pullet or roo?

[rock5566]

barred rock breed little over 2 weeks old purchased online. need to know the sex please.

 

[cstephens1987]

Too young to know. See some possible cockerel signs but I'd wait it out. It should be very obvious in a month or two

 

[HeatherKellyB]

The coloring is very different from the barred rocks I have. From what I have learned so far, barred rock females will have black legs (along the front of their legs). Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will chime in. Beautiful chicks though

@cstephens1987 is definitely far more knowledgeable and extremely helpful. I must have been commenting at the same time.

 

[rock5566]

another one

 

[cstephens1987]

The coloring is very different from the barred rocks I have. From what I have learned so far, barred rock females will have black legs (along the front of their legs). Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will chime in. Beautiful chicks though

@cstephens1987 is definitely far more knowledgeable and extremely helpful. I must have been commenting at the same time.

Dermal melanin is a recessive sex linked gene similar to barring where males have two copies and females have only one, however barring itself is a melanin inhibitor so since males get two copies of the barring gene they tend to have the leg wash expression inhibited compared to females. But this is not reliable as the lack of dermal melanin is actually dominant. At least that's my understanding of it

 

[ColtHandorf]

@Mosey2003 might be able to help.

 

[Alexandra33]

OP, I'm actually thinking you might have a Cuckoo Marans, instead of a Barred Rock. Those little feet are looking quite pink. Only time will tell as far as gender.

~Alex

 

[Mosey2003]

Coloring is odd, awful lot of white. Show us again in a month.

 

[BaaKaaawk]

Too early to tell and those look like Cuckoo Marans not Barred Rocks. If they are Barred Rocks they may have an interesting color variation. In about 4 weeks we can likely give you a definitive answer on the sex.