Girl or Boy?

[TheSpiceGirls]

She/he is a 12 week old Cuckoo Marans. I know Cuckoo Marans have more prominant combs and wattles. They are pink which = hen. And she's a pretty dark black and white which also = hen.

But all of the sudden she has a few tail feathers that are curing downwards. Which makes me go hmmmm....

What do you all think?

 

[ChickenWisperer]

We need a closer pic of the tail area.

And I have to add, "she" is mixed, or is poorly bred. "Her" legs look unnaturally long.... unless there is something wrong with my eyesight. Or, it could mean it's a roo that is in the "lanky" stage, though my CM roo never looked like a modern game mix

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

Here are some additional shots of her. (I hope it's a her.)

 

[ND]

I don't see any saddle or sickle feathers yet...but at 12 weeks, they could be on their way in still, I think. It does look more like a pullet to me, though.

But, I wanted to say that JUST the presence of curved tail feathers doesn't mean a whole lot, really. I don't have cuckoo marans, but I have three barred rocks that have significantly curved tail feathers... and they're very much hens that are laying. (they didn't have wattles or combs that large at that age, though...but as I said, I don't know if that's more expected in a cuckoo marans pullet or not.)

 

[Tala]

I'm leaning towards roo, and also say mix or poor lineage. Marans should not have a tail set like that.
A mix might account for the female-ish coloring on a male bird.

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

Thanks for the reply. I hope she's a girl. I bought them from a Feed & Fuel and they are 96% sure they are girls. Especially, since I just have 4 and they have all bonded so nicely, I really don't want to break them up if I don't have to. They play so nice with each other too. If for any reason, I carry one outside the run so they can't see the others, she'll just start squawking super loud and looking around, like WHERE ARE MY SISTERS!!!

It's heart breaking.

 

[jenesis536]

Where did you get your birds? I live in the Bay Area and got mine at the one in Half Moon Bay... my birds look pretty similar to yours, too (Cuckoo Marans, Black Australorp and Easter Egger). Mine are 12 weeks old, too. I picked them up on 10/23 (they were a week old).

My Cuckoo Marans looks like this, and the general conclusion from this site was that it's a boy. Yours looks darker than mine though:

 

[crawfordmama]

Based on the legs and tail feathers, I vote boy. I do hope I'm wrong.

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

Quote:
Oh, such a small world. I bought mine from the Half Moon Bay Feed & Fuel too! I picked them up on October 30th. So there's a good chance that our Marans came from the same batch.
Yours seems as dark as mine. But with larger white patches making her seem lighter. I've been told that males are more grey and white and girls are more black and white.

I think I'll just chill and wait to see what happens. She's a very calm, sweet bird, but does NOT like to be picked up or held. SQAWK!!!

 

[jenesis536]

Did you get your black one there at the same time? Mine looks like this below, and a much bigger comb. People here have told me it's a hen though, but seeing how small the one on yours is, now I wonder.