What do these markings on my bantam Barred Rocks tell you?

[lceh]

I have 5 banty BRs, almost 2 weeks old. I have heard that you can sex BRs by the white markings on their heads. Now I know this may not be all that accurate, but my brooder's too full and I need to downsize, so I might as well rehome the ones that have at least a reasonable likelihood of being roos! So here's a nice shot of the backs of everyone's heads:

Of the 5, 3 of them have bright white feathers at the tips of their wings and big, bright white bottoms. The other 2 have little or no white on their wing tips, and their bottoms are less white. You can see the white wingtips in this shot:

So, if you were looking to pick out the roos and keep the girls, based on their markings, who would you keep and who would you give the boot?

 

[shelleyd2008]

If bantam BR are the same as LF BR, the smaller head spots, combined with a lot of black on the fronts of the legs, would mean female, though it is not an exact science. Considering how my LF BR feathered out, I would think the ones that already have white on their wings would be males. But I'm just guessing!

 

[lceh]

So, what if they have a smallish head spot, but bright white wing tips? Is one more significant than the other? I took a closer look at their wing feathers tonight, and some of them have just black at the tips and others have white, but that doesn't always correspond with the amount of white on their heads. Which should I go by?

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Go by the head spots. 3rd from the left in the top photo and middle one top to bottom in the 2nd photo may be males; the others look like pullets for sure.

 

[CBee]

Also, many times a cockeral's head spot is organically shaped. The pullets' are more small as others have said and circular.

Look at their feet, too. Pullets have darker and thinner feet.

 

[lceh]

I'm bummed that only one of mine has an obvious white splash on its head. A couple of the others have irregular whitish markings on their heads, but not bright white -- kind of subtle. And I can't believe that only that one is a roo, but wouldn't that be nice! I haven't looked at their feet, I'll run down and take a look.

 

[Robin'sBrood]

May I break in here and ask about my BR's head spot. Does it look more like a boy's or a girl's?

Please say girl, please say girl, please say girl...

 

[lceh]

Okay, went and looked at their legs, hard to tell. When they talk about black down their legs, are they talking about the upper thigh (the feathered part), or the scaly part? (Sorry to be such a newbie...)

 

[Robin'sBrood]

Sorry to jump on your thread with a question of my own, Iceh. Hopefully someone can answer for both of us.

 

[CBee]

Quote:
The scaly part.