Vet is stumped. Roo or Pullet

[LadiesAndJane]

Agree, a pretty girl you have!

 

[chrissynemetz]

I agree, she looks like a pretty little pullet.

 

[black_cat]

Wow! Holy moly! That was a fast response. Thank you so much all. She is 6 weeks. His/Her sibling is in the background and has almost zero tail. They got their first check up today and our vet was stumped!

Pullet! The tail feathers don't mean much at this age, aside from breeds where the roosters and hens have drastically different colorings. At 13 weeks, the saddle feathers matter. Males have a long waterfall of shiny, pointy saddle feathers at the base of their tails, while hens have normal looking rounded feathers.

 

[centralcaligirl]

Wow! Holy moly! That was a fast response. Thank you so much all. She is 6 weeks. His/Her sibling is in the background and has almost zero tail. They got their first check up today and our vet was stumped!

I am not one of them , but there are many experts here.

We have a vet we really love, but I always ask here too. A lot of the members just have that day-in and day-out lived experience that makes it easier for them to spot things a vet might not see or know to look for, especially breed-specific characteristics.

She is beautiful! Will be interesting to see how she compares to your other barred rocks as an adult.

 

[keesmom]

The tail feathers usually don't mean much, unless they are pointy. Usually the comb is the tell tale. Hers is small and orange, not large and red. As stated by @Oncoming Storm, the coloring is different for each gender. Females have double barring genetics, which ends up in small stripes of white, larger of black. Males have only one barring gene, so they have large stripes of white, and small stripes of black.

It's the other way around. Females can only have one barring gene. Males can have 2. Single barred males are colored similar to females, while double barred males are lighter.

 

[NuggetTheChicken]

It's the other way around. Females can only have one barring gene. Males can have 2. Single barred males are colored similar to females, while double barred males are lighter.

Whoops! Must have mixed that around. Thanks for correcting me.