Barred Rock Roo?

[Chxlove]

First, I know it is early and you really can't know for sure till they're much older. But, the research I've done so far on Barred Rocks makes it seem like males are pretty easy to pick out pretty quickly. From everything I've seen, my 3.5 week Eleanor is looking more like an Elmer. He's the most curious and fearless and even though he's smaller than my olive eggers, he's trying to show them he's big and tough all of a sudden. I'm thinking his bright colors, pronounced comb (maybe), thicker legs, no tail feathers, and behavior all point to roo. He sure is pretty though! Today he climbed up my arm to hang out I really love him but I'm nervous to have a roo with only 4 other chicks besides him.

 

[Northwest_Wannabe]

I'm gonna go ahead and agree, he's got yellow/orange legs, really white barring and looks like a pretty well defined spot on his head :'(

 

[JedJackson]

The lighter coloring of the feathers might indicate male, but the comb isn't yet. Wait and see. You should know for sure within a few weeks.

 

[Acre4Me]

Quite possibly Elmer. It is the wide white bars that give me the idea might be male. Males get two copies of the barring gene making the white bars wider on a male. However, you should give a few more weeks. In my experience, even the girls get a touch of color in their comb on the early side. If this one’s comb grows faster and colors up beyond a pink, along with wider white bars, then you have more indication if a male.

 

[Chxlove]

I'm gonna go ahead and agree, he's got yellow/orange legs, really white barring and looks like a pretty well defined spot on his head :'(

I wish I would've known about the spotted head thing before we got them! Lesson learned but we'll see for sure in the coming weeks.

 

[Northwest_Wannabe]

I wish I would've known about the spotted head thing before we got them! Lesson learned but we'll see for sure in the coming weeks.

It's not a guarantee if I remember, but boys tend to have a nice defined spot and girls have a solid black head, or a faded and/or irregular shape I believe? Hopefully someone that knows more about barred rocks can comment on that xD I do know the ladies tend to have dark/black legs and the boys orange/yellow as chicks!

 

[lilmillefleur]

It's not a guarantee if I remember, but boys tend to have a nice defined spot and girls have a solid black head, or a faded and/or irregular shape I believe? Hopefully someone that knows more about barred rocks can comment on that xD I do know the ladies tend to have dark/black legs and the boys orange/yellow as chicks!

Actually, I'm pretty sure it's the other way around for the head spot, but yes, girls do tend to have a dark wash on the legs and darker barring in the wing feathers. 2 boy features outweighs 1 girl feature I think plus his legs look pretty big!
So I'm going to say male for now.

 

[SASnCoBYC]

Following because I'm questioning one of my BR's as well. I just learned about the head spots from this thread. All 3 of my BR's have white on their heads, but the one I am questioning has about 3/4 of it's head is white/ light colored. One has more of a defined spot and the other smallest one has more of a streak.

 

[Northwest_Wannabe]

Following because I'm questioning one of my BR's as well. I just learned about the head spots from this thread. All 3 of my BR's have white on their heads, but the one I am questioning has about 3/4 of it's head is white/ light colored. One has more of a defined spot and the other smallest one has more of a streak.

It's not a cut and dry thing, some ladies have head spots too! Just the boys tend to have a more clear/well defined white spot on the head, generally bigger too! but not always ;D

 

[Chxlove]

Following because I'm questioning one of my BR's as well. I just learned about the head spots from this thread. All 3 of my BR's have white on their heads, but the one I am questioning has about 3/4 of it's head is white/ light colored. One has more of a defined spot and the other smallest one has more of a streak.

Here's what mine looked like at 1 week.

And my little roo now at 5.5 weeks