8 Week Old Barred Rock

[SBWilkins]

I have 3 barred rock chickens all 8 weeks old. One is quite a bit more white and larger than the other two. I have this feeling it may be male but I’m hoping it’s not as we don’t want any roosters. I’ve been researching but nothing is giving me a definite answer. I’ve heard what sounded like some clucking but it may be my imagination.

 

[Aapomp831]

That is a cockerel. Barred rock cockerels are light like that.

 

[papajoesfarm]

Yup, I'm with aapomp on this one. I normally tell people to wait until the chick in question crows, or lays an egg. But I have some Barred Plymouth Rocks again this year, and coincidentally, they all just turned 8 weeks. Here is a photo of one of them. Very confidant he is a Roo, for the same reasons:

As aapomp said, he is larger, much lighter, and developed his comb long before the others did, and it's much larger than his sister's. He also is showing consistant specific behavior I would expect from a Roo - first out in the morning, last in at night, sits on a perch and watches over the others while they eat, does "tidbitting", gave a warning when my wife showed up on the golf cart, and is constantly swallowing things he should not. I had to pull a long piece of weatherstripping out of his throat two weeks ago, and he has been attacking the silicon installation on the Juvenile coop and swallowing it. Tough little guy, for sure.

I'm thrilled, as I am currently in between roosters, and so far, he seems like he is going to be a good one.

Other things - does yours have larger thicker legs compared to the others, and a comb larger and redder, that developed before the others developed theirs? Saddle and sickle feathers will typically start to develop in another month or so.

They make nice looking birds - here is a mature Barred Rock Rooster:

If you cannot keep one legally, then by all means find him a good home. But if not, consider keeping him. They are typically good Roos, and not knuckleheads as other breeds can be.

 

[All4Eggz]

Agree with the above^
looks like a cockerel to me

 

[Painted Calls]

First one is a cockerel.

 

[SBWilkins]

Yup, I'm with aapomp on this one. I normally tell people to wait until the chick in question crows, or lays an egg. But I have some Barred Plymouth Rocks again this year, and coincidentally, they all just turned 8 weeks. Here is a photo of one of them. Very confidant he is a Roo, for the same reasons:
View attachment 2751867
As aapomp said, he is larger, much lighter, and developed his comb long before the others did, and it's much larger than his sister's. He also is showing consistant specific behavior I would expect from a Roo - first out in the morning, last in at night, sits on a perch and watches over the others while they eat, does "tidbitting", gave a warning when my wife showed up on the golf cart, and is constantly swallowing things he should not. I had to pull a long piece of weatherstripping out of his throat two weeks ago, and he has been attacking the silicon installation on the Juvenile coop and swallowing it. Tough little guy, for sure.

I'm thrilled, as I am currently in between roosters, and so far, he seems like he is going to be a good one.

Other things - does yours have larger thicker legs compared to the others, and a comb larger and redder, that developed before the others developed theirs? Saddle and sickle feathers will typically start to develop in another month or so.

They make nice looking birds - here is a mature Barred Rock Rooster:
View attachment 2751877
If you cannot keep one legally, then by all means find him a good home. But if not, consider keeping him. They are typically good Roos, and not knuckleheads as other breeds can be.

From what I can tell, all 3 have similar legs and combs. It was the size, color and characteristics for me. This one is often found in the window sills of the coop pecking at some spray foam we’ve used. It also seems to be slightly more aggressive but not mean. It’s definitely the first one out each morning and whatever this one does, all other chickens follow. I’ve had mixed information when asking friends and farms around here as many have said they’ve thought it to be a cockerel and then it starts laying. Legally we could keep it if it is a roo but didn’t really want to have the hassle and we’re concerned with it being “mean” towards kids or friends. We have 30 meat birds coming soon so my husband planned to butcher it with those but I’m not sure if we’ll be able to tell in the next couple months if it for sure is male or female.
I sincerely appreciate the feedback.

 

[HappyClucker7]

It's a cockerel.

Legally we could keep it if it is a roo but didn’t really want to have the hassle and we’re concerned with it being “mean” towards kids or friends.

Not all roosters are mean. My two boys are actually very sweet. You could keep him and see how he develops.

 

[papajoesfarm]

Barred Rocks are one of the "purebred" breeds that you can feather sex reliably when they are young. Here is a description of the genetics from poultry.extension.org:

"The Barred Plymouth Rock breed carries a gene for barring (B) that is carried on the Z chromosome (see Figure 2). This gene produces a white bar on an otherwise black feather. The gene is incompletely dominant over the non-barring gene (b). In adults, the male, with two barring genes (BB), has feathers with broader white bars than those of the female, who has only one of the barring genes (B_). As a result, males are overall lighter in color. The sex of purebred Barred Plymouth Rocks chicks can be determined on the basis of the size and shape of a light-colored spot on the top of the head. At hatch, males have a large white spot. The spot is much smaller and narrower in
females."

 

[papajoesfarm]

My Rocks just turned 9 weeks old today. And my little guy - now he has a name, Mosely - is starting to grow his sickle feathers and saddle feathers:

Hard to see from this photo, but the ridge in front of his tail feathers consists of pointed feathers, that are starting to grow out to the sides. No readily identifiable crowing attempts yet, but yesterday I did hear a strange growl coming from him when he saw one of the barn cats near his run. He sounded like a car starter that needs to be replaced, So I'd say he is right on schedule.

 

[esme13]

Not all roosters are mean. And a nice rooster can coexist with children and pets.