Barred rocks - tell tale signs of a roo?

[nbradford]

This topic is clearly VERY popular! I have three BR's which are supposed to be pullets but (call me crazy) I swear one sounds like a rooster when she "talks". "She" is the biggest of the three at ten weeks but overall looks similar to the others. Are there any tell tale signs for this breed that indicate sex at this age? I read somewhere that the fronts of females legs are black and males are not. Is this true?

 

[saddina]

Roos are paler then hens:

The whiter roo is next to the wire, off to his right you will see his hen with darker barring. Side by side it's pretty clear.

 

[Young MacDonald]

Speckled Hen, who is somewhat of an expert (shout out to Cynthia

) says you have to take the three things together:

color - males are generally lighter, but not always
wash on the front of legs - females typically have a darker wash
comb size and color

Any one factor might not be a give away. Do you have any pictures?

 

[speckledhen]

Here are two pullets at 12 weeks old. See those combs? Not much there, huh?

Here is Zane at about the same age:

 

[nbradford]

Thanks, all! Very helpful. Based on these comments I think maybe I do have all pullets (fingers crossed!). I'll wait a few weeks and see how things progress. If I'm still not sure I'll post some pictures for you all.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

color - males are generally lighter, but not always

Indeed I wish males were always lighter. I have cuckoo silkies of various shades, but I am absolutely certain that the only possible barred parent is a crele (well, pseudo crele) silkie rooster, so there is no possibility of telling from a sex-linked mating or from the boys having two copies of the barring gene. I do think some are a darker blue rather than black, and that that is part of the colour difference. One is getting a larger comb, but for the most part....they are way too young to tell.​