6 Week old Barred Rocks -Sexing

[fuzzfighter]

Hi Team,

First time hatching some eggs and I was just after some help sexing these 2 barred rock chicks. I have heard they are easiest to sex when they first hatch however when we bought the eggs we were told they were Rhode Island red eggs so it was a surprise when these guys started growing striped feathers. They are currently 6 weeks old. I feel like they are males based on the main color being grey. Help greatly appreciated.

 

[triciayoung]

I am not good at sexing, but I will tell you that I have 2 barred rocks in my flock of 20. They are mostly grey and they are both female. With that said, based on comb sexing my vote is female.

 

[Yah]

I have found that some Barred Rock rooster have a very light coat compared to the hens I vote rooster but you will be able to tell with age .

 

[NatJ]

My guess, based on how red the combs are, is that you have at least three cockerels (one red and two barred.)

For the two barred ones, it looks like one is much lighter than the other. In purebred Barred Rocks, the darker ones tend to be females and the lighter ones tend to be males. But in mixes, you can get males of either coloring (dark or light). In this case I would go by the comb rather than the feather color, because you don't know if those mis-labeled eggs were a different pure breed or whether they might be mixes.