Sexing Barred Rocks

[CGinJCMO]

Latest pics....13 weeks

Punkin Boy...see the waddles? Plus I say the boys have more "white" on the feathers


Spaz Boy



No No Boy


Bubble Boy


The chicks with our older hens.

Looking at the bottom row: The two standing on the left are likely girls because of the darker colored feathers
those that are roosting left to right: Boy, Boy, Boy, Girl, Boy

I bought my BRs based on the leg color, the darker leg color = girl, yellow leg = boy and at the time, I bought the boy because I saw that he'd be alone (he & his "sister" were the last two) and I had read that roosters help protect the flock, other wise, I wouldn't have bought him. I'm not getting him used to me very well; he's afraid of me and he runs with the bantams. I have an EE roo that will eat out of my hand (pecks hard!)and eventually the BR roo will be with the other full-sized chickens when I get fencing put up.

CG.

 

[soukilee93]

Ha ha ha....
If I went by the color of the legs I still would have been screwed. All of them had dark washing on the front of their legs.

 

[soukilee93]

At this point I am no longer looking for thoughts on sex. I am just continuing updates that may help people later down the road. Enjoy!!
15 Weeks...
Spaz


No No


Blue


Sweetie


Bubble


Punkin

 

[Maggiesdad]

Hi soukilee!

Enjoyed your thread!

I got 12 barred rocks from the Goochland SS the 3rd week in March - We got there right after the postman, must have been 300 + chicks in the tub! I picked the 12 smallest head dots of everybody (couldn't see any legs, they were so thick in there). Turned out to be 11 cockerels and 1 pullet.

Then a raccoon got the one pullet and six of the boys at about 10 wks

So much for my replacement laying flock... I wound up hatching out some of my own Australorps for layers. What an exercise in frustration!

Live and learn...

 

[MamaHenCarrie]

Thanks for posting---this is helpful to me!

 

[soukilee93]

I ended up with 4 roos and 2 hens. Spaz, Bubble, No No, and Punkin were all roosters. Sweetie and Blue stayed with us for a little while, but then those two and my previous BR started getting aggressive towards my other hens and blocking them from the nest boxes. They found a new home. Bubble ended up with a friend and the other 3 roos became dinner, they were evil to my hens.

 

[MontanaDolphin]

Wow, after reading all of this post I'm afraid of what I will end up with! I got my babies from the Goochland Southern States on February 28th...they were born on February 27th. The lady there picked them out for me, based on the leg wash. I wanted five girls and one boy. They turned two weeks old yesterday, and I had thought I have two roos and four pullets...but now, after reading this, I HAVE NO IDEA!!! LOL. I'm afraid I'll end up having to wait until they either crow or lay eggs! Here's pics of each one, so if anyone wants to fathom a guess, have at it! Oh, I hope this isn't considered hijacking a thread...is it???

:


This is Zeus...the "boy" deliberately picked out by the lady at SS. He is friendly, but can be a loner sometimes. His feathers are coming in slower than some of the others, and those wing feathers of his tend to be a bit curly at the ends. He is a smoky gray color, and light leg wash:

ZEUS













This is Athena...one of the "girls". She is the friendliest of them all. She's my favorite. I cuddle with her for about a half an hour at night...she rootches her butt trying to get comfy then falls asleep the whole time she's on my chest. She was one of the fastest to get her wing feathers, and she has a dark leg wash:

ATHENA











This is one of the "girls" who I think is a boy. He's/she's not as light as Zeus, but is lighter than the other ones. His/her feathers came in slower as well. He/she is not real friendly, but he'll/she'll let me pet him/her sometimes. His/her wings kinda curl at the tips, just like Zeus'. He/she has a dark leg wash. And, some of his/her wing tips are solid white.

NO NAME POSSIBLE ROO











This is my runt, one of the "girls". I named her Pixie. She is very nosy (gotta be in everyone's business), but skittish...runs like h-e-double hockey stick as soon as I put my hand in the brooder, and I have to catch her to hold her. She is also the bully of the group...I guess cuz she's so much smaller than the rest. She was the last to feather out on her wings, and she has a medium tone leg wash...not as light as the possible roos, and not as dark as the possible hens.

PIXIE













This is the bravest of my "girls". Haven't named her. As soon as I lift the screen from the brooder, she flies to the edge of the cardboard. Today as I was taking everyone's picture, she flew from the edge of her brooder to the edge of a second brooder nearby (I use it to put them in when I have to clean their main brooder). She's friendly. She seems to have the most feathers so far, on her wings and sprouting from her tail...although Athena's feathers came in first. She has a dark leg wash.

NO NAME BRAVE GIRL











This is my final "girl", who has no name. She's just a neutral bird. Not really skittish, but not really friendly either. Actually, she's kinda boring, to be honest. Medium toned leg wash.

NO NAME BORING GIRL

 

[soukilee93]

Wow, after reading all of this post I'm afraid of what I will end up with! I got my babies from the Goochland Southern States on February 28th...they were born on February 27th. The lady there picked them out for me, based on the leg wash. I wanted five girls and one boy. They turned two weeks old yesterday, and I had thought I have two roos and four pullets...but now, after reading this, I HAVE NO IDEA!!! LOL. I'm afraid I'll end up having to wait until they either crow or lay eggs! Here's pics of each one, so if anyone wants to fathom a guess, have at it! Oh, I hope this isn't considered hijacking a thread...is it???

