Are rooster chicks bigger than pullets?

[HollyWoods]

Hi, I recently bought two barred rock chicks at one week old. Now they are about four weeks old and one is three times bigger than the other, as well as the other breeds I got. Is that normal? They are all supposed to be pullets, but is Miss Ginormous a rooster? Thank you for any ideas you have!

 

[Pyxis]

Since they're barred rocks, you can tell their gender right now by coloring. Can you post a picture of them?

 

[ChiefSuperFly]

The bigger the egg the bigger the chick

 

[abraga]

I don't have barred rocks..however..most of my male chicks do get bigger than the pullets. My 6mo old DIR roo is twice the size of his hens.

 

[azygous]

Sometimes cockerel chicks are larger than their sister pullets. But then you may see a larger than average pullet from time to time. I've had a strapping large chick I would swear was going to end up being a cockerel, and she just ended up being a large, economy size hen.

A better indication of a cockerel is early reddening of the comb and wattles by age six weeks. The comb is often much larger a couple weeks prior while pullets usually have very slow comb development.

 

[Ridgerunner]

At four weeks old there might or might not be a noticeable difference in size between a male and female. If there is it won't be much, certainly not 3 times as big. There is something else going on. What are your other breeds? This sounds like you might have all bantams except the one big chick. Where did you get them? is it possible the others are bantam? Was this chick always a lot bigger? Might it be older than the others?

Often it's difficult to tell the differences in sex until they get older. Usually around five weeks differences start to show up but even then with some it can take a lot longer. Once they feather in pure barred birds will give you an extra clue. Since the males have two copies of the barred gene and the females only have one, males will be lighter in color than the darker females. At four weeks they should be feathered in enough to tell the difference but you may need a bit of experience.

Welcome to the forum, glad you found us.

 

[HollyWoods]

Since they're barred rocks, you can tell their gender right now by coloring. Can you post a picture of them?

Thanks for your response! Here they are side by side. They look like the same color to me.

 

[HollyWoods]

Here she is close up.

 

[HollyWoods]

At four weeks old there might or might not be a noticeable difference in size between a male and female. If there is it won't be much, certainly not 3 times as big. There is something else going on. What are your other breeds? This sounds like you might have all bantams except the one big chick. Where did you get them? is it possible the others are bantam? Was this chick always a lot bigger? Might it be older than the others?

Often it's difficult to tell the differences in sex until they get older. Usually around five weeks differences start to show up but even then with some it can take a lot longer. Once they feather in pure barred birds will give you an extra clue. Since the males have two copies of the barred gene and the females only have one, males will be lighter in color than the darker females. At four weeks they should be feathered in enough to tell the difference but you may need a bit of experience.

Welcome to the forum, glad you found us.

I bought 2 barred rocks, 2 buff orphingtons, and 2 polish chicks at the same time. The others are much closer to the same size, though the polish are a little smaller. She is just so much bigger. They were all 1 week old, or so the store said.

 

[imnukensc]

The BR on the right is at least a week or two older than the one on the left. Looks like a pullet to me.