How early can I tell if my Barred Rock chicks are boys or girls?

[SparkMonkey]

We bought 3 straight-run Barred Rock chicks at the feed store, along with 6 pullets of other breeds. I wanted more BR, but they only had four in the bin, and one of them had a really yucky butt, so we bought the three good-looking ones.

Ideally, we'd end up with just one of those being a rooster. They're about two weeks old now, maybe a little older, and I think that's what we've got, but I'm not sure! All three BR are quite a bit bigger than the other chicks (3 RIR and 3 SLW). They're all about the same size, and one of them seems to be developing a larger, pinker comb than the other two (their combs are small and sort of yellowish). Its mannerisms also just seem sort of... roosterish. If the chicks are startled, he's usually the first one to look up and call the others out of hiding, and he doesn't startle as easily. Are there any other characteristics I can look for? I don't really notice any difference in their feathering, but there may be some subtleties I just don't know about.

 

[farnorth]

Everyone says you can tell from the spot on the head....but that did not hold true for us.
I found the feathers on the wings to be a good indicator. Roosters will have sharper more distinct barring of white and black/gray....pullets will have more diffuse barring.
Can you post picks of them? especially top of the head and feathering on the wings?

 

[SparkMonkey]

Here's the best I could do. They're pretty camera-shy.

This one we think might be a cockerel. The lighting in the photo isn't great, but you can see where the comb is starting to stand up and it's pink along the base:


Here are the two we think (hope!) are pullets:


And the three together, Suspected Male in the front:

 

[aart]

Sure looks like it, only time will tell for sure, it's very hard to tell for sure that young.

 

[Mac14]

At this time, I would say roo. He has the lighter barring on his wings, the pinker comb, and by your description of his behavior, he seems like he will be very manly. Have fun!

 

[chickenlver2013]

Here's the best I could do. They're pretty camera-shy. This one we think might be a cockerel. The lighting in the photo isn't great, but you can see where the comb is starting to stand up and it's pink along the base: Here are the two we think (hope!) are pullets: And the three together, Suspected Male in the front:

You only have one male. (The chick in the first pic.)

 

[jimmywalt]

What do you look for on the head to tell if it's a male???????? We only have 1 BR chick and I wonder what to look for.

Thanks.

 

[chickenlver2013]

What do you look for on the head to tell if it's a male???????? We only have 1 BR chick and I wonder what to look for.

Thanks.

Ok, males head spots will look all splattered and indifferent while a females head spot is perfectly round and small. I'll upload a pic.

note: the head spots are splattered looking. These are female. Head spots aren't always accurate, but they mostly are. Another tip(s), females legs look like they have a dark wash (their legs are grey looking.) males legs are yellow. Another thing, males are white with black barring and females are black with white barring. Males wing barres when they are 2 weeks old are more wide and distinct while females barres are thin and look like white stripes. I tried to explain best I could. Hope this helped.

These are all female, but two of these turned out to be male.

 

[aart]

Ok, males head spots will look all splattered and indifferent while a females head spot is perfectly round and small. I'll upload a pic.

note: the head spots are splattered looking. These are female. Head spots aren't always accurate, but they mostly are. Another tip(s), females legs look like they have a dark wash (their legs are grey looking.) males legs are yellow. Another thing, males are white with black barring and females are black with white barring. Males wing barres when they are 2 weeks old are more wide and distinct while females barres are thin and look like white stripes. I tried to explain best I could. Hope this helped.

These are all female, but two of these turned out to be male.

These are supposed to be(?) all female, but two of these turned out to be male.

 

[chickenlver2013]

These are supposed to be(?) all female, but two of these turned out to be male.

Oops! I forgot to put that lol!! But they're 6 weeks old now so you know haha! Note: they are American Dominiques. But these methods work just the same on Barred Rocks, Hollands and Cuckoo Marans.