Barred Rock?

[ShakeragSusan]

Thanks, everyone!

 

[speckledhen]

My guess would be she just got an extra black bar gene

There's no such thing as an extra black bar gene. Barred Rock males are much lighter than the females as they have two barring genes and females have only one.


You just had bad luck and got one pullet and the rest males.

 

[ShakeragSusan]

So, this other darker BR is my other pullet, I guess. Amy didn't get any barring on her until a week ago, so it had me wondering.
And this little darlin' although darker than the boys, still looked like a BR.
So, for anyone keeping track of statistics, 7 straight run chicks = 2 girls and 5 boys! What am I going to do with all these sweet roosters-to-be?
They are even friendlier than the girls. :-(

 

[speckledhen]

BR pullets can vary in their color a bit. Some are darker than others. Not all are super dark like your first one you posted.

And if they are mixed breed with one barred parent, even males can be very dark. I've had some accidental crossbreed cockerels that at first appeared to be BR pullets, until their combs turned pink at 3 weeks old and I realized something was really off about the barring as well--that was before I'd hatched hundreds of BR chicks and could spot a problem early on.

Then you have the issue of substandard BRs coming out of the hatcheries as well. Some of them are really badly barred.

 

[Lots A Cluckin]

Quote: yeah, I know LOL...I have just never seen a BR look like that and it appears to have and extra black bar

 

[speckledhen]

To show how two BR pullets can look quite different, here are two from my original flock (both hatchery girls) at 10 weeks of age. They have passed on now.

 

[ShakeragSusan]

Speckledhen, those are some pretty ladies!

Thanks for all the help. I love them no matter what they turn out to be. I just hope my roos won't fight.

 

[BlazeJester]

If you have 5 roos and 2 pullets, they will fight. I've heard keeping them separately reduces the fighting. You also probably won't want to keep a roo with just two girls full time - you'll end up with two bald-backed hens with too much attention.

I've found that my flock without roosters is much friendlier toward me than the flock that has a rooster. When you just have hens, you - the person - assume the role of "man of the house". If you have a roo, he does that for you. It really depends on what your expectations are regarding your chickening experience.

 

[ShakeragSusan]

Thanks for the information, Meg.
Fortunately, I have more pullets than just my two barred rocks. Chicken math struck in a big way in Shakerag. I have 20 chickens total and I only suspect 6 of being roos.
One of my original 7 BR died, but he was already looking boy-ish. So, I now have 6 BR's, 2 Buff Orpingtons, 1 SLW, and 11 EE's.

Bruce (the chick formerly known as Bertha) is my avatar and I hope my only EE roo.

I feel like I learn a ton a day from everyone here. I don't feel nearly as lost as I did!