3.5 week old Barred Rock... Hen or Roo?

[horsegirl10]

It's a boy

 

[horsegirl10]

get rid of it....
Roosters are so mean

 

[OR4-hmom]

get rid of it....

Roosters are so mean

Not all f them. I trust my Snowman with small supervised kids. Unless I'm using the cordless drill he is a total gentleman. He turns 7 this year.

 

[speckledhen]

Of course, not all roosters are human aggressive. Mine are bred from lines that are not and I keep ONLY easygoing large fowl roosters. I have to trust them or they cannot be here. Temperament is heritable. Keep the best, cull the rest and you won't have to watch your back. Who wants a 14 lb rooster who wants to knock you to the ground? Suede, my Blue Orpington, may he rest in peace, was the sweetest rooster on this planet, never even a nip, a big blue teddy bear with people. He was 14-15 lbs in his prime. You definitely don't want something with an 18" chest sneaking up on you and hitting you in the back of the legs.

If she can't keep roosters where she lives, that's a different story than whether or not he'll grow up to be aggressive to his human keepers. Some folks just don't want to do keep a rooster and that's fine, too. Mine have prevented predator losses, kept me from having to get outside stock and been just great buddies and flock referees for years.

 

[BantamLover21]

Cockerel. I'm sorry you can't keep him.

 

[francine215]

Thanks for all the help and kind words to a newbie! I have one more questionable member of our little flock. This one is around the same size as the first one I posted... Same large feet and larger more defined comb but I am not seeing the red coloring. She/He also doesn't stand as tall.

 

[speckledhen]

Thanks for all the help and kind words to a newbie! I have one more questionable member of our little flock. This one is around the same size as the first one I posted... Same large feet and larger more defined comb but I am not seeing the red coloring. She/He also doesn't stand as tall.

This one at this point appears to be a pullet, however, it could also be a black sex link cockerel who hasn't developed a lot of pink in the comb. The reason I say we cannot be sure is that most hatchery BR pullets have quite a bit of black wash down the leg fronts and this one doesn't have much at all. Time will tell, certainly.

The reason black sex link cockerels appear to be Barred Rock pullets at first is that they both carry only one barring gene. A pure BR cockerel has two barring genes, making him appear lighter overall than the pullets. A black sex link cockerel is only 1/2 BR (though it can be 1/2 any barred breed, through the mother only, who passes one barring gene to her sons).

 

[francine215]

Thank you so much speckledhen. You have been so helpful.

 

[speckledhen]

Thank you so much speckledhen. You have been so helpful.

You are very welcome!