Barred Plymouth Rock -roo or pullet... Help!

[Michael OShay]

Quote:

so... it seem like half of the guesses are roo and half are pullet.... thank you all so far for your guesses.

Only on this thread. I see that on your duplicate thread at https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/1013040/barred-plymouth-rock-pullet-or-roo, all five posters believe that this same Barred Rock chick is a cockerel.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Cockerel. No dark wash on legs and has an upright stance with tbick legs. Not to mention the head spot is blotchy not concentric. Four signs to tell barred bird sex and all say cockerel.

 

[shortgrass]

Yet another vote for cockerel... Definitely male barring, bright clean legs, obvious comb already... (the tail, that little pointy tuft is a male tail in the making) ...And standing up high and proud like a young cockerel will

I have BRs; awesome breed, even the roos are well mannered...and I squinted my eyes sore on the barring on mine HOPING for a roo lol...nope, not for me... You got him

 

[Alexandra33]

Your Barred Rock is unusually light for a pullet (it happens sometimes). The pic below is typical male (in front) and female (in back) coloring. To me, posercrew's BR looks more like typical male barring (although it's still quite young). Of course over the next couple of months, the color of the comb and wattles will tell the story for certain.

http://cdn.backyardchickens.com/9/91/350x700px-LL-91da041d_900x600px-LL-ef95ac5f_69833_dscf3153.jpeg

Thanks for the photo, Michael! Very interesting. It's strange, because all three of my Barred Rocks, plus a family member's, have feathered out just like the cockerel. Could it just be the color of the hatchery's birds? Here are two of my BRs at approximately 5 weeks.


In this picture is the third Barred Rock pullet.

I respect your many, many years of experience, and if you say it's a cockerel, then I'm pretty certain that it's a cockerel.

Besides, I love learning from the experts, so thank you for pointing some things out to me.
-Alexandra33

 

[devinandfeather]

I'm thinking rooster but hoping it's a pullet.

I agree with the fact that it's a rooster coz I believe that roosters have long legs and in the pic you can see longish legs so yeah let us know what happens

 

[Rhodebar Lover]

I agree with the fact that it's a rooster coz I believe that roosters have long legs and in the pic you can see longish legs so yeah let us know what happens

Long legs have nothing to do with the gender although thicker than normal legs usually indicate cockerel

 

[shortgrass]

Thanks for the photo, Michael! Very interesting. It's strange, because all three of my Barred Rocks, plus a family member's, have feathered out just like the cockerel. Could it just be the color of the hatchery's birds? Here are two of my BRs at approximately 5 weeks. In this picture is the third Barred Rock pullet. I respect your many, many years of experience, and if you say it's a cockerel, then I'm pretty certain that it's a cockerel. Besides, I love learning from the experts, so thank you for pointing some things out to me. -Alexandra33

Alexandra33, its not the COLOR of your pullets that we are looking at, but the BARRING in the feathers... If you look at the male, the white bars almost seem to match all the way across the bird... Where pullets have a disorganized mix of black with white bars... The male has 2 white bar per 1 black, so the bars on a male are thicker, more defined... I have 2 hens that look light, one that doesnt even have ANY white, more of a grey, and 4 that look "normal" Edit I wasn't done lol.... Look at the wing in the OPs picture...see how at the end of his wing you can see clearly defined white and black bars...even with all feathers...now if you compare your pic of your pullets, the barring is more, um, polka Dotty, not defined, can't really see the white bars unless you look at each individual feather... I hope you can understand me lol, I just got up, kinda foggy still lol

 

[Alexandra33]

Alexandra33, its not the COLOR of your pullets that we are looking at, but the BARRING in the feathers... If you look at the male, the white bars almost seem to match all the way across the bird... Where pullets have a disorganized mix of black with white bars... The male has 2 white bar per 1 black, so the bars on a male are thicker, more defined...

I have 2 hens that look light, one that doesnt even have ANY white, more of a grey, and 4 that look "normal"


Edit I wasn't done lol....

Look at the wing in the OPs picture...see how at the end of his wing you can see clearly defined white and black bars...even with all feathers...now if you compare your pic of your pullets, the barring is more, um, polka Dotty, not defined, can't really see the white bars unless you look at each individual feather... I hope you can understand me lol, I just got up, kinda foggy still lol

Yes, I understand. Thank you for that information!

 

[shortgrass]

I agree with the fact that it's a rooster coz I believe that roosters have long legs and in the pic you can see longish legs so yeah let us know what happens

He definitely STANDS taller...

 

[Michael OShay]

Alexandra33, its not the COLOR of your pullets that we are looking at, but the BARRING in the feathers... If you look at the male, the white bars almost seem to match all the way across the bird... Where pullets have a disorganized mix of black with white bars... The male has 2 white bar per 1 black, so the bars on a male are thicker, more defined...

I have 2 hens that look light, one that doesnt even have ANY white, more of a grey, and 4 that look "normal"


Edit I wasn't done lol....

Look at the wing in the OPs picture...see how at the end of his wing you can see clearly defined white and black bars...even with all feathers...now if you compare your pic of your pullets, the barring is more, um, polka Dotty, not defined, can't really see the white bars unless you look at each individual feather... I hope you can understand me lol, I just got up, kinda foggy still lol

Agreed. The common terms light barring vs. dark barring are commonly used of the Barred Rock genders to describe an overall appearance, but are not actually scientifically accurate. Shortgrass has done a great job explaining the difference. )