- Mar 14, 2012
- 40
- 5
- 24
I bought a couple Cuckoo Maran chicks a while ago from a local feed shop that were "guaranteed" hens. I bought a motley assortment of chicks last summer and all are happily laying hens, so I figured I was safe buying more.
They are 5-6 weeks I am guessing? I can't remember when I bought them! Anyways after feathering out, one is dark grey/white and the other is black/white, very easy to tell apart. What is worrying me is that the dark one has an itty bitty yellow comb and the lighter one has a bright red comb that is easily 2-3x the size of the other.
The "guarantee" I believe is limited to the store taking back the offending rooster and giving me another baby chick and of course, they have no more Cuckoo Marans. My kids are very attached to Chocolate and Fudge and have been begging for a Rooster but the hubby said absolutely NO. We ended up with a couple Roosters (Kindergarten hatching project) and they drove him crazy crying at our backdoor wanting in, launching themselves at his office window constantly and crowing at all hours of the day/night (only ours were crow-challenged and sounded like they were choking to death and dying). He was only too happy when animal control come by and confiscated them as we were only zoned for hens.
We recently bought a small farm, so I can legally own roosters but there's the whole mad hubby issue AND all the feed store has is itty bitty chicks. If I bring my "rooster" back, I'll have a single lonely chick as it's too small to go in with my big chickens or I'll have one bitty chicken and one medium sized chicken and I'm afraid the bitty one will be harassed non-stop, neither of my current chicks are very nice, they fight constantly. So now what? Wait it out and see if it starts crowing eventually? I let the kids buy a whole motley assortment of chickens since all we were buying was hens so if somehow hubby didn't turn the Rooster into dinner, I could end up with some really mixed breed baby chicks... I've got Buff Brahmas, Black Cochins, Partridge Cochins, Ameracaunas, Production Reds and a black & white speckled hen who I have no clue the breed of (older hen gifted to us). Not to mention the couple who purchases my extra eggs only does so because I have no roosters within a mile of me, so no fear of finding a partially developed chick in an egg.
They are 5-6 weeks I am guessing? I can't remember when I bought them! Anyways after feathering out, one is dark grey/white and the other is black/white, very easy to tell apart. What is worrying me is that the dark one has an itty bitty yellow comb and the lighter one has a bright red comb that is easily 2-3x the size of the other.
The "guarantee" I believe is limited to the store taking back the offending rooster and giving me another baby chick and of course, they have no more Cuckoo Marans. My kids are very attached to Chocolate and Fudge and have been begging for a Rooster but the hubby said absolutely NO. We ended up with a couple Roosters (Kindergarten hatching project) and they drove him crazy crying at our backdoor wanting in, launching themselves at his office window constantly and crowing at all hours of the day/night (only ours were crow-challenged and sounded like they were choking to death and dying). He was only too happy when animal control come by and confiscated them as we were only zoned for hens.
We recently bought a small farm, so I can legally own roosters but there's the whole mad hubby issue AND all the feed store has is itty bitty chicks. If I bring my "rooster" back, I'll have a single lonely chick as it's too small to go in with my big chickens or I'll have one bitty chicken and one medium sized chicken and I'm afraid the bitty one will be harassed non-stop, neither of my current chicks are very nice, they fight constantly. So now what? Wait it out and see if it starts crowing eventually? I let the kids buy a whole motley assortment of chickens since all we were buying was hens so if somehow hubby didn't turn the Rooster into dinner, I could end up with some really mixed breed baby chicks... I've got Buff Brahmas, Black Cochins, Partridge Cochins, Ameracaunas, Production Reds and a black & white speckled hen who I have no clue the breed of (older hen gifted to us). Not to mention the couple who purchases my extra eggs only does so because I have no roosters within a mile of me, so no fear of finding a partially developed chick in an egg.
