Barnevelders and Plymouth Rock- boys or girls?

[Repecca]

Hello,
We have 3 chicks- 2 x Barnevelder and 1 x Plymouth Rock.
Hoping they are all pullets, and I have been searching through everyone’s photos here- but not sure as we don’t have any others to compare with! They are about 4 weeks old (the Plymouth Rock is about a week younger).
Thanks!

 

[speckledhen]

I don't know much about Barnvelders, hard to say on those. The Barred Rock chick seems boyish to me, having raised that breed variety for 20 years, but you can usually tell the sex of those as soon as they're dried off from hatch. Males have a more scattered, larger head spot and some "frosting" down the neck (but that fades in a couple to three weeks, not as definitive), are lighter in their fluff and barring, having two barring genes instead of one; pullets have only one barring gene so are darker with more regular, smaller head spots as well as a dark wash down the leg fronts. Males can have a bit of that dark wash, but it's usually just a bit here and there, not all the way down the leg. Yours seems to be feathering more like a male, but your lighting is a bit reddish, which throws off the color analysis some so I can't be sure. Sexing is an art with barred varieties, not a science, taking the three traits I mentioned together to form you opinion. Still, some can have confusing sex traits and occasionally, you'll get a lighter pullet or a darker cockerel or one with a head spot that reads opposite to the sex. Another week should at least tell us on the Rock, at least. I just mention how to sex barred varieties in case you ever have other Barred Rock chicks.

 

[nuthatched]

It's too early yet.

 

[Repecca]

I don't know much about Barnvelders, hard to say on those. The Barred Rock chick seems boyish to me, having raised that breed variety for 20 years, but you can usually tell the sex of those as soon as they're dried off from hatch. Males have a more scattered, larger head spot and some "frosting" down the neck (but that fades in a couple to three weeks, not as definitive), are lighter in their fluff and barring, having two barring genes instead of one; pullets have only one barring gene so are darker with more regular, smaller head spots as well as a dark wash down the leg fronts. Males can have a bit of that dark wash, but it's usually just a bit here and there, not all the way down the leg. Yours seems to be feathering more like a male, but your lighting is a bit reddish, which throws off the color analysis some so I can't be sure. Sexing is an art with barred varieties, not a science, taking the three traits I mentioned together to form you opinion. Still, some can have confusing sex traits and occasionally, you'll get a lighter pullet or a darker cockerel or one with a head spot that reads opposite to the sex. Another week should at least tell us on the Rock, at least. I just mention how to sex barred varieties in case you ever have other Barred Rock chicks.

Wow, thanks for the detailed reply! We will keep an eye on the three things you mentioned and maybe send another pic next week.
It didn’t have a very obvious spot on the head when we got it- so we thought it could be a girl, and we were looking for ones with darker legs but none of them really seem to have very dark legs.

 

[speckledhen]

In Barred Rocks, the girls will generally have a smaller head spot with defined edges, not scattered. In Black Sex link female chicks (red/gold solid rooster sire bred to any barred hen), the females do not have a head spot and will be solid black with some gold feathers on the chest, while males will have a head spot and will look like badly barred Barred Rock males when they feather out, with a lot of silver in the hackles. I say this because I often see black sexlink roosters falsely ID'd as Barred Rock roosters on this forum and around the internet, sold as Barred Rock roosters; people breed from them with actual barred hens and don't get what they expected. I know, much more information than you asked for, but it's good to know for the future.

 

[Repecca]

@speckledhen I have an updated photo for you- would be keen if you are still thinking rooster?
The black bars look wider to me than the white ones, and the dark wash now goes the whole way down the legs.

 

[speckledhen]

Well, I remember my first BR pullet had lighter coloring than a pullet should. If this is a pullet, she seems a bit lighter in coloring than most BR pullets, is feathering in sparsely on the side of the neck like a male, but the comb is looking more female at this point. How old is he/she now? By 4 weeks old, most of my cockerels have larger combs than that. Not much help, sorry. It could go either way, I guess.This is why I say that sexing is more an art than a science. If all the traits were male, easy call. If all the traits were distinctly female, easy call. This one seems to have two traits of females (dark wash, small comb) and one of males (lighter, crisp barring and slow feathering on the neck. If this was my own chick, I'd probably be wanting to wait one more week to be sure. Good, sharp pics, by the way. I think what is confusing is the comb does not look very male nor does the leg color, but the barring is very sharp, overall lighter coloring that veers more male to me. Bad chick making us all guess still, LOL.

 

[Repecca]

Oh dear- could still go either way! He/she is 7 weeks old now! Acts quite differently to the two Barnevelders in the same box. He/she is fairly quiet, where as I expect the others might be boys!