Help me sex my chicks!

[Ravynscroft]

Rooster has a rose comb.
I still don't think the barreds are all cockerels... Honestly. they're 9 weeks old now. Just checked. 10 weeks this friday/saturday.
Some of the barreds (2) aren't even completely barred. They have red spots on the tops of their heads, which would make them incompletely barred. Yet they are the ones that are cockerels. And, I had 2 lavender chicks hatch (odd, yes), died by suffocation due to another hen thinking she could brood them, and stealing the eggs.
My pullet, who has been in a rabbit hutch for 3 weeks now, due to a broken leg, is barred... yet I know for sure that she's a pullet. 99% sure. So now I'm just confused.View attachment 1223942

View attachment 1223944
Rooster's comb:
View attachment 1223945 View attachment 1223945

Red on the cockerels is leakage, not incomplete barring... and different things, red is color, barring is pattern...

Your rooster has a modified pea comb, not a rose comb... in other words his background was single comb bred to either pea comb or a rose comb... rose comb is pea comb and cushion comb combined...

 

[Pyxis]

Rooster has a rose comb.
I still don't think the barreds are all cockerels... Honestly. they're 9 weeks old now. Just checked. 10 weeks this friday/saturday.
Some of the barreds (2) aren't even completely barred. They have red spots on the tops of their heads, which would make them incompletely barred. Yet they are the ones that are cockerels. And, I had 2 lavender chicks hatch (odd, yes), died by suffocation due to another hen thinking she could brood them, and stealing the eggs.
My pullet, who has been in a rabbit hutch for 3 weeks now, due to a broken leg, is barred... yet I know for sure that she's a pullet. 99% sure. So now I'm just confused.View attachment 1223942

View attachment 1223944
Rooster's comb:
View attachment 1223945 View attachment 1223945

That's not a rose comb, that's what a comb can look like when a rooster has one pea comb gene and one single comb gene. This is a rose comb:

Regardless, a rose comb would mean the same thing, much harder to sex by comb size and development than with a single comb.

Also as far as I know, there is no such thing as incomplete barring. A chicken either has one copy of the gene, two copies possibly if it is male and got a copy from each parent, or no barring at all. So, single barred, double barred, or not barred.

But like I said, in a couple months, you're going to know for sure either way.

 

[Welshies]

Red on the cockerels is leakage, not incomplete barring... and different things, red is color, barring is pattern...

Your rooster has a modified pea comb, not a rose comb... in other words his background was single comb bred to either pea comb or a rose comb... rose comb is pea comb and cushion comb combined...

Huh?

 

[Welshies]

That's not a rose comb, that's what a comb can look like when a rooster has one pea comb gene and one single comb gene. This is a rose comb:

Regardless, a rose comb would mean the same thing, much harder to sex by comb size and development than with a single comb.

But like I said, in a couple months, you're going to know for sure either way.

The reason I am adamant that we know soon is because... the cockerels need to be seperated once the weather gets warm, and begin to be fed for butcher.

 

[Pyxis]

The reason I am adamant that we know soon is because... the cockerels need to be seperated once the weather gets warm, and begin to be fed for butcher.

Well then to be safe, I'd be slating all the barred ones as cockerels.

 

[Ravynscroft]

Well then to be safe, I'd be slating all the barred ones as cockerels.

X2!
Better safe than sorry, anyways...

Pyxis, did I get the combs backwards? Is it cushion comb that has pea comb in it? I know several of the small combs are made with a mix, originally, can't remember which all have which in them...

 

[room onthebroom]

Wow! That's some really cool info on the barred gene that I never knew!

Question; If the OP's chicks were born cockerel sex links, would they have had the classic white dot on their heads the first few days? If so, are there any pics of them right after they hatched?

 

[Welshies]

Yes but one barred is a pullet I honestly think. Mind you I am stubborn sorry for the pigheadedness.
Here's a group picture. I really appreciate the input but I don't understand how that can work. I've only thought of 2 as cockerels, one black and one barred. Hard to wrap my head around.

 

[Pyxis]

Pyxis, did I get the combs backwards? Is it cushion comb that has pea comb in it? I know several of the small combs are made with a mix, originally, can't remember which all have which in them...

I think a chicken that has a rose comb can also carry the gene for recessive pea comb. I think rose comb is its own gene, because I know I've read that chickens that are homozygous for rose comb can actually have reduced fertility. I think walnut comb is the one that is a combination of dominant pea and dominant rose.

This article has some serious formatting issues and needs to be fixed, but if you wade through it has good info:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/comb-genetics.48418/

The reason I am adamant that we know soon is because... the cockerels need to be seperated once the weather gets warm, and begin to be fed for butcher.

It's actually good news for you if your rooster is not barred, because that means you will be able to identify a lot of the cockerels right at hatch. They will have a white spot on their heads. As long as their down is dark enough to make it out, you'll know they're cockerels from the get-go.

 

[Welshies]

Wow! That's some really cool info on the barred gene that I never knew!

Question; If the OP's chicks were born cockerel sex links, would they have had the classic white dot on their heads the first few days? If so, are there any pics of them right after they hatched?

Yes. Here you go!
White dot?