Is my barred rock rooster a hen?

[PREPPYGURL46]

We have the beautiful and lovely temperamented "FB", short for Favorite Bird, who earned that nickname at just days old. He's very affectionate and enjoys sitting in your lap for cuddles.

Considering how light he is compared to his sister and with input from this group, we determined FB is a rooster.

However, he's now 19 weeks old. He doesn't crow or mount the hens. His wattles and comb aren't bigger than anybody else's. His hackle feathers don't look like my past barred rock roosters. No change in temperament and no spur.

We actually need to figure this out. My daughter selected FB as her 4H show animal and needs to write a Project Book on him, where it matters what his gender is

 

[HorseGirlAbby]

Surprise, she’s a pullet!

 

[Ikslo]

Looks like my hen so I’m going with “not a roo”

 

[PREPPYGURL46]

Her sister is very dark. So weird! Here is Daisy the sister, jealousy raging as I sat with our rabbits instead of her

Do you think my daughter will have a successful show with FB or are the feathers too white? Last show, the judge (who didn't realize he needs to dial it down when judging Tractor Supply birds raised by young children ) crushed her by marking her last place because her bird "didn't conform to breed standards".

 

[Jener8or]

Her sister is very dark. So weird! Here is Daisy the sister, jealousy raging as I sat with our rabbits instead of her

View attachment 4172999

Do you think my daughter will have a successful show with FB or are the feathers too white? Last show, the judge (who didn't realize he needs to dial it down when judging Tractor Supply birds raised by young children ) crushed her by marking her last place because her bird "didn't conform to breed standards".

Well I think they are both beautiful. Hopefully someone with more showing knowledge sees this. I would definitely recommend posting this question in the Breeding to the SOP Forum.

Best of luck to your daughter at the fair! Hopefully she still has fun with it and is proud of her experience showing and raising chickens. That's pretty amazing for her to do!

 

[Jener8or]

Her sister is very dark. So weird! Here is Daisy the sister, jealousy raging as I sat with our rabbits instead of her

View attachment 4172999

Do you think my daughter will have a successful show with FB or are the feathers too white? Last show, the judge (who didn't realize he needs to dial it down when judging Tractor Supply birds raised by young children ) crushed her by marking her last place because her bird "didn't conform to breed standards".

I do think the darker one might have crisper and more even barring, so might show better, but that's just a guess.

 

[Rhodebar Lover]

Her sister is very dark. So weird! Here is Daisy the sister, jealousy raging as I sat with our rabbits instead of her

View attachment 4172999

Do you think my daughter will have a successful show with FB or are the feathers too white? Last show, the judge (who didn't realize he needs to dial it down when judging Tractor Supply birds raised by young children ) crushed her by marking her last place because her bird "didn't conform to breed standards".

They’re both really far away from the standard honestly. I did 4-H for years and had great success using actual show birds. There were actually quite a few people who had actual show birds for that matter. If you have a fair that’s judging by the SOP, you won’t have luck with these birds besides a production class. I would definitely try to find a show breeder in your area-many will sell birds to kids in 4-H. Here’s pictures of what Barred Plymouth Rocks should look like from some pictures off the internet:

The difference between show quality and hatchery Barred Rocks are immense. There are other breeds where you’ll have better luck with hatchery stock (usually the rarer ones who haven’t been bred down in quality for production). I would highly recommend getting some show birds for your kids. It makes the experience much better. Here’s my Barred Plymouth Rock Bantam who won best of show in 4-H years ago so the breed is near and dear to me

 

[PREPPYGURL46]

He looks great!

Ironically the same judge then tried to sell me some of his birds for hundreds of dollars

My daughter is only 10 so we pick her "show bird" on who is the most willing to cooperate and to be carried around. This year, she thinks she is up for entering 2-3 birds and is going to enter FB in the meat bird category and is considering our Australop in the market category. This is our first Australop. I was talked into this "super friendly" breed at Tractor Supply and I swear, she's the stupidest thing in the field, terrified of her own shadow and extremely flighty so I am picturing us chasing it when she tries to make an escape.

We also have Tulip the silver laced wyandotte? Although certainly not the friendliest She is mid-crouch here.

 

[PREPPYGURL46]

Whoops, ignore the attachment- that's Fern. She has the wrong comb for a silver laced.

 

[Rhodebar Lover]

He looks great!

Ironically the same judge then tried to sell me some of his birds for hundreds of dollars

My daughter is only 10 so we pick her "show bird" on who is the most willing to cooperate and to be carried around. This year, she thinks she is up for entering 2-3 birds and is going to enter FB in the meat bird category and is considering our Australop in the market category. This is our first Australop. I was talked into this "super friendly" breed at Tractor Supply and I swear, she's the stupidest thing in the field, terrified of her own shadow and extremely flighty so I am picturing us chasing it when she tries to make an escape.

View attachment 4173713View attachment 4173714

We also have Tulip the silver laced wyandotte? Although certainly not the friendliest She is mid-crouch here.

View attachment 4173715

I wish I remembered my classes more… I always did exhibition so the SOP mattered. Market classes for me meant meat birds. I would HIGHLY advise not entering an Australorp in this class. You could throw her in a production class but she’s pretty immature… I like Tulip the best honestly. She’s better than many hatchery Wyandottes and is quite mature. Perhaps an egg production class or even exhibition? She wouldn’t win exhibition but she at least doesn’t have an obvious DQ and is in great condition! Here’s more about market classes: https://shelby.osu.edu/sites/shelby/files/imce/Poultry 101 (Chickens).pdf

Also look into after production/market classes if you are required to auction the birds after. I never even dabbled in those because my chickens were pets and I didn’t care about making money selling them.