Do I have hens or roosters?

[GloryJB]

I live in Baja California Sur where the winter night temp rarely drops below 55 F and summer day temp can reach 110 F. I have an open coop 12 by 14 feet with a man trap -- very good circulation and shade. In Loreto, we take what we can get as everything comes into Baja via Mexico City, La Paz, Constitucion, and finally Loreto. I have 1 Barred Plymouth Rock hen and 3 American Game hens. I found what I thought were 4 BPR rooster chicks. Plan was to raise the roosters, 1 gets lucky, 3 rooster chicks and 3 Game hens go to the local composter who wants chickens to turn his compost. Then I raise a batch of BPR chicks when Speckles gets along with the rooster and goes broody. Problem is, nobody wants to stay on their side of the coop until the chicks are older. They dig holes daily to go into the other side of the coop. I don't have room to build a second coop. I know how to sex BPR's, thought I found roosters, I helped raise a hundred chicks a year with my mother. They might not be purebreds though and although they are very feisty compared to the hens at 6-7 weeks, I don't see the combs developing like I think they should. What do you think?

 

[Peaches Lee]

Looks a bit like a cockerel to me. Wattles coming in and color is a bit more red than what I would expect on a pullet.

Lovely little coop setup, the flowers are so pretty!

 

[Ridgerunner]

If no one is getting hurt, what is the problem with them mixing?

From what you said, I think they are 6 to 7 weeks old and may or may not be mixed breed, not sure they are pure BR.

If they are pure BR the boys will be lighter in overall color than the girls because the boys have two barred genes and the girls only have one. But if they are mixed then boys and girls will be the same color because they both will only have one barred gene. If you knew that they were pure that would be a huge clue.

If you knew the parents there could be another trait that would tell you for sure. If the mother is barred and the father is not, then all boys will be barred and all girls will not have any barring. If the mother is not barred but the father is then all chicks can be barred, depending in how pure for barring the father is. So much potential help with the barring but since you don't know the parents it is no help.

I can't tell from that photo, the color of the comb and wattles says maybe boy but could be a girl. That a chick that age has wattles says maybe boy. I'm just not sure, some things say boy but some say girl.

Can you get a photo of each chick with a close-up of the head showing comb and wattles, much like that photo. But can you also get a photo that shows the legs, posture, and profile of each chick. Heavy legs and an upright posture imply a boy and sometimes the profile can give a pretty good clue.

 

[GloryJB]

If no one is getting hurt, what is the problem with them mixing?

From what you said, I think they are 6 to 7 weeks old and may or may not be mixed breed, not sure they are pure BR.

If they are pure BR the boys will be lighter in overall color than the girls because the boys have two barred genes and the girls only have one. But if they are mixed then boys and girls will be the same color because they both will only have one barred gene. If you knew that they were pure that would be a huge clue.

If you knew the parents there could be another trait that would tell you for sure. If the mother is barred and the father is not, then all boys will be barred and all girls will not have any barring. If the mother is not barred but the father is then all chicks can be barred, depending in how pure for barring the father is. So much potential help with the barring but since you don't know the parents it is no help.

I can't tell from that photo, the color of the comb and wattles says maybe boy but could be a girl. That a chick that age has wattles says maybe boy. I'm just not sure, some things say boy but some say girl.

Can you get a photo of each chick with a close-up of the head showing comb and wattles, much like that photo. But can you also get a photo that shows the legs, posture, and profile of each chick. Heavy legs and an upright posture imply a boy and sometimes the profile can give a pretty good clue.

The American Game hens aggressively attack the chicks. A 15-week-old rooster will have a better chance of standing his ground. There's no way to identify the parents. Like I wrote, we take what we can get here in Loreto.

 

[Ridgerunner]

The American Game hens aggressively attack the chicks.

You did not mention that earlier. Lay down chicken wire here they are digging so they can't dig through. Hold the wire in place with something heavy.

There's no way to identify the parents.

That's what I understood, I just said it was a shame.

 

[GloryJB]

Looks a bit like a cockerel to me. Wattles coming in and color is a bit more red than what I would expect on a pullet.

Lovely little coop setup, the flowers are so pretty!

Fast forward 3 months, all four are hens that just started laying this past week.

 

[GloryJB]

If no one is getting hurt, what is the problem with them mixing?

From what you said, I think they are 6 to 7 weeks old and may or may not be mixed breed, not sure they are pure BR.

If they are pure BR the boys will be lighter in overall color than the girls because the boys have two barred genes and the girls only have one. But if they are mixed then boys and girls will be the same color because they both will only have one barred gene. If you knew that they were pure that would be a huge clue.

If you knew the parents there could be another trait that would tell you for sure. If the mother is barred and the father is not, then all boys will be barred and all girls will not have any barring. If the mother is not barred but the father is then all chicks can be barred, depending in how pure for barring the father is. So much potential help with the barring but since you don't know the parents it is no help.

I can't tell from that photo, the color of the comb and wattles says maybe boy but could be a girl. That a chick that age has wattles says maybe boy. I'm just not sure, some things say boy but some say girl.

Can you get a photo of each chick with a close-up of the head showing comb and wattles, much like that photo. But can you also get a photo that shows the legs, posture, and profile of each chick. Heavy legs and an upright posture imply a boy and sometimes the profile can give a pretty good clue.

Fast forward 3 months, all four are hens that just started laying this past week.

 

[mcdze]

i think you have a whole flock of roosters lol .. ah but really for barred rocks them looks like hens to me, sometimes theyll surprize me, but yeah, hens ..