I tried to get some good pictures, but with a 2 1/2 year old helping well you know.. He loves the chickens.. The guy I bought them from said he was selling me two laying hens and two roos..
What sex are these please??
pix 2
pix 3
4
5
the end
At a guess, based on Marans, the darker ones are pullets, the lighter, roos. I don't know that this holds for barred Rocks. What are these?
How do Barred Rocks and Marans differ? And Dominiques? Only one's a sex-link generator
I was told they were barred rocks... I am new to the chicken family... But I love my chickens and and that is how I found DG researching my chickens...
Okay--I found this about barred birds in general: "A female's bars are generally narrower and darker than those of a male." Storey's Illustrated Guide to Poultry Breeds--page 26.
I would be confident saying the lighter ones are males, the darker, females. Their colors and pattern intensity look just like Marans--although Marans are technically Cuckoo rather than Barred.
It looks like two hens and two roosters. The roosters have larger brighter combs with nice peaks. You'll love barred rocks. They are fat calm birds that lay nice brown eggs. The roosters have a deep rich crow that resonates in their chests. If you don't have a large flock the roosers may fight over the girls a bit, but one will establish dominance.
thelighter ones are much bigger than the darker ones so my roos are going to be bug.... thank you catscan
lol my typos are horriable So if I understand my roos will be much bigger than myhens. I have 2 brown hens and the 4 you see in the pictures... hummm maybe I need more hens
I agree with the color i see these all the time and the males are always lighter than the females.
Beautiful birds and welcome to Daves feel free to ask questions and give comments on what you know about chickens. Theres always something new to learn.. Welcome!!
Maybe? Of course you do!
(Are you watching CF?)
Two rooster for four hens may be a bit much. That's also a lot of crowing. We had two roosters once that I was quite attached to and when they started fighting over the 12 hens, I removed one to the yard and he got to be quite the pet. We even had him doing tricks like a dog.
I am watching out for Cf she missed me by a few hours on her last dusting or I would have been in big trouble at the county fair....
My chickens are in an enclosure away from the house with the min donkey and horse, how would I take one out and know he would be sage? I live about a quarter of a mile from the road, but there is a country store out there by the road... I have come to love all my chickens, should I make on his own enclosure? he might get lonely though looking thru the fence at his friends....
Oh or make an enclosure next to his friends and get him some new ones... HUMMMMM
That's the ticket1 You just need mooore.
well, didn't have time to look at all the pictures, becasue the first one was enough.... if i had known you had barred rocks, we could have by passed all this picture taking fuss and new thread, but where is the fun in that?
yep, like they all said, roos have more white in the barring...
looks like you need a new pen. and each roo can handle TEN hens...
lovely pics
tf
now this is not scientific, simply my recent observaiton with my own HUGE roos... notice how often when pecking the ground, they squat down, sometimes with their legs spread, becasue they are taller and their legs are longer. where the hens are more careful with their pelvic bones to cross gently and lean over all lady like?
now more scientific:
see on their back, just before the tail feathers start. your roos have the beginnings of saddle feathers, where the hens feather are the same as on the rest of the body. the saddle feather are long and narrow, and when fully feathered in, they have what may resemeble a "saddle" on their back, as in the draping of hte feathers, which in many roos is a different color, hence making a contrast.
can you see that the males beaks are longer, straighter? comb somewhat larger and darker, that will become more obvious soon. their feet also will be bigger, and the scales on the legs thus larger because of their rapid growth.
then pull out the wings, and look at the feather, i think called primary covert. they are small, at the front side of the wing, just covering the primary flight feathers. in hens these have rounded ends, and in roos pointed.
you can't sex on just one of these things, as so many variances in breeds and such. but if you check all of these, plus do a little leg and pelvic flipping, then you will have a good guess.
when i guess on mine, then i band them. left leg for roo, right for hen. makes it easy later to know how close i was...
now get some hens! i hear grownut wants to cross barred rocks with blue jersey giants... so look for some of those!
tf
Thank you all now I know I have 2 roos and 2 hens... There is another enclosure next to the ones they are in, have to check the fencing around it maybe I find him some lady friends and move them into the other one with his new friends... I hate to get rid of either one, they let my boy pick them up and carry them around, and have not been aggressive to him in the least... Cant wait till they start Cock a doodlin that will be cool...
Thanks again to everyone and TamaraFaye I thank you for the advise... LOL they are pretty birds and we have been collecting the feathers and have a good collection going...
Roseane
BRs do have GREAT dispositions!
So do I need to get them too?
CF is gonna SMACK you catscan...
Oh please TF! Cats needs them to cross with Ameraucanas to get dilutions with sex-linked blue eggs!! Because she's not going to Chile soon enough and they have a deadly gene anyway...umm. errr. ummmmmm....
You know the CF is out of control when one of her lowly representatives threatens bodily injury to Her Most Humble Servant.
that's a lotta CAPS from one so humble...
It is my title. Given to me by the Glorious and Resplendant CF (CF has a bunch of titles). Who am I to despise it?
You wax poetic....(running the other way as I am permanently in trouble with the Glorious and Resplendent CF )
Okay, I wouldn't call barred rocks "calm." Mine have always had much too much spunk and personality for that, but they are definitely NOT flighty birds.
Okay, as to gender, almost all male chickens have hackle (neck) and saddle feathers that are pointed at the end, compared to the round end that hen's feathers have. A very few breeds are henny feathered and do not.
The barring gene is sex-linked, and is the cause of both barred and cuckoo and crele colour patterns. Other genes cause the differences between these barring patterns. As a sex-linked gene, males can carry two copies, but females only one, so females are always darker. However, males can carry one or two copies; those with two copies will be lighter (because the white bars will be wider), those with only one barring gene will be the same colour as the girls. The feather shape and comb colour and size, however will still indicate male.
Suze
Gosh you're a gold mine of information!! Wonderful. There's no perfect link to all this, is there? ;-)
These beautiful little chickens look like Dominiques, and it looks like you have both hens and cocks. Look at the comb. The birds with the larger comb and wattle are roosters, and the birds much smaller combs and wattles are hens