supposed to be a 4mon old Marans Cockerel, seems stuck maturing?

[gung ho chick palace]

Yeah 10 weeks is pretty far along that most breeds can be sexed with confidence by that point due to physical characteristics alone i.e. just by looking at them, but I know there are some breeds that are notoriously harder to pin down till as much as 12 weeks. The internet says black copper marans would have different feather patterns by 6-8 weeks, so there you go. By 10 weeks, even if someone is not doing vent sexing (which Marans are notoriously hard to vent sex) by 10 weeks, it would be clear.

Out of interest, do you have any pics from when you first got her?

No, their eye color would not change, which is an excellent point. I'm pretty sure this girl isn't even a pure BCM, or poor quality at best, but again, I'm not an expert at all in the breed. Maybe a cross.

Here is a picture the day I got her at 2.5mon of age I was told.

 

[gung ho chick palace]

I am a new chicken owner, less than a year with a dozen egg layers and doing well. I added this baby "rooster" that I purchased as a Marans". He is growing tall, (almost tall like hens now), free ranges all day, super sweet, has feathers on toes, a button of a spur and his crown has been the same size since I got him 6 weeks ago. He shpukd be 4 months old. Is there something wrong with my little baby?

GOOD NEWS! The seller apologized and admitted he made a mistake and it looks definitely like a pullet. He is happy to exchange it for me. Problem is she is part of the family so I will have to add that new rooster in, I am keeping her.

 

[Chipmunk Chicks]

GOOD NEWS! The seller apologized and admitted he made a mistake and it looks definitely like a pullet. He is happy to exchange it for me. Problem is she is part of the family so I will have to add that new rooster in, I am keeping her.

Yay! I'm so glad to hear they owned up to their mistake and are going to make it right for you! You'll have to show us pics of your new cockerel when you get him.

 

[LaFleche]

Here is a picture the day I got her at 2.5mon of age I was told.

The bird in the picture still showing some fluff around the head is much younger than 2.5 months old. Any serious breeder would be able to differenciate between a cockerel and a pullet at this age as Marans males would show a lot of red comb and wattles already at an early age.

See this picture of one of my French Black Copper Marans cockerels at the age of about two weeks:

In my opinion it is obscene to ask 100 USD for such a chick.

 

[Chipmunk Chicks]

The bird in the picture still showing some fluff around the head is much younger than 2.5 months old. Any serious breeder would be able to differenciate between a cockerel and a pullet at this age as Marans males would show a lot of red comb and wattles already at an early age.

See this picture of one of my French Black Copper Marans cockerels at the age of about two weeks:

View attachment 3604398

In my opinion it is obscene to ask 100 USD for such a chick.

"Obscene." Yes.


Now if, hypothetically of course, someone might have paid $100 USD for this handsome devil:

Spoiler

...would you say that was a rip off? In your professional opinion, that is. SOP bred male Australorp, 1yo.

 

[LaFleche]

"Obscene." Yes.


Now if, hypothetically of course, someone might have paid $100 USD for this handsome devil:

Spoiler

View attachment 3604661
...would you say that was a rip off? In your professional opinion, that is. SOP bred male Australorp, 1yo.

It would depend:

Has he already been shown at a poultry exibition? And if so, what exactly were the results?

 

[Chipmunk Chicks]

It would depend:

Has he already been shown at a poultry exibition? And if so, what exactly were the results?

Unsure about this specific bird, I would guess not, but the breeder has been awarded National Grand Champion for two hens in recent consecutive years, as well as countless other awards over the past two decades.

Spoiler

 

[SwampPrincessChick]

"Obscene." Yes.


Now if, hypothetically of course, someone might have paid $100 USD for this handsome devil:

Spoiler

View attachment 3604661
...would you say that was a rip off? In your professional opinion, that is. SOP bred male Australorp, 1yo.

For a straightbred Australorp, I wouldn't say he was a rip-off.

 

[Chipmunk Chicks]

For a straightbred Australorp, I wouldn't say he was a rip-off.

I hope he works out to be a good guy for us. His younger birds start from $70+ so it didn't seem out of bounds, but then I had to when I saw this chick was going for the same price. Haha

 

[LaFleche]

Unsure about this specific bird, I would guess not, but the breeder has been awarded National Grand Champion for two hens in recent consecutive years, as well as countless other awards over the past two decades.

Spoiler

View attachment 3604718View attachment 3604719View attachment 3604720

He looks nice enough, but does he have all the traits you are looking for to match your breeding plans and improve your future breeding stock?

And does he already have some offspring to see if and how his special traits are being passed on?
It would be important for me to know if he is fertile at all before spending such an amount of money on a gorgeous but possibly useless bird.

The rooster represents 50% of the breeding group, so you can't be picky enough choosing the right one.