How to Tell a Rooster From a Barred Rock Chicken

The Barred Plymouth Rock is one of the easiest breeds to sex at hatch.

Since 1874, the Plymouth Rock has been a popular chicken breed in the United States for its size and egg-laying ability. Rocks come in several colors, but the best-known and most common variety is the Barred Rock, which is known for its striking black and white feather pattern. Unlike other chicken breeds, which must be vent sexed when they are only a day old, pure Barred Rock chicks can be visually sexed with a high degree of accuracy long before their combs, wattles and adult plumage become evident.

Instructions

1. Examine the chick's head. All pure Barred Rock chicks possess a white head spot. Cockerels have large, irregularly shaped head spots; while pullets have a smaller, well-defined spot.

2. Look at the front of the legs. Pullets have a wash of black down the fronts of their legs. The legs of cockerels are yellow and do not contain the black pigmentation.

3. Examine the feathers as they emerge. Pullets tend to feather out quicker than cockerels and appear to be darker shades of black and white. The cockerel has a more gray and white appearance.

Tips & Warnings

• No method of sexing chicks is 100-percent accurate -- even the vent sexing performed at most hatcheries. Within one to two weeks hatching, pure Barred Rock pullets and cockerels will be easy to tell apart.

References

• Kansas State College of Agriculture and Applied Science: Distinguishing Sex of Chicks at Hatching
• Mother Earth News: How to Sex Day-Old Chicks
• "Backyard Poultry Magazine"; Plymouth Rocks: The Heirloom Breed; Robert Blosl; October/November 2009

Resources

• "Storey's Illustrated Guide to Poultry Breeds"; Carol Ekarius; 2007