Gender question

UrbanFarming

In the Brooder
6 Years
Nov 12, 2013
70
3
33
Santa Cruz, CA
I have been reading a lot of old threads and I'm starting to drive myself crazy. I bought "sexed" day old female chicks (you wouldn't call them hens yet right?) at my local feed store. My 2 Barred Rocks are now 2 weeks old. I was reading old posts that said if the white spot on the top of their head is smudgy then they are males. I also read that males are lighter and their wing feathers grow in white with black bars as opposed to black with white bars. Both mine have smudgy white spots but the wing feathers came in black and are just starting to get white bars. Could these possibly be males? Can't have any roos in city limits!

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That BR looks just like my males except for the tail feathers, yours is quite a bit longer.

3 weeks
400
 
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Your chick is feathering in very dark, which is a female trait. Notice in the previous posters pic, the white bars are much wider, when older the males have much lighter plumage. Females also usually have a dark wash down the front of their legs, like your chick. The girls are supposed to have a sharp white spot, but I've noticed that sometimes (especially with hatchery chicks) they're smudged like the boys.

Anyway, I think you have a pullet as well :)
 
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Thank you both! I feel relieved. So @howfunkyisurchicken , are female chicks pullets? I thought pullets were older chicks before they started laying. I'm new to the chicken lingo. Would they become hens once they lay an egg?
 
Thank you both! I feel relieved. So @howfunkyisurchicken , are female chicks pullets? I thought pullets were older chicks before they started laying. I'm new to the chicken lingo. Would they become hens once they lay an egg?

A pullet is a female chicken under one year old. Whether a newborn chick or a 9 month old layer, technically they are pullets.
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ps I think it looks like a female.
 
A pullet is a female chicken under one year old. Whether a newborn chick or a 9 month old layer, technically they are pullets.
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ps I think it looks like a female.
Thank you for filling me in on the correct terms! And I'll keep my fingers crossed that they're females. At least now I can relax a little.
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