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!!!!!
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!
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
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:
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!
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.
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.
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!