Plymouth Rock Rooster or Hen?

The Beach Bum Chicken

In the Brooder
May 29, 2017
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I need some opinions on this plymouth rock. This is our first flock of chickens, and they are about 4 months old now. When we purchased them, they were guaranteed sexed female. I have uploaded a picture of our chicken; as you can see the comb is more develop compared to the other chicken in the picture. I have been reading some other forums about how they will start crowing anywhere between 3 to 4 months old, and for a few weeks now he/she has been groaning loudly (is the best way I can describe it), but it has not sounded like a definite crow. The other thing that makes me question the sex are the feathers - from pictures I have seen online, the feathers haven't grown in around the tail and neck like a rooster. So, what are your thoughts? Do we have to get rid of our chicken (as roosters are illegal here)?
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I disagree. I think it's a female. Tail feathers look female. I ordered 3 times from hatcheries and they have sexed them 100% correct all three times. I would keep her. She should start laying within 2 months.
 
Cockerel, the wide white barring and yellow legs with out black wash is a common trait for Barred Rock cockerels. Also the comb is huge and I think I can make out some cockerel feathers on the tail.
X 2 - the barring is very telling in this breed when it comes to gender differentiation.
 
It looks like a hen to me. Check if there are spurs on the back of the feet and see if you can get him/her to do a squat (submission posture) for you. Those are good indicators.
 
It looks like a hen to me. Check if there are spurs on the back of the feet and see if you can get him/her to do a squat (submission posture) for you. Those are good indicators.

The presence or absence of spurs is entirely unreliable as a method of sexing birds - many males will never grow spurs and many females do. Submissive squatting is generally not seen in females until they are nearing or at the point of lay.
 
MALE. If that bird is 3-4 mos old, no question that it's male. The angle of the tail, the body shape, the coloring, the comb/wattles, no dark wash at all on the leg fronts, all scream cockerel. Some males are a little slower to get saddle feathers; spurs NEVER show up before about 9-10 months of age, and even then, they're just short nubs. Full spurs won't be there until a year old or older.

I do see the skinny saddle feathers coming in, though they are not really obvious in that photo to someone who has never seen them at that stage before. Barred Rocks are my thing, have been for 12 years, had many, many cockerels hatched here and only a couple fooled me.

Sexing cannot be GUARANTEED by ANYONE. It is an art, not a science. I've had hatchery sexing mistakes from the hatchery. They usually say there is a 10% error margin. Thankfully, BRs are easier, but still, some will have confusing traits and some develop slower or faster than others. My very first BR hen was sexed properly by the hatchery, however, she had cockerel-like coloring and would have been declared male (and was) for quite some time, but by 10-12 weeks old, it was obvious that her comb was not a male comb, still very small. But she was a rare exception. I've only been fooled two or three times in 12 years by a BR chick with confusing traits at several weeks old. They are not really hard if you know what to look for. I've been sexing my own hatched here since those first two hatchery girls and it's just something you learn with experience.
 
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