Sexing Barred Rock Chickens

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Question
Sexing Barred Rock Chickens: How do you tell the difference between a young barred rock hen and a young barred rock rooster. They are almost 4 months old.

Answer:
Sexing baby chicks can be very difficult for those who are not trained. Even with experience sexing experts are only 90 to 95 percent accurate. The older the chicken becomes the easier it will be to determine the sex.

For barred rock chickens you should look at the following characteristics:

1.Pullets(young hens) will usually develop tail and wing feathers before the cockerel(young rooster).

2.Around five to six weeks young roosters will start getting larger and start to develop a red colored comb.

3.The fluffy feathers that cover a roosters neck is called hackle feathers. Barred rock cockerels will usually develop these around two to three months of age.

4.From three to nine months look for a cockerel to have a larger comb and wattle. Also don't forget about the spurs.

5.The white bars of a cockerel are wider than those of a pullet.