McMurray Barred Rock, 11-weeks...gender?!?

[sarahandbray]

Ok, obvious Barred Rock Roo again. He's all set. Crowing, light color, red comb/wattle.

How can I tell if this one is a Black Sex Link?!? I just have the feeling it's a he and that he's not just Barred Rock. I have two that look like this:

And here's a third bird. Barred rock looking. Boy? Sorry for the crappy pics. Dusk + no helper + unwieldy ipad = terrible pics!!!

 

[donrae]

on the back of his leg I see a bump growing that will most likely be his spur. At that age pullets don't have the bump

Sorry to contradict, but this is not at all true. Pullets often have spur buds from a very young age.

The difference between a pure barred cockerel and a black sex link will be the same difference between a pure barred male and a barred female. The bsl male only has one copy of the barring gene, just like the barred female. So he's darker overall colored, and has the darker wash down the legs when young. The reddish leakage comes later, around 4-7 months.

It's telling the difference between a barred pullet and a bsl cockerel that's the trick. All the birds you've posted here are male. The lighter male is a pure barred Rock, all the darker guys are black sex link cockerels.

 

[sarahandbray]

Thanks--I'm leaning that way, too. After hours in the yard with them, the two darks ones look most definitely different from the Barred Rock pullet, that's for sure. Her comb is yellow, bumpy, not red at all. She also hunkers down and is way more shy than these guys. Now what to do about the black sx link males!!
I'm the queen of one-stop Roo shopping lately--you name the breed, I got em! Stinks I got 2 male BSL, 2 male RSL, and only 2 RSL females in the 25-batch of surprise chicks from McMurray. I keep hoping I'm wrong on some of these chicks as they get olde, but my gut/observation has been right,,even when I was hoping it wasn't so!! (Like with these pseudo BR!)