Barred Rock question...

[SarahF]

I have 5 Barred Rock girls (17 weeks old tomorrow) and im looking forward to them laying in the next couple of weeks. Yesterday, my DH and I were sitting on our porch when we both heard a Rooster crow....now, we have NO neighbors and we've never heard this near our house before...I have one chicken who's comb and wattles are much more developed and redder than all the others, even has higher tail feathers that the others....could it be possible? this specific chicky is always in charge...I have a cinder-block in the run that i sit on, and when im not in there, this one girl is ALWAYS standing on it..watching her friends.

Could I have had a boy this whole time and not know it?

 

[speckledhen]

Is it lighter in color overall than the others? If so, you probably do have a rooster. Post a pic and we can tell you. Usually, I can tell by a month old if I have a Barred Rock cockerel.

 

[polychickens]

Sure sounds like a rooster.

BR roosters look different than the hens even in the feathering. The hens are basically black with some white striping, but the roosters are more white-with-black stripes in their appearance. By 17 weeks, the rooster would have a huge comb and waddles and would look strikingly more beautiful than the girls. I find the BR hens to be a bit homely myself.

Have fun!
Polychickens

 

[speckledhen]

Here is a Barred Rock cockerel at 16 weeks old:

Here's a pullet who is 17 weeks old:

HUGE difference!

 

[domromer]

I'd say rooster.

 

[Rooster01]

Sounds like a rooster to me.

 

[SarahF]

I took some pictures last night. The comb is not near as nice as Speckledhen's is...just tell me what you all think.
this is just a shot of all the girls (they wouldnt sit still)

Now here is who I think may be a cockrel....could be wrong though :S

I tried cock-a-rooing to them and they all just went nuts...but I didnt coax it out of any of them

 

[speckledhen]

Honestly, to me, that looks like a pullet with just a better developed comb. By 17 weeks, you'd see definitely pointed saddle and hackle feathers. And she's very much pullet-colored. My Maverick, pictured above, came from a sire with a HUMONGOUS comb, so he just inherited that. My main flock rooster doesn't have a comb as large as Mav's was.

 

[DixieByrdRN]

I have heard a dominant hen will take over the job of a roo if there isn't one...

 

[wendy]

we bought our barred rocks at 16 weeks old and that looked like what our rooster did at that age!
i say it is a rooster by the picture and comparing them to what ours looked like at that age! and if you heard the crow too

i can see if photobucket has those pics in it when we first got them and load up the rooster and other chickens for you to see.