cuckoo marans. gender?

[wccs2001]

sorry for pic fuzziness.

 

[ChooksChick]

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#2 is all man, but I'm going to have to wait a bit on #1.

 

[wccs2001]

guess i'll be going to talk to my neighbors then.

question though. will the hens start laying before he starts crowing? i think a dozen eggs would probably sweeten the deal.

especially if i throw in that the next generation might pop out some olive green eggs.

 

[ChooksChick]

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He'll definitely crow before your first egg. I'd go get some from the Farmers' Market to tease their tastebuds, though! Multicolored, if possible.

 

[wccs2001]

i'll go over and talk to her tomorrow. she's a school teacher (3rd grade). maybe if i offer to let her hatch chicks for her class in the spring that would help too.

another question, how loud are marans roos? when i bought the chicks (local farm), the marans roos never crowed. they had bantams that crowed every 5 seconds, and a barred rock that crowed once or twice in the 20 minutes i was there. is that normal? would the marans crow less?

 

[jennifersmith326]

Mine is loud. Sweet as can be but very loud.

 

[wccs2001]

if i fix it so my coop is locked up and dark, from say 9pm to 8am, will he be quiet? if he crows before daybreak, hubby won't let me keep him either. also, how aggressive is yours? we plan on petting him lots. i have two small children (3 and 5) and i don't want him to jump on them, or me. my mom has a barred rock roo. every time she goes in to collect eggs and feed the hens, he attacks her. but he wasn't a pet.

 

[ChooksChick]

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My Cuckoo boy was a love, but we handle our birds a lot- it makes all the difference. Also, if there are no other roos around, sometimes they'll be very quiet, as there isn't any need to advertise that it's HIS yard.

Each roo is different, though.

 

[wccs2001]

there's one roo within a mile. i hear him very faintly when i'm outside.

 

[ChooksChick]

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It may not be enough to cause a crowing contest, then. Good luck!