5 weeks old black copper and blue copper marans sexing

[JenniMcChick]

THANK YOU for posting the update!
Marans new to me as I purchased what I was told were 5 BBS Orpingtons that turned out to be Marans instead, so been trying to learn as much as I can & these pictures have been helpful!

Also giving me hope on a couple I thought might be cockerels!
I'll keep hold out on those 2 for a couple more weeks.
If anyone has guesses based on your experience, I'd love to hear them.

 

[wrathsfarm]

Also giving me hope on a couple I thought might be cockerels!
I'll keep hold out on those 2 for a couple more weeks.
If anyone has guesses based on your experience, I'd love to hear them.

Watch the combs to see if they redden up and get bigger over the next couple weeks, but I'm guessing both are pullets at this point.
By 2 weeks I can spot my males, by 5 weeks it's obvious.

Not all but in a lot of Marans lines, the males mature must faster than the females.

 

[maceleneo]

Also giving me hope on a couple I thought might be cockerels!
I'll keep hold out on those 2 for a couple more weeks.
If anyone has guesses based on your experience, I'd love to hear them.

How old are they?

 

[JenniMcChick]

Watch the combs to see if they redden up and get bigger over the next couple weeks, but I'm guessing both are pullets at this point.
By 2 weeks I can spot my males, by 5 weeks it's obvious.

Not all but in a lot of Marans lines, the males mature must faster than the females.

Thank you! Two of the chicks I can certainly call Male, the cuckoo I'm sure is a pullet, & then these Splash & blue babies.
Problem I'm having is all 4 BBS chicks are developing in the same way: same body type, no tail, & leggy.
The cuckoo is my only obvious pullet & all I have to compare the other 4 to right now. She is & has always been bigger then the other 4, & already had 2 rows of wing feathers when we picked them up, so I assume she is also older. Also not a BBS so maybe she is supposed to develop differently due to being a different variety, so we'll see. Only time will tell I suppose.
Here are some pictures of those 2 from today. Because who doesn't like pictures?
Again, THANK YOU so much for your response & for offering hope.

 

[JenniMcChick]

How old are they?

Chicks were supposed to be 1-5 days old (according to "breeder") when we gave them to the brooder on 3/1. Those pics were taken on 4/4.
I also just added some pics taken today (4/7/25) to a response from @wrathsfarm if you'd like to take a look at those.

& Thank you for responding!

**Came back & edited this as all pics of the blue chick did not attach to my reply to @wrathsfarm so I'm attaching the rest to this reply. Enjoy!

 

[maceleneo]

We love pictures for sure!
They all seem pullets to me, which one of these do you think is a male?

 

[JenniMcChick]

We love pictures for sure!
They all seem pullets to me, which one of these do you think is a male?

That would be amazing & I'll certainly take it, if so!!
The blacker one in 1st picture w/the blue & splash ones (in earlier response to you) is the one I'm assuming is male. Attaching another few pics of that one here in case it helps. Chicks are approximately 6 weeks old now.
Because the blue & the splash look more like this one (body type, & no tail) than they do the blue cuckoo that I'm assuming is female, I've been perplexed about the splash & the blue & thinking they had to be male also.
They don't act like cockerels (at least not yet anyway!), but body type is much more like this one who started showing signs of being a cockerel last week. I was assuming the blue & splash may just be slower maturing cockerels since comb still smaller & no wattles as of yet. This chick & the splash one also seem to be outgrowing the blue one this week, so idk.
I have NO experience with Marans & they are totally new to me since they were a surprise. I intended to & was told I was purchasing BBS Orpingtons, but feathers sprouting on cute little legs after about 4-5 days told a different story. And the "breeder" never has responded to a text I sent asking what I could have instead. So learning about these babies as I go!
Guess I should ask that, too: consensus on another post when they were about a week old was Marans. Are they still looking like that's what they are?
I took a pic of the Splash & had Google search it & results were for Aracuana &/or Amerucana. LOL! Guess the nearly non-existent tail & the down still on it's neck instead of feathers threw the AI off!
Again, THANK YOU so much for your help!!

 

[maceleneo]

Oh, now I see: this one actually seems be a male. The others still seem to be pullets to me, but I only watch how big and how much pink combs and wattles are. My pullets developed tails at very different rates and I had cockerels who didn't have bigger legs at all... so tails and legs mean little to me, but I'm not an expert at all. I'm sure that you will receive more educated guesses if you open a dedicated thread!
I only had Black and Blue Copper Marans and your chicks definitely seem Marans to me, but again... not an expert, sorry!

 

[JenniMcChick]

Oh, now I see: this one actually seems be a male. The others still seem to be pullets to me, but I only watch how big and how much pink combs and wattles are. My pullets developed tails at very different rates and I had cockerels who didn't have bigger legs at all... so tails and legs mean little to me, but I'm not an expert at all. I'm sure that you will receive more educated guesses if you open a dedicated thread!
I only had Black and Blue Copper Marans and your chicks definitely seem Marans to me, but again... not an expert, sorry!

Thank you!