Cuckoo Marans- Can these all be roosters? PICTURES added

[Kezzie]

My Cuckoo girls are darker than yours and have more "smudgy" barring. My rooster looks exactly like all of your pics above with more distinct barring.

 

[cezhart]

Well, the 2 chickens that seem rumpless have been that way since I noticed the chicks first started getting some longer feathers... those two never did. Maybe a weird genetic thing.
Other than that.... thanks for all your suggestions.... but I may just have to wait & if the birds lays eggs then it's a hen & if it doesn't, it's a rooster. LOL

 

[Sillystunt]

i don'tknow but your coop is sooooo cute!

 

[Mahonri]

Where's the pullets? I didn't see ANY!

 

[StrawberryHouseMouse]

Yep, roosters

 

[catwalk]

You have a crazy looking coop. Did you build it? It looks like the Columbus Convention Center.

 

[Rockpile99]

I may see one pullet... On your very last picture there is just the head of one chicken on the far back left. That one has no sign of comb or wattle growth like the rest of them do., and from the little I can see of her she seems to be darker in color than the rest.

I had two Cuckoo Marans from a hatchery this year, as chicks I had one that was the light color that you hear about and the other was much darker. Both turned out to be roos.

After much more research I found that females always have a double barring(the cuckoo part) gene and that males usually have just one (that's why they are lighter) but a roo can be double barred as well giving it a darker appearance and trick you into thinking its a pullet. I think both of my roos had started crowing by 12 weeks.

The cuckoos are the two center right. You can see one is much darker than the other

I think this photo was at just about 12 weeks, they had started crowing by then.

 

[cezhart]

Well, I contacted McMurray Hatchery & sent her a link to all the photos I had of the approx. 12 wk old Marans. She said she had others look at the pictures also & the consensus was that they never saw more than 2 roosters in any picture. Not knowing which photos duplicated a common bird she said there were still hens for sure. She also said the 2 rumpless were that way from fighting & plucking & they would grow back. There were also 2 in those pix that were black sex links with no red combs or waddles.
....... first of all the chickens never had a fighting problem & their bottoms looked like that from chickhood till now. It was noticeable that only those 2 never got tail feathers.
I'm not sure if they're just placating me or not. Either way she said there was nothing they could do. \\
Every day that goes by the differences & commonalities show up even more. My daughter's friend took all my supposed roosters except one of the big ones. That's assuming that the 2 rumpless ones are hens. As time goes by they don't seem to be getting more "roosterish" like the others.
So, here we are until we know something more.... lol