Barred rock: hen or rooster?

I think I know the answer to his not having a tail, it is probably because he is bullied by my other roosters.
I have also noticed hens that are two weeks older than him pecking at him. Maybe he's just a wimp.lol.
 
Most protective roo i ever had was a huge BR. He was here for 6 years and in that time never lost a hen to predators. He took on a hawk and a racoon and lived. Also ran neighbors dog off more than once. He developed severe arthritis earlier this year and could no longer walk. I will always have the scare on my shin to remember him by.....lol

DWalters,

I'm trying to pick a roo out of my set of 8 cockerals, aged 17 weeks. I'll keep 1 primary and maybe a spare roo, plus my 7 pullets. I'm interested in your ideas/advice on picking a rooster? I realize this is the wrong thread for this but since you are mentioned your great BR roo.

For picking a rooster, I'm leaning towards my barred rock as well. He's already the lead rooster, very much marching around, corralling the others, almost herding them. He does a little "stompy, stompy" thing to get them to go in the direction he wants. He bosses the other roosters but not in too bad a way, just some minor chasing, really. He's generally nice to me but as he's matured, won't let me pick him up or pet him anymore. But he doesn't bit or attack me either. He just seems to want to have less and less to do with me. Which is fine. Reminds me of a teenager who no longer wants to hang out/be all lovey with his parents. Plus, I get the idea he's very busy doing his job as juvenile flock master.

The one characteristic he does that really concerns me is I have 5 younger pullets that I added to the flock about 2 months ago (the other 10 (8 cockerals, 2 pullets, all grew up together in the brooder). The BR roo scares the crap out of them. He chases them and pulls out their back feathers trying to... I don't know what he's trying to do. It may be that he's trying to mate with them and just can't get them to hold still long enough to mount them? I don't know why he's only chasing them as he's regularly in contact with 2 other pullets that he grew up with and he never treats them this way.

What are your thoughts? I'll maybe repost this elsewhere but wondered what you thought, what advice you might have.

Thanks,
Guppy
 
Well Chick Lovers, you've got a bird that is hard to sex, based on all the different responses you're getting! It's no wonder he/she has you unsure!

Can you please do us a favor, if you don't mind and let us all know by posting a response to this thread in the future if this one turns out to be a hen or a roo? That would be so helpful. I want to know, out of shear curiosity but also so I can improve my sexing abilities and knowledge.

Thanks and I hope she's a hen!
D.gif

Guppy
 
For the many years I've had my hen, I've wondered what breed she was. Now I just found out recently that she's a red sex-link!!! I'm so pumped!
 
Well Chick Lovers, you've got a bird that is hard to sex, based on all the different responses you're getting! It's no wonder he/she has you unsure!

Can you please do us a favor, if you don't mind and let us all know by posting a response to this thread in the future if this one turns out to be a hen or a roo? That would be so helpful. I want to know, out of shear curiosity but also so I can improve my sexing abilities and knowledge.

Thanks and I hope she's a hen!
D.gif

Guppy

Will do.
 

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