Barred Rock 16 weeks. Rooster or hen?

[corgiscatsandchickens]

They're feed store chicks, sexed (as best as can be done) and all supposed to be girls, but Madge has had me stumped for weeks. He/she develloped the red comb and wattles at 8 weeks, and except for a few days, has always been boss of the yard. Super sweet and gentle, loves to be cuddled, but too light colored for a hen and too dark for a roo. When I was a little girl I was uncanny at predicting roos, now that a quarter of a century without chickens has elapsed, I've lost my mojo! What's the vote? Is it Madge or Magellan? Thanks in advance for you help and expertise!

Here he/she is in the foreground:

In the background here:

And solo here:

 

[Cowgirl71]

What a tough one!

I'm gonna vote hen. At 16 weeks a rooster should have noticeable saddle feathers...

 

[JodyJo]

My BR pullet, 16 weeks...

My BR roo...at oh, about 20 weeks: he doesn't have noticeable saddle feathers...this is from last year...so I KNOW he was a he...I had 4 of them......no crowing yet? You would have that by now....

 

[cafarmgirl]

Hmmm, I was going to say pullet too and just developing a little faster, one of mine did that and fooled me for a bit. BUT, are those stringy hackle feather's I see coming in on the 2nd and 3rd pic's? Me think's that might well be a roo.

 

[colebarnhart]

Wow!!! Hmmm, I'm stumped!!! You're right too dark for a roo and too light for a hen. Light yellow legs and thick looking. I see some hackle feathers and roo coloring around the neck, but no saddle feathers and kind of a round hen like frame, but larger than the other hen that I'm assuming is the same age. I have a BR hen with a HUGE comb, so that doesn't alway mean anything with BRs.

I don't know, Dude look like a lady.

I vote hermophrodite (sp?) Tranny!!!!!

Probably just a dark roo that hasn't got saddle feathers yet.

 

[chicklover16]

I think hen

 

[GhostRider65]

The first pictures seems to me to contain 1 hen back ground and 1 roo foreground, not positive tho, because mine are still babies 9 weeks and at that age I know all the roos they are crowing, and being roo's actually trying to mount my poor crippled GLW that has been their babysitter since they went outside at a 4 weeks. My gut says roo, but the feathers are unsexable as to whats normal for a male, soooooooooo best of luck it's a hen, but I think shes a he.

 

[corgiscatsandchickens]

No, no crowing yet, but no squatting either. None of the girls are squatting. The bumps on the legs where spurs might be are bigger than any of the others, but they're not especially huge.

We should have named him/her "Pat".

 

[TroutsChicks]

nope its a roo!! look at those tiny neck feathers with the little bittie white lines! those are small hackle feathers!! lucky duck!

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Roo.