[3littlehens]

I am still waiting for our first egg!  One of my hens has developed some strange behaviour and I'm now wondering if this explains the lack of egg production!  My very large cuckoo marans hen has started 'mounting' the leghorn and pecking (or holding on) to the back of its neck.  This has drawn blood.  I have cleaned it up and applied anti pecking spray to the leghorn but I was sure the marans was a hen and can't tell if this is agressive hen behaviour or if she is actually a he!

The marans is very large and stands tall, it has a large upright comb and tail feathers aren't particularly long but there are no signs of leg spurs or crowing... it certainly sounds like a hen...

There are no signs of lice/mites or any other reason I can see for the pecking.  The only change is that we went away last weekend and I moved their coop/run into our large garage near the windows for daylight but it was a new environment (mainly put them there to avoid predators and ensure I could leave lots of food and water available).  I guess that was a lot more boring than roaming the garden all day and it could account for a change in behaviour.  They have been back outside as normal for the past 3 or 4 days.

Any ideas?  The compounding issue is that I caught a cat stalking the hens yesterday and it was back this morning so I'm not too keen on letting them roam so freely if I'm not close by so they will be in the smaller space of coop and run when I walk the dog or go to work etc...I guess there is far more likelihood the pecking will continue in these conditions.

Do you think I have an aggressive marans hen or a cockerel?

[Casey76]

Mounting and pecking is dominance behaviour, which is practised by hens as well as cockerels.

You will see a sizable difference between a pure breed Marans and a hybrid layer.  Marans are big chickens in general.

However a good side-on photo would help

[3littlehens]

Excellent - thank you - I shall take a photo later and get it posted!

[3littlehens]

Here's my marans hen/cockerel - what do you  think... is it a he or a she?  The strange behaviour seems to have stopped and the leghorn is a lot happier!!

[3littlehens]

more marans photos

[Casey76]

Hi Storme... I'm pretty sure that's a boy

The long "sickle" tail feathers don't really come in until about 8-12 months... but if you look just before the rail you will see some thin, droopy, silky looking feathers.  they are called saddle hackles, and only boys get them.

[Missie]

Hi there 

Good point from Casey76,What I felt is that the comb is very large-like that of a rooster,my Mary is a pure breed Cuckoo Maran,and I have quite a few more and they all have much smaller combs:

[3littlehens]

I see what you mean! I guess that explains why it hasn't produced any eggs yet.  The photo of Mary is very different indeed...  The lady we bought him from said she would take any back who turned into cockerels - I'll have to get in touch with her.

[leddenton]

Hi I have the same situation I think my Maran/black rock is a boy! Have contacted the person I got him from and he says he will have him back.He is not crowing but looks very much like yours.such a shame as he is lovely and so tame.

[3littlehens]

I know - we are very attached to ours, he has been a lovely hen - very friendly and gentle (until last week) and interesting to watch. The three of them go everywhere together and I don't think he's at the top of the pecking order, he follows the leghorn and the wynadotte always flaps and runs along behind - quite funny to watch.

I've emailed our supplier who has a vast range of breeds and hopefully she'll take him back and exchange for a marans hen (I love the dark brown eggs) and we may also buy another of a different breed (hopefully already laying!) to help keep the coop warm as the temperatures are dropping.

[Chablis Dog]

I also have maran hens and suspect your's is a cockerel too.  I had the same problem recently.  I bought some Leghorns and within a few weeks one of them was looking much more like a coq.  He had a much more pronounced crown than the hens et voila, several weeks later, he started crowing!!!!  Unfortunately we got him from too far away to take him back, so I am now trying to find him a good 'coq au vin-free' home as I already have two warring coqs!!!!

[3littlehens]

Oh dear, what a shame...  My leghorn also has a very large, floppy comb (I think you can see a bit of it in one of the photos above) - I have been looking at lots of pics online and see the leghorn hens do have these large floppy combs so am hoping it's only the maran I need to worry about....

It seems a shame to care for them and get to know them then just reject them because of their gender - but I wont get away with keeping one where we live and I can see you will be concerned about having two and them fighting.

I guess this all goes with the territory - you live and learn.
Still haven't heard from my supplier - I hope she will be as good as her word because she has so many really lovely hens and keeps them up in the wild hills in beautiful farmland - I am looking forward to choosing another two hens.

[3littlehens]

Well it's confirmed... I went to the henhouse this morning to be greeted by the loud and undisputable 'cockadoodledoo' of a marans cockerel!!!!!

At least that explains why he hasn't laid any eggs - what a noise....

[3littlehens]

The wonderful lady will take him back, so now I can look forward to choosing two new hens and know he'll have a good home!