I am not an expert nor have I owned barred rocks (personally they make me dizzy) but I read that males and females have different barring. Female is single barring (which make her appear darker) and males have double barring (making males appear lighter in color) if anyone who reads this thinks I'm wrong, please share the correct info with the OP.
Not all roosters are mean. They can be nice. So it’s not necessarily automatically dangerous or whatever.
Thank you!. I have grown up around chickens/roosters and never have experienced a rooster attacking.. but my dad is definitely not the type to put up with that within his flock and would've culled any issue birds I imagine. But since joining BYC I have read quite a few stories that have made me aware that it could be an issue. So far this little bird is NOT friendly but it is also not mean. It just does not like to be handled and screams at me when I try.
Thanks, I have read that and I think neither of mine are double barred based on comparison pictures... but they are feed store chicks so I know they may not be perfect for the breed standard.
Yeah you definitely need to be aware just in case but hopefully it turns out nice if it is a boy! And honestly it’s probably better if he/she is a little bit afraid. Unfortunately it’s usually the super friendly/nice ones that turn out mean because they get too familiar with people and forget their place. For hens it doesn’t really matter but for roosters it can.
Good to know!
These are some of my 5 1/2 week barred rocks. The lighter ones are roo’s. You can see the difference when they are standing next to each other fairly easily.
This is a great comparison photo thanks for sharing! I think based on this I am leaning more pullet for both of mine then. They don't seem to have as much contrast as yours.
Great example!
I was thinking both pullets for yours, but I’m no expert. Just based on how quickly my males differentiated as early as 2 weeks. Even at 2 weeks they were much “lighter”
