Black Copper Marans - Time progression of sexing - UPDATED with WEEKs #1-3 PICTURES

[chickenguysmom]

I know it's early to tell what sex they are but I want to get early impressions of the genders. They are all 1 week old (born June1). There are 5 total babies and each has 3 pictures (except the last one Bebe - camera shy), so I am sorry for the heavy pictures. Also, kids picked the names and they are silly.


This is Chick #1 (Effie Trinkett)





This is Chick #2 (Tyson)




This is Chick #3 (Zane)






Chick #4 (Dakota)






Chick #5 (BeBe)



Any help you can offer will be appreciated. I will update pictures at about 3-4 weeks and we'll see how accurate your guesses are.

 

[chickenguysmom]

I'll continue to post updates for others who have BCMs and want to see.

So far - color, pattern at birth didn't matter. Comb size at birth didn't matter, but did start to matter after about week 2. Comb color mattered between weeks 2-3. Leg size didnt matter when they were a week old, but at three weeks, Meaty's legs are appreciably bigger, and he is all over bigger, taller, the other two males don't have big legs, yet and size wise are the same size as the girls. Tail feathers - Meaty who is the largest cockerel, has just as many feathers as the two females and started to sprout them after just a couple of days of hatching. The other two males are slow feathering. Meaty also tries to crow and mount his momma. Meaty is also a bit agressive and protective of the little girls. The other two males are shy. Finally, Bebe ( one we hope is one of the two girls) is very animated and social, not shy and not scared of anything and very sweet.

Note: these are just my observations and I am guessing your chicks could be different, but I hope this will help others with their chicks, or at least give them hope.

 

[gapey]

My baby girls are 20 weeks old this week! How time flies. I'm still waiting for that first egg but I think Mary will be laying soon. Molly appears to be a mix of BCM and something else. The place I got them from thinks she might be an olive egger. So ready for some eggs from these girls.

 

[gapey]

Miss Molly Wishes you a Happy Thanksgiving. She's 9 weeks old today! Just noticed today she's got a little blueish/green in those tail feathers.

 

[gapey]

Gapey - Have they started laying yet? Curious to see egg color!! I have two that are supposed to be BCMs that have the copper coloring on their backs like Molly did. Here are the three of mine - 3.5 weeks old:

#1




#2 (not sure what the white feathering is about?)



#3 (no feathers on this one's feet)

Yup they both started laying on the exact same day at 25 weeks. Both of their eggs are the same darkness probably a 4 or 5 on the marans scale. Here's some pics of the eggs. The smaller dark ones are theirs and the others are from my older hens of different breeds as a comparison.

 

[Lacey Gardner]

Hello BCM fans!

I have a 13 week old bird that we can’t quite figure out sex of. Arwen has had a hen-like head since I got her at 2 weeks old and still looks nearly identical to her sister Annika when seen from the front. However she’s got these saddle feathers that look just a touch curled and 2-3 tail feathers that stick straight up. Her breeder is 50/50 on whether she’s actually a he so I thought I’d ask here.

Both birds are late August hatch, from the same lines. They are so similar in size and appearance that they’re impossible to tell apart unless you’re close enough to see Arwen’s saddle and wonky feet. Arwen is not good for breeding because of those feet and is attached at the hip to her sister, so I hope they’re both hens so I can keep both! (Tho I do have a backup plan where they could both go if needed) Any thoughts from the crowd?

Thanks!
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Pullet... I don’t see any real saddle feathers just frayed feathers. I have had several hens with some suspicion looking feathers and longer tails like this and all turned out to be hens.
here is a pic of saddle feathers for comparison.

 

[melanieroscoe]

Pullet... I don’t see any real saddle feathers just frayed feathers. I have had several hens with some suspicion looking feathers and longer tails like this and all turned out to be hens.
here is a pic of saddle feathers for comparison.

Thank you, this feedback and image is helpful. Arwen has always had funny feathers (another genetic quirk like the feet, I guess!) and a bigger tail so it’s always been a guessing game what exactly is going on with her! Quick feedback x2 saying pullet is reassuring. These birds are lovely, snuggly things and I hope they’ll be in my flock for years to come!

 

[chickenguysmom]

I know I promised pictures earlier but just got around to updating this. As it stands it looks like predictions at about 3 weeks were correct (and some of you knew even earlier).

Efron, Tyson and Meaty are all cockerels and Zane and Bebe were the pullets. Here are updated pictures. Meaty is our keeper. We love him. Keeping the two girls as well. The other two are destined for freezer camp.

These are the 5 month pictures (approx 21 weeks old)

Meaty (isn't he pretty?)



The Freezer Roosters with the two pullets



All three males - Meaty - upper right



Zane and Bebe with a freezer rooster butt in the back.



Tyson or Efron - can't really tell them apart

 

[gapey]

I've got a couple black copper maran chicks and am doing some progression pics on them too. They are one week old today. They are supposed to be pullets so we'll see. They are growing crazy fast, much faster than my easter eggers of the same age.

 

[gapey]

I just noticed today at 12.5 weeks that Mary's wattles are starting to come in. Molly's haven't yet. Was trying to find at what age they normally come in but didn't have much luck and it's really dependent on the breed.