Hen or Cockrell?

[Flangecrank]

Hello,

I acquired 6 chicks 3 months ago and have watched them grow looking forward to my first eggs (3 Marans, 3 Rhode Island Reds)

It has become clear that a couple of the Marans are Cocks however i'm unsure with regards to a couple of the Rhode Island Reds.

Could someone please take a look at the photos and let me know what you think?

 

[Flangecrank]

Photos:-

 

[Chuck]

Looks like the RIR in pics 3 & 4 are of a male. Hard to tell as a picture of the whole bird would be best. Picture 3 shows the feather development of a male, with picture 4 it's the head and comb.
Picture 2 is a good example of the difference in comb development between a male and a pullet at this stage.

 

[Flangecrank]

Thank you for the reply - That's unlucky - 4 out of 6 chicks could be male!

I'll get a photo of the full bird's this evening and post again. Not sure what I am going to do with 4 Cockrells though :-/

 

[Flangecrank]

Photos of our 6 chickens below.

All 3 months old - 2 Marans definatley Male - Unsure about the Rhode Island Reds?

 

[Chuck]

Two and six are pullets; the rest are males. What type of Marans are these ? They do not look like the usual barred type. The two yellow legged dark (? Black) males do not match the grey legs on the pullet in photo no. 2. Looking again, if they are black with the white ear lobes and yellow legs I'd say they were Black Leghorns !

 

[Flangecrank]

I think you may be right - They were sold to me as Marans.

They are all Black with a shimmering green tint to the tail with bright yellow ear lobes and yellow legs - Much smaller than the RIR. Beautiful birds however i'll be keeping the bigger RIR and need to get rid of the remaining three cocks as they are already getting a little 'feisty' and squaring up to each other - The farm i bought them from will do a swap - id ideally like some Marans or Jersey Giants but dont think they have any.

If anyone is in the Selby Leeds area who has some for sale, please let me know.

Many thanks,

John

 

[Chuck]

I'm always surprised when people find out what they have is not what they are supposed to be, how well they take it ! I expect to get what I pay for and would go ballistic if I discovered otherwise !

 

[Marigold]

Trouble is, Chuck, that when you have just a few birds, and they look as nice as these, you get to know them personally, and want to keep them even if their CVs are found not to be in order!

 

[chrismahon]

The 'Maran' cockerels have the attributes of Leghorns -large single comb and white flashes. Nice looking boys though Flangecrank.

We were lucky with our first unsexed buy. Of seven only three were cockerels. Mind you we didn't realise any would be cockerels, so it came as a bit of a surprise.

 

[Flangecrank]

Yes, Lovely looking birds - as Marigold says, we have become quite attached to them all so its a real shame to let them go - We cant keep them together though as i would image they would be fighting all the time - Not the mention the 'attention' paid to the poor hens by them all!!!

The farm has offered to to swap them for some POL hens however I don't think they will be kept - Will be advertising them "free to good home" just in-case anyone wants them.

On a completely separate note, when should i expect my two girls to start laying? I have heard anything from three to seven months! (Not that i'm getting impatient or anything! lol)

 

[Chuck]

22 -26 weeks is the time they come into lay but at this time of year it could be a bit later with the shortening daylight. Depends somewhat if they are from a good laying strain and if not, it could be in the new year when they start.