gender on barred rocks...

[mschazz]

i have 5 barred rock chicks, someone told me that males have very light legs and females have very dark legs,,is this true? my barred rocks are 3 weeks old and have light legs, 2 of them have dark splotches on their legs, they don't have much of a comb and are just getting most of their feathers, still pretty rough looking!! just wondering.

 

[ranchhand]

Better late than never,

Barred rocks are some of the easiest to sex early. The pullets will have more of a dark "wash" down the leg fronts and the headspot will be smaller and more contained in size and shape. Once they start feathering in, the cockerals will have wider white bands and the pullets will have narrower white bands. In other words, the cockerals will appear lighter.

Post some pics when you can! Barred rocks are lovely birds.

 

[Fred's Hens]

At 4 weeks, they'll look quite different, normally. The pullets feather in dark and roos feather in light. The pullets of hatchery stock normally have only blotches of white, as they only carry half the barring gene. The rooster will have bright, white bars. Typical, not universal.

 

[mschazz]

thank you,,,i've got a little roo in my group!! i bet he will be beautiful. maybe he can watch over the girls. the one in question looks exactly like the top most chick in freds hens photo.

 

[speckledhen]

http://www.dominiquechicken.com/Sexing_Dominique_chicks.html

This link is good for Barred Rocks, Cuckoo Marans and Dominiques and has very good photos.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Thanks Speckled Hen; as I've been hatching barred rocks lately, I knew I could tell the difference--just not sure which was which. Now I can go take inventory!

 

[speckledhen]

I hatched some BRs from two different old lines and you can't really tell by their headspots, which I'm not at all used to, having had only hatchery and a couple-generations-from hatchery BRs. The only way I can tell sex on those is by leg color, and even then, one may be fooling me. They feather out very slooowwwly, too.