Barred Rock--- Hens or Roos?

Hens or Roos?

  • Hens

    Votes: 30 96.8%
  • Roos

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • At least one roo

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • I can't tell

    Votes: 1 3.2%

  • Total voters
    31

MandiRock

In the Brooder
8 Years
Aug 29, 2011
59
1
39
Central Mississippi
I have some 19 week old chickens. 3 are white leghorn hens, and 3 are barred rock hens. Or at least, they are supposed to be! I've noticed that their combs are large in comparison to those of my leghorns. I'm not sure if this is a breed difference, or if they possibly might be roosters.



This is Kai-Lan on the left and Dora on the right. Kai-Lan has the biggest comb of the group, and it sort of folds over if you can't tell. Thats Olivia there in the background (Yes, my 3 year old named all 6 chickens)





And here is the third barred rock, Kiki. In the background there we have Ming Ming.


Here is a close up of Ming Ming just for comb comparison purposes, and bc she likes the camera :)




As far as the tail feathers go, I don't see any noticeable difference in them right now.



What do you guys think? Hens with combs on the larger side, or could they possibly be roosters?
 
I think the BR are hens. The barred feathers are sex-linked, if they were roos the black barring should be lighter (grey). I have seen light girls and dark boys, but I dont see the tell tale pointy saddle and hackles of a roo. So I vote girls :)
 
I am a rank amateur on telling the gender of chickens, so I won't chime in on that score. I got a good laugh out of their names, though. As the proud mom of a 4 year old girl, I caught every reference, and I can see our chickies this spring getting similar names. Almost a pity you don't have a roo. You could have had Diego, RinToo, Tuck, Boots...the list goes on and on.

Incidentally, my daughter says she is Dora, I am Issa, her big brother is Diego, and her dad is The Big Red Chicken...but sometimes he gets dubbed The Grumpy Old Troll.

Sorry if I hijacked this thread. I couldn't resist.

--Nikki
 
Look like hens to me. I agree with everything HowFunky said. BRs are about the only type of chicken I can sex. I wish I had known how to do it before I got 4, 2 of which were roosters. I also love the names. My kids are getting older, but I still can relate. Uniqua and Tasha would be high on my list if I went that route.
wink.png
 
I'd say hens, too. I have 9 of them and yours look like mine did at that age. When they get closer to laying their combs got big, red, and a bit floppy. I understand it's natural for barred rock hen combs to do that.
 
Hens , sometime roo have lighter color than hens or same , but these defenetly hens.
Im orpington breeder , and i sex lot chicks for the town .
 
Your white hens are White Rock. Leghorns have big combs, white earlobes and lay white eggs.Youir hens have red earlobes and will lay brown eggs.
 

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