Barred Plymouth Rock Sexing

[AmieH]

Hello there,
I am brand new to raising chickens and I just got some Plymouth's. I have been reading up on distinguishing the sexes, but I have to admit that I am at a complete loss. I hate to be a bother, but I really want to know what I have (or at least get some educated guesses). Can anyone please tell me what I potentially have here? I am getting a couple more females tomorrow (supposedly females) and I would just LOVE to know how to tell when they are this young. Two of the chicks sprouted their wing feathers and tail feathers earlier than the others but one of the smallest seems to be getting them in just a few days behind the first two.. The first two have differently shaped wings in comparison to the others. The two have very full wings while the other four have boomerang-shaped, single layers thus far. Three have giant spots on their heads, three have small speckles.
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[speckledhen]

On the barred Rocks, this is how you can sex them at hatch or within the first two weeks or so:


Huge irregular head spot that sometimes even wraps around the neck, plus lighter down color (faded black), less black on the leg fronts or none at all= cockerel

Small, defined head spot (or even a larger one that has defined edges and does not go around the back of the neck) plus very black down color plus black wash down the leg fronts and an early tail sprouting = pullet. Pullets get their tails earlier than cockerels, generally, at least in the plymouth Rocks.

If you pick from a bin, always pick the smallest head spot on the blackest chick with the darkest leg fronts all the way to the toes and you will likely have a Barred Rock pullet (or Dominique or Cuckoo Marans, since it works for barred breeds).

This is mostly for hatchery stock since breeder stock is slightly harder to sex. And it's about 90% accurate, so not all the chicks follow the rules. One of my very first BR hens looked like a cockerel for quite some time.

 

[AmieH]

I guess a head shot would be more helpful in this. I am just so darned confused trying to figure it out. Two have huge spots I guess, but they don't seem to go to the neck. One of these has tail feathers and very black legs. Female! The other has speckled black legs and is just started tail feathers the spot does not seem very regular nor does it go to the neck. One has a medium spot, tiny feathers in the tail, some speckled black but not overly dark. The other two have small spots, but they do not seem overly defined... one has tail feathers coming in with blackish legs the other seems to have paler legs. None of them have black-free legs. Two have very dark legs. Two or three seem to have more tail feathers than the rest. I guess I will just need to be patient and assume I have three females, with two more coming tomorrow.

This was the best I could do with a head shot. They were a little crazy for oat meal and meal worms. Time to go change their water for the 5th time today. One of my "females" (maybe) learned to jump on top of the water dispenser last night and (s)he just loves to poo there.

Thank you so much for the info though, I guess I will start to understand it more and more as time goes by and my experience grows.