I hatched a Barred rock chick yesterday and was just curious if you could tell by the coloring if it is male or female.
Thanks!
Thanks!
What sex is my Barred Rock?
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You have a cockerel, in my opinion. Lots of frosting across the back of the head, lighter grayish down and no black on leg fronts.
- Jul 5, 2009
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Quote:
You can also tell by the feathers. They are uneven lenghts.
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Thanks Speckled hen, I was thinking so myself.
barred-rocks-rock- I thought 2 length feathers means female, and all one length means male? That just what I've read before.
barred-rocks-rock- I thought 2 length feathers means female, and all one length means male? That just what I've read before.
Unless the line of BRs has been bred for feather sexing, it wont be reliable. Not all breeds can be feather sexed.
I read also that it was same length=boy and different length=girl...........
And for the record....I think it's a boy too!
And for the record....I think it's a boy too!
I am skeptical that there is any reliable way to tell at this age. Give it a few weeks and see if it sprouts a comb and wattles. Even then, it is hard to know. I have a 7wk old BR that I thought was a roo for sure. Big red comb and pink wattles were apparent at two weeks, but they have simmered down and the rest of him/her has caught up. I think it is a pullet. It is fun to speculate though.
UGCM
UGCM
Well, the sexing rules for barred breeds are accurate to within about 85-90%. I'd say that's fairly reliable. Some will fool you, yes, but not usually.
Historical Document
Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station
SEX IDENTIFICATION IN PUREBREDS
BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCKS
It had long been recognized that the size of the light head
spots in Barred Plymouth Rocks varied in the two sexes. The
males tend to have larger headspots and the females to have
darker colored legs. However, this method has not been sufficiently
accurate to be of much commercial value.
Quinn and Knox (1939) attempted to separate the sexes of
Barred Plymouth Rocks by means of the intensity of the black
pigment in the down and legs. In different lots of chicks they
report 83.5, 86.1 and 91.8 percent accuracy.
Jerome (1939) describes a method of sex identification in
Barred Plymouth Rocks based upon the regularity of the outline
of the head spot rather than the size of the spot. Those chicks
having headspots irregular in outline and scattered in appearance
are males while the females tend to have headspots with
more regular outlines. The author claimed an accuracy of 90
percent or better when considering only the headspot and 95
percent if the color of the legs was included in the consideration.
The Canadian Department of Agriculture (Anonymous 1941)
issues an excellently illustrated bulletin describing the method.
It is stated in the bulletin that the method is widely practiced
in Barred Rock chicks by commercial chick sexers. Sex identification
is based upon outline of head spot, color of legs and
shade of down color. There are several types of male and female
head spots some of which are shown in Figure 1.
Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station
SEX IDENTIFICATION IN PUREBREDS
BARRED PLYMOUTH ROCKS
It had long been recognized that the size of the light head
spots in Barred Plymouth Rocks varied in the two sexes. The
males tend to have larger headspots and the females to have
darker colored legs. However, this method has not been sufficiently
accurate to be of much commercial value.
Quinn and Knox (1939) attempted to separate the sexes of
Barred Plymouth Rocks by means of the intensity of the black
pigment in the down and legs. In different lots of chicks they
report 83.5, 86.1 and 91.8 percent accuracy.
Jerome (1939) describes a method of sex identification in
Barred Plymouth Rocks based upon the regularity of the outline
of the head spot rather than the size of the spot. Those chicks
having headspots irregular in outline and scattered in appearance
are males while the females tend to have headspots with
more regular outlines. The author claimed an accuracy of 90
percent or better when considering only the headspot and 95
percent if the color of the legs was included in the consideration.
The Canadian Department of Agriculture (Anonymous 1941)
issues an excellently illustrated bulletin describing the method.
It is stated in the bulletin that the method is widely practiced
in Barred Rock chicks by commercial chick sexers. Sex identification
is based upon outline of head spot, color of legs and
shade of down color. There are several types of male and female
head spots some of which are shown in Figure 1.
The size of the spot on their heads has always worked for me.
I agree with Cynthia, it's a cockeral.
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