Please forgive this naive question....NOW WITH PHOTOS (finally)

[kian]

Is there an age where I might expect roosters, if I have them, to start crowing?

I have 4 nine-week old Cuckoo Marans (one, possibly two, of whom I am freaking out about maybe being roosters as roosters aren't allowed in my town) and 4 nine-week old New Hampshire Reds.

So far, every single one of them peeps. No cluck cluck noises even, all peep. (though one, when surprised when putting in the coop one night did let out a very grown up 'bah GAH' noise).

The comb on one of the Marans is just slightly bigger than the others, but then again "she" is also smaller than the others. Tail feathers all look the same size to me on all of them.

Two of my bigger Reds have wattles just a tiny bit longer than the other girls' but otherwise everything looks the same.

SO, very naive and possibly unanswerable question but if anyone can assist, I'd be very grateful!

ETA: Ok so here are the photos. Yes I'm pretty sure that I have two boys here, based on their much lighter color if nothing else. Combs aren't *too* much bigger than the other Marans. Their body types look exactly the same to me, but I readily admit that I am wishing them female every time I look at them.



This is Enox, taken today at 9 weeks 3 days (ish)



This is Haw taken for comparison. 9 weeks 3 days



Haw and Enox. Enox is actually smaller than the other Marans.



Stella, the other hopefully girl. "She" is the next smallest. Same age, 9 weeks, 3 days .

I couldn't get a good photo of Georgia, the other Marans, but she is dark, like Haw. While I've felt from the start that Enox would be my dominant hen, I have actually seen that the definite girls have been the bossier ones.

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

Is there an age where I might expect roosters, if I have them, to start crowing?

I have 4 nine-week old Cuckoo Marans (one, possibly two, of whom I am freaking out about maybe being roosters as roosters aren't allowed in my town) and 4 nine-week old New Hampshire Reds.

So far, every single one of them peeps. No cluck cluck noises even, all peep. (though one, when surprised when putting in the coop one night did let out a very grown up 'bah GAH' noise).

The comb on one of the Marans is just slightly bigger than the others, but then again "she" is also smaller than the others. Tail feathers all look the same size to me on all of them.

Two of my bigger Reds have wattles just a tiny bit longer than the other girls' but otherwise everything looks the same.

SO, very naive and possibly unanswerable question but if anyone can assist, I'd be very grateful!

Pics of the combs and wattles will help. Roos can start anywhere from 1 week to 20 weeks. Average is 14-16 weeks for most breeds.

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

And they usually don't get there big girl voices until around 16-18 weeks. At least that is when mine stopped the chick peeping

 

[kian]

Thank you! I will get some photos tomorrow. All the ones I have now are at 7 weeks.

To be honest, I'm afraid to post them for fear of them being tagged as boys. Because, you know, not posting the photos will totally prevent them from being male

 

[TurtlePowerTrav]

Thank you! I will get some photos tomorrow. All the ones I have now are at 7 weeks.

To be honest, I'm afraid to post them for fear of them being tagged as boys. Because, you know, not posting the photos will totally prevent them from being male

Sure, if it only worked that way. Haha

 

[speckledhen]

Had one crow at 4 days old (yes, DAYS) and one as late as 25 weeks old. Varies widely.

 

[mydadsjoy]

Had one crow at 4 days old (yes, DAYS) and one as late as 25 weeks old. Varies widely.

4 days? Holy smokes!

The little guy (Samson) in my avatar started crowing at about 14 weeks. Poor thing was taken by a bear while protecting his ladies at somewhere near 25 weeks. He was so pretty... sigh.

 

[Blarneyeggs]

aww that is so sad about Samson.

I think Cuckoo Marans are a little easier to sex as the cockerels are a bit lighter than the pullets. They also have a much more pronounced spot on the head as chicks. Crossing my fingers for you.

 

[kian]

Thank you! I didn't get out to get photos today. The ones I have are all from two weeks ago, and I want current as possible. I'm pretty much sure now that at least one is a boy, because "she" is a lot lighter in color. However, I'm gonna play blissfully ignorant for a while!

I am going to try and get up to date photos posted here tomorrow.

I really appreciate the replies!

 

[HEChicken]

Had one crow at 4 days old (yes, DAYS) and one as late as 25 weeks old. Varies widely.

Yep. The first dozen or so roosters I had all crowed around 16-17 weeks. In the spring I had a 9-week-old bantam cochin cockerel do a decent crow. About a week ago I heard a screetchy sound coming from the "nursery" in my coop, currently occupied by chicks only a few weeks old. This morning I captured this on video (note: the light in the coop was too dim to capture a picture but listen for what a 3-4 week old chick sounds like when it crows: