7 Barred Rocks--double checking gender at 5 weeks

[donrae]

I'm thinking 5-7 are females, but I'm also going to throw wrench in your works....

Sexing by color only applies to pure barred birds. Pure males have 2 copies of the barring gene, so they're overall lighter. Females have one copy, thus the darker overall color. But, your assortment could easily include black sex link males (Black Stars). Being a mix, they only have one copy of the barring gene and look identical to a pure barred female. Only way you can tell is the comb, and then the leakage of white or red that comes in on the wings as they mature.

 

[Mountain Peeps]

#1, #2, #3, and #4 look like cockerels to me. For sure, the first three are.

x2

 

[sarahandbray]

Oh...that is a wrench...I guess they could be Black Stars, looking at the McMurray catalog...heck, I have two Red Star pullets and two Red Star Roos, too...
Ugh.
Well, I can at least give away the very light colored Barred Rocks safely...the first three at least. That would put me down to 41 chickens!!
(Can I re-home chicks in quantities less than six at 5-weeks old in New York State?)