Is the Barred Rock a hen or roo?

[Gibbie]

I want to thank you all for your posts. I love being a part of the BackYard Chicken group! Everyone is so helpful and informative. Again, thank you all so very much!

 

[Evelyn's Mom]

She is definitely a hen.
Barred Plymouth rocks are auto sexing.
She has black lines on the front of her legs.
The barred rock hens carry 2 barring genes.
She is darker and has thicker barring than a barred rock rooster.
Barred rock roosters only have one copy of the barring gene.

woah, that's cool!! Where are these lines? I am intrigued!

 

[Frazzemrat1]

She is definitely a hen.
Barred Plymouth rocks are auto sexing.
She has black lines on the front of her legs.
The barred rock hens carry 2 barring genes.
She is darker and has thicker barring than a barred rock rooster.
Barred rock roosters only have one copy of the barring gene.

Actually, you have that backwards. The rooster carries two copies of the gene (one from his father and one from his mother), and that's why they appear lighter, and the hens carry one copy (from their father); appearing darker. That's why when they breed a solid rooster (like a Rhode Island Red) over a barred rock hen, it creates a sex linked bird. The barring can only be passed by the hen to her male offspring because she doesn't have another gene to pass to her female offspring.

 

[MotherHen1234]

Pretty pullet