Could someone explain this?

[Reinbeau]

In another post lovemychicks9 said:

Quote:
What does she mean by this? My barred rock babies have yellow patches on their heads, and they were sold to me as pullets. Do I have three barred rock roos? If I do, I am going to be so bummed!!!!!

 

[rooster-red]

All BR's have spots on the head, the pullets have a more defined spot.

 

[Reinbeau]

Define 'defined'

Seriously. One of mine has a 'blurry' spot, the other two are a little more defined. I can't tell the difference, really! I'll try to take pictures and post them, but the BR's are the zippiest of the chicks, they never seem to stay still long!

 

[chick4chicks]

Oh no, now this has me bummed too LOL i just got 3 Barred Rock babies that are supposed to be pullets too. If they are roos i will be so mad, I paid for pullets. Their spots are not real defined i would say. Oh well.

e

 

[speckledhen]

This is a cockerel and many look like this, but not all. Headspot is splotchy and large:

This is a pullet. Most dont have spots that tiny, but you get the idea:

 

[Reinbeau]

Whew. I think I'm safe and have all little girls. Thank goodness! But there are 12 other chickies I have to worry about still!

 

[bmarshgu]

My Barred Rock had a spot the size of the roosters, but it was whiter. You are probably okay!

 

[speckledhen]

Sexing by headspot is about 90% accurate, when paired with dark leg fronts PLUS really black down. I own a hen myself many on BYC recall, Lexie, who had the huge headspot, lighter legs and lighter color overall, so it isn't foolproof.

 

[WrenAli]

I got 1 roo out of of three picking them out of the pullet bin at the local feed store. No pics, though I wish I had taken some. They all had about the same size spots on the head.

I could tell when they started feathering out the roo had A LOT more white on him than the 2 pullets.

 

[arlee453]

With the BRs I hatched, the leg color down the front was the more sure way for me to sex them early. I just couldn't see much difference with the head spots, but some CLEARLY had darker legs than others.

Then by 2 wks when their feathers started to come in, the ones with much wider white barring were all roos - they look more silvery/whiter.

I'm sure it's not 100%, but it worked for my guys perfectly!