Barred Rock Chicks... Could we have a Roo?

[caedkatnbee]

I have two 2 1/2 week old Barred Rock Chicks. They are the same age (was told they hatched the same day). One has feathers now and the other has tiny little wings with no feathers.

This chick without feathers has always been the smallest and most aggressive of our bunch. The husband is totally convinced that Violet (Lady Grantham) is in fact a boy.
Am I just fooling myself by hoping that Violet is just a slower grower then her "sister" Emily?

These are some photos I got today. I'm home alone with them and it's impossible to take a picture of them out of their box without someone to help.


This is Emily


Violet - Same age as Emily but no feathers to speak of at all.


"Her" tiny little wings just look so funny compared to her "siblings"

 

[Egghead_Jr]

They'll come in quick. Looks like a pullet to me. You husband is right that the males feather in later than females. In this case I'd say they are not closely related hence the difference in wing feathers.

Violet has a dark wash on the front of her legs and those legs are not very large. Honking legs are a sure sign of males and in barred birds dark wash on front of legs a good sign of a pullet. When sexing by tell tale signs you have to add them all up and go with the weighted side. She's got a lot of pullet going for her.

 

[caedkatnbee]

Yay! Thanks
@Egghead_Jr

I'll keep holding out hope then. Violet and Emily (my two barred rocks) were the only two they had left. Violet seemed to be a runt if there is such a thing in chickens. So the guy selling them said she kept getting picked over. I've been hoping that she is just slow growing.

Hubby is so convinced though that he thinks we should already start looking for another home. We can't have a rooster in our neighborhood.

She's a mean little spitfire but I'm oddly attached to her so I was really hoping we'd be able to keep her. At least your info should hold hubby off for a while.

We have good friends who have a large farm and would be willing to take a Rooster. So we know it would be a good home for her if needed.

We've had chickens before but it was so long ago that this all feels new. Plus back then what hubby bought was just straight run of one breed that our tiny feed store in Alabama carried. Since we lived in the country then having roosters wasn't a big deal.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

There are certainly runt birds. Some if a runt due to being hatched from a small egg can catch up. Usually they don't and will always be smaller. If she is going to catch up she'll do it by 8 weeks old. Likely she will just be a bit thinner/smaller than her brood mate.

 

[caedkatnbee]

Thought I'd update. Both my barred rocks turned out to be Roos. I took this a week before their tail feather came in and they both started crowing and getting friendly with all the girls. They have now found a new home on a large farm. I still miss seeing them though. They were both such pretty and friendly boys. However, my neighbors were happy to see them leave. lol

 

[drumstick diva]

nice looking rooster