Barred rock, 3 weeks old... is this a male or female?

[mabel7115]

I am new to chickens, but if he has feathers on his feet he could be a barred feather footed breed. I have a barred cochin and he looked like that as a chick.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

Feathered feet sure aren't normal for a barred rock; maybe it's a Marans? I'm not good at telling cuckoo and barred apart. But legs that are both pink and feathered? That's two strikes against barred Rock.

 

[Curious1234]

Feathered feet sure aren't normal for a barred rock; maybe it's a Marans? I'm not good at telling cuckoo and barred apart. But legs that are both pink and feathered? That's two strikes against barred Rock.

Hmmm... can hatcheries mix up chick breeds???

 

[Fred's Hens]

Hatcheries rarely have true, pure or bred to standard birds. The sell lots and lots of chicks and their focus is not like a breeder who specializes in a particular breed of bird. We tend to use the term "hatchery quality", which means you'll get a chicken. A healthy chicken, normally. If you want true Barred Rocks, true Araucana, or true RIR, you'll have to get them from a breeder, not a feed store.

 

[CMV]

What a crazy mix of all the wrong characteristics to be a barred rock. Boy, if hatcheries are turning out birds that are so far removed from standard why do they bother to sell different breeds?

I am guessing boy.

 

[speckledhen]

I'm guessing male and that is NOT a Barred Rock. BRs have yellow legs by that age (baby legs sometimes appear orangey-pink), no feathers on them, and even hatchery stock's barring is way more even than this little guy's.

I'm betting it's supposed to be a Cuckoo Maran, but even for a CM, that is a mess of barring.

If you sent a picture of that bird, including the legs, to the hatchery and they tell you it is one of their BRs, they've fallen farther into the abyss than I thought. I've had BRs from Ideal and McMurray and they were a far cry from that one.

Please don't get me wrong, he's cute as a button, but a pure anything, I'd seriously doubt.

 

[ESofVA]

Beautiful color! I am new, too and just learning. Some breeds of chickens do have feathered legs and feet like a Cochin for instance. Brahmas, Salmon Faverolle, Silkies...too. Mine are more heavily feathered than yours so maybe a cross between feathered and non-feathered...I don't know yet how the genetics for this trait works. It may be that it just isn't well feathered. Maybe a Cochin cross? Or even a Cochin... someone????

 

[Curious1234]

Thank you all for the input! Anyway, it seems that this one is a mystery chick with unknown mixed breed! Wonder how I got him...still hoping it's a her since we can't have roosters here. Who knows? Maybe it'll be a girl and it's so confusing because it's a mixed breed.

 

[hdowden]

i think its a marans or a marans mix cockerel

 

[Curious1234]

Here are some pics of when this chick was wayyyy younger. It looks like s/he USED to have yellow feet. But she always had feathers along her/his feet.
Does this change things? Seems his/her feet turned pink when the comb turned pink. Her/his feet and comb are the same color now. Light peachy pink.