Barred Rocks!!

[TheTwoRoos]

That's what I wanted to here.I have had a few hens die this year,and hopefully both barreds brood this year.Hoping their chicks genes are from my roosters and not my grandparents.

 

[Angie16hearts]

First I want to say I love my BR! She's loud, curious, fun to watch. I hatched out another about 20 weeks ago. She is just as fun as Lola! I absolutely love this breed!
My question is
Since they lay such large gumbo eggs. Do they normally have to have 3 fingers between pelvic bone before they start to lay?
She's already at 2 fingers. Not quite as red as she should be and her comb is not fully grown. She doesn't squat . I definitely want her to wait as long as possible to lay.
Just curious to my standard size layers? They seem to only need 2 fingers and lay soon after.

 

[junebuggena]

First I want to say I love my BR! She's loud, curious, fun to watch. I hatched out another about 20 weeks ago. She is just as fun as Lola! I absolutely love this breed!
My question is
Since they lay such large gumbo eggs. Do they normally have to have 3 fingers between pelvic bone before they start to lay?
She's already at 2 fingers. Not quite as red as she should be and her comb is not fully grown. She doesn't squat . I definitely want her to wait as long as possible to lay.
Just curious to my standard size layers? They seem to only need 2 fingers and lay soon after.

Eggs start small, and will get larger within a month or two. It's not until after their first full molt that the eggs start to get 'jumbo' sized.

 

[slordaz]

I had one that was doing it within that month, felt so bad for her she was on tip of her toes with beak to the sky poor girl finally after 4 eggs like that she started to lay the smaller ones like she was supposed to and letting them gradually get bigger. The hens are now almost double the size they were when they started laying and can handle it better.

My biggest issue is during the winter they lay at different times than usual and go out to find frozen eggs that cracked.They are Great winter layers even in extreme cold temps the Rooster seems a bit of a dummy though he is a great flock protector.

 

[Mezzer]

My two, Foghorn and Atilla the Hen. :b

 

[DesertChic]

My two, Foghorn and Atilla the Hen. :b

Lovely birds! And great names!

 

[Mezzer]

Lovely birds! And great names! 

 

[Shadow920]

i got 5 barred Rock chicks last spring at Tractor supply. they were supposed to be all hens. turns out i had three roosters in the bunch, and only two hens, and i lost one hen to avocado shells. don't feed your chickens avocado! it is poisonous to chickens. anyway the three roosters are lighter than the hens. the hens are almost black and the roosters are more gray. i know it's bar spacing. my question is are the roosters always lighter than the hens in barred Rocks? because i could see the difference in the bar spacing the day i got them so now i suspect you can tell roosters from hens at a very young age with barred rocks. i'm 2 years new to chickens, and these are my first barred Rocks.

 

[Shadow920]

My two, Foghorn and Atilla the Hen. :b

cute name for the hen. very creative.

 

[junebuggena]

i got 5 barred Rock chicks last spring at Tractor supply. they were supposed to be all hens. turns out i had three roosters in the bunch, and only two hens, and i lost one hen to avocado shells. don't feed your chickens avocado! it is poisonous to chickens. anyway the three roosters are lighter than the hens. the hens are almost black and the roosters are more gray. i know it's bar spacing. my question is are the roosters always lighter than the hens in barred Rocks? because i could see the difference in the bar spacing the day i got them so now i suspect you can tell roosters from hens at a very young age with barred rocks. i'm 2 years new to chickens, and these are my first barred Rocks.

Yes, purebred males always have wider white bars than pullets. The way the barring gene works, a hen can only pass her barring gene to her male chicks. Males pass a barring gene to both male and female chicks. Females can only ever have one barring gene, and it can only come from their father. Cockerels have two barring genes, one from each parent.