10 Week Old Cuckoo Marans -- male or female?

[Pullet_Prognosticator]

Hello fellow chicken prognosticators, long time lurker, first time poster here. We've had mixed breed chickens for several years and this is our first Marans. Got her as a day-old chick, sold as a pullet, along with a Welsummer and S.L. Wyandotte who I am positive are both females. They are all 10 weeks old now. But I'm getting mixed messages from the Marans...

--Her feathers are a *little* lighter than the classic cuckoo Marans hen (internet photos), but still pretty dark;
--She is bigger than our Welsummer pullet, but only a tiny bit bigger;
--Her comb is slightly bigger and pinker than the Welsummer, but is the same shade as our Wyandotte pullet's comb. It was very similar to the Welsummer's comb in both size and color until they both reached about 7 weeks old;
--Legs are fairly sturdy, with a dark wash;
--No signs of spurs or crowing;
-- I don't see pointy saddle or hackle feathers but I know it may be too early;
--Behaves like the other two pullets in her cohort.

We are keeping this chick either way, so we'll find out eventually, but I thought I'd ask the sages of BYC if we've got a sneaky cockerel!

 

[Jener8or]

I think it looks like he might have 2 copies of the barring gene and with that comb I'm leaning cockerel.

 

[Tonyroo]

Chicks at 2 months old with red combs are always males. Hens require 5 to 9 months to gain color in there comb and mature to lay eggs.

 

[Pullet_Prognosticator]

Well, I guess those are answers I expected although not hoped for... Thank you BYC sages! At least we will have a beautiful rooster to keep the hens company!

 

[Pullet_Prognosticator]

I will try to post some updates over the next few months to show development in case it's helpful for someone else!

 

[Buckeye Amy]

I think you've got a pullet. I have 4 Cuckoos now. They started laying at 5 months.

 

[rural mouse]

Chicks at 2 months old with red combs are always males. Hens require 5 to 9 months to gain color in there comb and mature to lay eggs.

Not entirely true. Rose combs tend to pink early on both genders. Growth (and wattles) occurs on cockerels while pullets take much longer for those to start growing. While the bird in question doesn't have a rose comb, red combs in and of themselves don't always mean cockerel.