Bad news looming, can anyone help confirm gender?

amwolff

Hatching
6 Years
Mar 20, 2013
2
0
7
I bought 3 Black sex link chicks just over a month ago at Orscheln's. After reading through this forum and doing some image comparisons, I fear that Kate, my favorite of the 3 girls, is actually a roo. My only hope is that she is not a roo, but is actually a barred rock pullet that got mixed in with the BSLs...but as I have been researching that hope has been fading. I would really appreciate it if anyone could confirm my suspicions...If she is a boy, I want to get a replacement pullet asap.

Here are the girls a day or two after coming home from the store. Kate (the chick in question) is in the middle:



Closeup on kate:



Kate at about 2 weeks after coming home:




And a picture of her just a couple days ago, about 4-5 weeks old by my count:









She is just so different from the other 2 girls. That red comb and the barred patterns worry me. Am I right in thinking she is a male? Is there any change she is just a barred rock pullet that got mixed in with the BSL chicks? Thanks in advance.
 
THe dark coloring, barring, and large comb indicate rooster. These things happen sometimes. Imagine the vast amount of chicks that are processed and sent to feed stores, bound to be a human mistake occasionally.
 
In barred birds, dark coloration should indicate a female. However, hatcheries can get lazy and sloppy with their breeding and lose that distinction. Your little guy is a roo.
 
Alas, that's what I was afraid of. Fortunately we know some folks who live out in the country and raise lots of free range chickens, so he has a good home lined up.

And the good news is that my local Orschelns still has a bunch of 3-4 week old BSL pullets, so I plan on picking up a replacement this weekend. I'm hoping that if she is the same size, age, and breed, she will be easy to put in with the other 2 girls.
 
They're all black sex links, one is just a roo...
sad.png
Sorry
 

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