Barred rock chick "grey" instead of black/white

[pigcoon]

I will get a picture later, but one of my barred rock chicks is sort of a fuzzy grey checkerboard pattern. The other four are much darker grey/black. This is my first time with barred rocks.

Does that lighter color indicate anything in the gender dept.? I think she (?) was also a little smaller at first, but now seems to have caught up.

 

[can you hear me now?]

You hit the nail on the head. The cockerels are a greyed color as opposed to the pullets. One of the things I love about that breed is how easy it is to tell which ones are male and which are female.

 

[Fred's Hens]

Age? Photos really tell the story.

Yes, the Barred Rock is fairly easy to sex at 6 weeks. Cockerels will look "lighter" because of the distinct barring genes. They'll also be the first to sprout red combs and red wattles. They show these features much, much earlier than the females.
They'll look distinctly different, males and females, at that age, typically.