Barred Rock chick question

[cqranch]

At what age will a Barred Rock chick start to show the barring? I have one that at a month old is still solid black.

 

[speckledhen]

They should show it from the first time you see the little wing feathers. Yours is not a BR.

 

[cqranch]

Then my roo must not be a full BR. He does have the barring and I know the egg was a BR hen, because those were the only hens laying when I hatched them and he was the only roo I had at the time.

 

[speckledhen]

Can you post a picture of the little one? May be a little chickie-mutant, LOL. Does your rooster happen to have green in any of his tail feathers or any off color feathers? Sometimes a Black Sexlink rooster chick is plunked in the Barred Rock tank at the feedstore. They look similar.

 

[cqranch]

Yes he does have some green in his tail feathers

 

[cqranch]

now i'm gonna have to find a new roo.. @%#$!

 

[speckledhen]

I'm sorry.

 

[Ellie]

I had a similar situation. I thought I had a BR rooster when in fact, he was a sex link. Speckled Hen is correct: they look very much alike and for a while too!

 

[cqranch]

I think I may just turn the BR hens and my now Black sex-link roo in with the mixed flock and just hold that breeding coop for my Speckled Sussex this spring.

Here's a pic of the roo... tail feathers aren't solid, but do have some green in them..

 

[speckledhen]

His hackles are much too silvery to be pure BR, so yes, I'd say that's a black sexlink rooster. And the barring is wildly erratic, another sign that he's not a pure BR. He is, however, half BR since that is the hen part of the equation.