2 week old barred rocks...possible hens or roos?

[Younger]

Ok I am very confused now. LOL. I got 4 chicks from TSC. They sold them as Barred Rock and told me I had a 88% chance of getting all females which is what I asked for. They are 4.5 weeks old. I don't see any red combs at all. They look quite dark with white spots. None look white with black spots which is how I see the males in the pics shown. Perhaps it was the angle of the pic. I have attached pics of each of them. To my eye they all look exactly the same, which could be really good or really bad depending what they are. LOL.

 

[greenchickenman]

...

Ohh boy now your getting me worried haha

But really, I did see the parents so I'm pretty confident they are barred rocks and not Dominiques or any of the cuckoo breeds. Im pretty sure.....
[/quote
I'm not a complete expert but I do raise barred rocks. They are probably dominuques. Could be barred rock, I have some hens that appear with the fine lines like that. You have one male and one female, but you may have already known that. Either breed is a nice breed, dominque are a more expensive breed so you got a good deal then

 

[greenchickenman]

Ok I am very confused now. LOL. I got 4 chicks from TSC. They sold them as Barred Rock and told me I had a 88% chance of getting all females which is what I asked for. They are 4.5 weeks old. I don't see any red combs at all. They look quite dark with white spots. None look white with black spots which is how I see the males in the pics shown. Perhaps it was the angle of the pic. I have attached pics of each of them. To my eye they all look exactly the same, which could be really good or really bad depending what they are. LOL.

They look like barred rock. It would also appear from what I can see, all female.

 

[dsfrango]

Thanks everyone so far. Got alot of different thoughts here are some I just took...

 

[popsicle]

Quote:
They all seem to have single combs, so no Dominiques.

 

[popsicle]

Top photo: very clear three cockerels and one pullet.

ETA: Sorry about the double post!

 

[Younger]

So I guess I will wait and see because I still have two different responses. LOL


Greenchickenman; I hope you are right. I ordered 4 pullets.

Popsicle; I assume you mean I have three cockerels and one pullet? How did you decide that?

The top pic does look like the chick has a red comb starting however I think it is the light. None of them have any red on them at all.
Thanks anyway. I'll wait till I hear a crow. LOL

Let's hope TSC wasn't that wrong.

 

[Fred's Hens]

So I guess I will wait and see because I still have two different responses. LOL


Greenchickenman; I hope you are right. I ordered 4 pullets.

Popsicle; I assume you mean I have three cockerels and one pullet? How did you decide that?

The top pic does look like the chick has a red comb starting however I think it is the light. None of them have any red on them at all.
Thanks anyway. I'll wait till I hear a crow. LOL

Let's hope TSC wasn't that wrong.

Sexing Barred Rocks is pretty straight forward. If the birds are horribly bred, they 'break the rules', but that is only because of very mixed breeding. After you've seen hundreds and hundreds of these chicks, one can nail 90% of them as they dry in the hatcher. At 2 weeks, it is easier still and at 5 weeks, it is almost 99% accurate. Only that 1% ringer do you have to sort of wait on awhile.

Here's your overhead shot. THIS is your money shot.



See the three that are charcoal grey in coloration? See those bright, white, wide sargeant stripes? Those are cockerels. See the lone dark chick with a dark look to her and very little boldness to the barring? She is a pullet.

With the truer bred Barred Rocks, the males carry two barring genes while the pullets only carry one. This shows itself in the coloration/barring difference in appearance. At 6 weeks, the cockerels will sprout red combs and wattles while the pullets sprout no wattles and their combs will remain dull and yellow looking. That's it.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Back to your overhead shot.



Do you see the head spots? On the pullet, the head spot is tiny while on the cockerels, the spot is more a splotch. These chicks are juuuuuuuust young enough to still see the difference. Head spotting is only 75-85% accurate, but there it is and it is tell tale.

Again, it is a matter of seeing, or recognizing by familiarity, seeing traits over and over and over again. The ability to see the difference in sex of a Barred Rock chick becomes as distinguishable as discerning the difference in look in a washer and dryer. To a visitor from the 18th century, they would both look like big, square boxes, sitting side by side. LOL

Here's some chicks in our brooder two weeks ago. The sex was easily recognized as they dried in the hatcher. Two pullets and a cockerel. As you can likely tell, I really, really love the breed. These are ringlet, heritage BRs.

 

[Younger]

Ok, Thanks Fred
So in my pic I believe I have four females. They all look exactly the same. Dark in colour with almost a white spot verses a stripe. I will try taking a pic from overhead to see the body colour difference?
Thanks for the info. I don't dare ask about my RIR's. I thought Barred Rock was the easiest to sex. LOL