New to the chicken thing - Barred Rocks

[themenagerie]

I've been reading everything I can on this site, just registered and I have my first question!

I am the first time owner of 20 chicks, they're an assortment, 2 & 3 weeks old . I'm really enjoying them. I'm loving the "detective" work part of figuring out the Roo's. I definitely have my suspicions on some of my "pullets". Some of the breeds are easy to see a difference already, for instance I know that one of my three Columbian/Rock crosses is a Roo. I'm puzzled by the Barred Rocks. I have four, two are much more feathered than the other two, all have similarly dark legs and head spots. Is it necessarily true that pullets will feather more quickly than Roo's? or are there variations in feathering among the same age & sex.
Thanks for any input.

 

[speckledhen]

In Barred Rocks, the males are much lighter looking than the females. By four or five weeks, the males have their pink combs and wattles coming in as well.

Here is a 2 or 3 week old male and female (male on the ground) pair to show the color differences.

Same siblings at six weeks old:

 

[themenagerie]

Thank you for the pictures. It's easy to see the difference there. I guess I just have to wait for more feathers to come in on the slow feathering two.

 

[speckledhen]

You can post pics of them and we can tell you. Usually, dark wash down the leg fronts means a pullet with BRs.

 

[themenagerie]

I don't think I can post pics yet.. real newbie here, but soon I will be able to.
Does anyone have any input on the difference of the rate of feathering being an indicator?

 

[PlayaChicken]

The feathering on my BR male was much slower than that of the other pullets. He was a fuzzy guy when the pullets had lots of feathers. He had much thicker legs and developed a red comb and waddles early on. He now lives in the country.

I was able to post a pic on my second post. I pasted the image link in the box and hit preview. Pic was there. Best wishes.