:


This is Zeus...the "boy" deliberately picked out by the lady at SS. He is friendly, but can be a loner sometimes. His feathers are coming in slower than some of the others, and those wing feathers of his tend to be a bit curly at the ends. He is a smoky gray color, and light leg wash:

ZEUS I agree definite roo













This is Athena...one of the "girls". She is the friendliest of them all. She's my favorite. I cuddle with her for about a half an hour at night...she rootches her butt trying to get comfy then falls asleep the whole time she's on my chest. She was one of the fastest to get her wing feathers, and she has a dark leg wash:

ATHENA -











This is one of the "girls" who I think is a boy. He's/she's not as light as Zeus, but is lighter than the other ones. His/her feathers came in slower as well. He/she is not real friendly, but he'll/she'll let me pet him/her sometimes. His/her wings kinda curl at the tips, just like Zeus'. He/she has a dark leg wash. And, some of his/her wing tips are solid white.

NO NAME POSSIBLE ROO











This is my runt, one of the "girls". I named her Pixie. She is very nosy (gotta be in everyone's business), but skittish...runs like h-e-double hockey stick as soon as I put my hand in the brooder, and I have to catch her to hold her. She is also the bully of the group...I guess cuz she's so much smaller than the rest. She was the last to feather out on her wings, and she has a medium tone leg wash...not as light as the possible roos, and not as dark as the possible hens.

PIXIE













This is the bravest of my "girls". Haven't named her. As soon as I lift the screen from the brooder, she flies to the edge of the cardboard. Today as I was taking everyone's picture, she flew from the edge of her brooder to the edge of a second brooder nearby (I use it to put them in when I have to clean their main brooder). She's friendly. She seems to have the most feathers so far, on her wings and sprouting from her tail...although Athena's feathers came in first. She has a dark leg wash.

NO NAME BRAVE GIRL











This is my final "girl", who has no name. She's just a neutral bird. Not really skittish, but not really friendly either. Actually, she's kinda boring, to be honest. Medium toned leg wash.

NO NAME BORING GIRL - I think this on is a roo too, look at that comb development.













From my experience with them, I would agree with Zeus being a roo, but I also think No Name Boring Girl is a Boring Boy. The rest, I would say are definitely pullets. With the dark coloring of them, the true black I would say they are pullets. No Name Boring Girl kind of puzzles me because it looks dark as well, but that comb development bothers me. I do not think No Name Possible Roo is a roo.

 

[MontanaDolphin]

soukilee93...

Does comb development make a difference? And, does the pink/red tint that shows up definitely point to roosters? I just don't know! I had planned for only one rooster...I can have more here, I just don't want anymore...we live on over eight acres, but I don't want to tick any neighbors off (even though my immediate neighbor has dogs that won't stop their yapping) with a bunch of crowing roosters. I THINK there's someone down our private road who has chickens...I hear a rooster crowing sometimes...but we just moved in in January and live right at the beginning of our road, so I haven't been down the rest of the way to check it out (we live on a private road off Shannon Hill). It could be possible the rooster is crowing from a house further down Shannon Hill and the wind is just carrying the sound, but I'm not sure. Also, I only have these 6 chicks and don't *plan* on getting any more, just waiting till eggs are laid and hatched by the hens...and with not enough females to go around, i think the boys are going to fight too much. I chose barred rocks cuz they are a good multi-purpose bird, and because they are supposed to be good for people with no experience (me lol)...a good starting chicken. I just wish they were easier to sex! Maybe I should try a different breed later on...gah, I just dunno. SIGH.

 

[soukilee93]

soukilee93...

Does comb development make a difference? And, does the pink/red tint that shows up definitely point to roosters? I just don't know! I had planned for only one rooster...I can have more here, I just don't want anymore...we live on over eight acres, but I don't want to tick any neighbors off (even though my immediate neighbor has dogs that won't stop their yapping) with a bunch of crowing roosters. I THINK there's someone down our private road who has chickens...I hear a rooster crowing sometimes...but we just moved in in January and live right at the beginning of our road, so I haven't been down the rest of the way to check it out (we live on a private road off Shannon Hill). It could be possible the rooster is crowing from a house further down Shannon Hill and the wind is just carrying the sound, but I'm not sure. Also, I only have these 6 chicks and don't *plan* on getting any more, just waiting till eggs are laid and hatched by the hens...and with not enough females to go around, i think the boys are going to fight too much. I chose barred rocks cuz they are a good multi-purpose bird, and because they are supposed to be good for people with no experience (me lol)...a good starting chicken. I just wish they were easier to sex! Maybe I should try a different breed later on...gah, I just dunno. SIGH.

The roosters combs develop quicker and at a couple to a few weeks of age you will start to see pink/red to the comb in the roosters. Are you seeing any pink/red tint in any of them? The roosters also will be the first to develop the wattles and color in. If no coloring yet, give it another week and check their combs.

I would definitely not recommend more than one roo to the amount of girls. They have a tendency to gang up on the girls. I never had a problem with my roos fighting each other, they just beat up on my girls.