a clearly defined blaze are usually female, and the ones with a somewhat blurry blaze tend to be male. Kind of like sexing Welsummer chicks. Here are some Welsummer chicks so you know what I'm talking about:




The one on the left is female, the right is male. If I were to use that standard when sexing your chicks, I would say you have a pullet but again like I said it doesn't always work. Give us an update in a few weeks, I bet they turn out to be pretty no matter what they are!

 

[AVintageLife]

Love this forum! I agree with Simmonsfunnyfrm, because we had the same experience. We have two chicks that started out with chipmunk coloring. In this pic, Simba is the chick on the left and Nugget is the chick on the right. Out of all ten chicks, we were 100% certain that Nugget would be a pullet. Today, "Mr." Nugget is 16 weeks old, crowing and growing saddle feathers (and yet I still look for signs that he is a pullet, I am in complete denial here). Our Simba is now a beautiful pullet with brown penciled feathering, looks a little like a Welsummer.

 

[aoxa]

One thing I have found about sexing those chipmunk chicks early is to look at the darker blaze on top of their heads. It's definitely not 100% accurate, but I have found more often than not the ones that have a clearly defined blaze are usually female, and the ones with a somewhat blurry blaze tend to be male. Kind of like sexing Welsummer chicks. Here are some Welsummer chicks so you know what I'm talking about: The one on the left is female, the right is male. If I were to use that standard when sexing your chicks, I would say you have a pullet but again like I said it doesn't always work. Give us an update in a few weeks, I bet they turn out to be pretty no matter what they are!

My boy Stanley was very dark like that though. Looking back, his comb was pretty noticeable even at a day old.

My girls were opposite (lighter)

 

[Simmonsfunnyfrm]

My boy Stanley was very dark like that though. Looking back, his comb was pretty noticeable even at a day old.

My girls were opposite (lighter)

Whoops, I meant to say the most important thing is the clear borders of the blaze, color is secondary in importance. See, your little guy here has a dark blaze, but it is not clearly defined. It's more wavy than straight.

 

[aoxa]

Whoops, I meant to say the most important thing is the clear borders of the blaze, color is secondary in importance. See, your little guy here has a dark blaze, but it is not clearly defined. It's more wavy than straight.

That makes more sense!

What do you think of this one?

I think this is a girl based on the fast feathering. It does have defined borders.

 

[milo1108]

Love this forum! I agree with Simmonsfunnyfrm, because we had the same experience. We have two chicks that started out with chipmunk coloring. In this pic, Simba is the chick on the left and Nugget is the chick on the right. Out of all ten chicks, we were 100% certain that Nugget would be a pullet. Today, "Mr." Nugget is 16 weeks old, crowing and growing saddle feathers (and yet I still look for signs that he is a pullet, I am in complete denial here). Our Simba is now a beautiful pullet with brown penciled feathering, looks a little like a Welsummer.

My roommate and I were in denial about my first chicken Lucky being a rooster. We both agreed it would turn out to be a shim and lay eggs anyway....well he still didn't and then started getting frisky with the girls....anyway he went to the chopping block so to speak.