Did I accidentally get all male Barred Rocks?

[Raubkatze]

I have been pouring over threads on this forums saying that males have big white marks on their heads, and females have small dots on their heads. This was a straight run from my local farm store. Now I am worried that I may have gotten all males. Can anybody confirm for me based on their head spots alone? Or is there still hope that some of them might be female?

 

[Iluveggers]

The first 3 barred rock pullets I ever had had white spots on their head, and I freaked out. Grew up into beautiful hens!

 

[NatJ]

Or is there still hope that some of them might be female?

There is still hope.

 

[Raubkatze]

There is still hope.

I am really crossing my fingers because one of them will hop up on to my hand and the other two are also becoming very tame.

 

[Rhodebar Lover]

I believe the head spots are only accurate if bred and selected for and not applicable to hatchery stock

 

[lagrange chicks]

I'm not an expert but they look alot like my 5 girls when chicks.

 

[NatJ]

I believe the head spots are only accurate if bred and selected for and not applicable to hatchery stock

They are at least partly applicable to hatchery stock, but of course anything is more accurate if specially bred for.

Males have two barring genes, females have just one, because the barring gene is on the Z sex chromosome. Males have ZZ while females have ZW.

Because the barring gene itself is what causes the different amounts of light color, it does work to some extent even without special selection. Two barring genes make lighter feet, larger head spot, and more white in the feathers as they grow.

 

[Raubkatze]

I believe the head spots are only accurate if bred and selected for and not applicable to hatchery stock

Good to know! I spent a lot of time last night reading over a couple of threads on here wirh tons of information on spots, leg markings, and feather color.

I'm not an expert but they look alot like my 5 girls when chicks.

Im going to keep crossing my fingers then!

 

[Raubkatze]

Update at 2.5 weeks. One on the right has a lot of striping and more grey. The two on the left are darker, less striping, and smaller. I'm now thinking two girls and a boy. I know only more time will tell, but man is the wait killing me.

 

[NatJ]

Update at 2.5 weeks. One on the right has a lot of striping and more grey. The two on the left are darker, less striping, and smaller. I'm now thinking two girls and a boy. I know only more time will tell, but man is the wait killing me.

Based on those photos, I think the same as you: probably two females and one male.

Yes, waiting is hard But there's a good chance a male will show a pretty obvious red comb within the next month or so, and females keep their small pale combs for longer, so that will be a good confirmation of what we think we're seeing here (or a sign that we got it wrong, but hopefully not!)