Roo or Hen?

[AuburnChickenNewbies]

So ... this one is about 12 1/2 weeks old. Dad is a "mutt," while Mom is a barred rock.

We're trying to figure this out because he/she seems to be crowing, exchanging comments frequently with our big rooster. Doesn't look like I would expect a teenage rooster to look, but he/she's crowing! lol We need to get this figured out because "George," our rooster, seems to think Junior is an interloper and chases him around the pen quite frequently.

Hope these photos are good enough. Daggone bird wouldn't stay still for more than a second at a time!

 

[AmericanMom]

Yup, that there is a boy... Crowing is a good clue, plus those tail feathers for me are a dead giveaway, his posture is another, but yah, all that plus crowing means you got yourself a boy!! He is handsome

 

[texaspolloloco]

He is a pretty boy, but a boy none the less. His crow will get louder and more pronounced as time goes on.

 

[Michael OShay]

Definitely a roo.

 

[AuburnChickenNewbies]

Well ... after listening to Junior crowing away (albeit with a baby crow) and talking with a neighbor, we've re-homed him. Thankfully, they needed a roo and were delighted to have him, so he's quickly moved on to a new home with his own little harem in waiting.

Thank you all for your thoughts! We appreciated all of your input.

 

[donrae]

Just wanted to toss out there for future reference, that bird was a sex link male. If your rooster is not barred, any chicks from a barred Rock hen will be sex linked. Males will have a white spot on the heads at hatch, females will have a solid head. Males will color out like this, a funky barring with leakage, and females will be solid black/dark color with some color at the throat/chest, depending on the genetics of the father.

 

[AuburnChickenNewbies]

Just wanted to toss out there for future reference, that bird was a sex link male. If your rooster is not barred, any chicks from a barred Rock hen will be sex linked. Males will have a white spot on the heads at hatch, females will have a solid head. Males will color out like this, a funky barring with leakage, and females will be solid black/dark color with some color at the throat/chest, depending on the genetics of the father.

Donrae, this is GREAT info! I'll refer back to this if we sprout another one next Spring (assuming all parties cooperate), that looks similar. I wondered what sexlinks were all about.

I wonder what sorts of chicks he'll produce. The neighbor has a variety of girls. So ... do male sexlinks produce babies that are sexlinked too?

 

[donrae]

Nope. Good rule of thumb is you can't use a sex link to make a sex link.

Half his offspring will be barred, regardless of gender. What color they are will depend on the hen he's bred to. I had a black sex link male as my main rooster for a few years and got some pretty birds from him. Most of these hens had EE or EE/brown leghorn mommas