[peter rooster]

Hi

I got my mother hen and six chicks 19 June this year . I just wonder when they will start to lay down to 2 rest in freezer as cocks. Unsure of age but have included photo taken from Selby market. Mother hen laid well once chicks had grown up. Now even she is down to one egg every 4-5 days . They have grown bigger than mum now and have started to look /  sit in nest boxes .



Peter Rooster

[Sassy]

They probably won't lay now until after Christmas when the days get longer. At the end of the day they lay when they are ready! It will be worth the wait

[joyfull]

most cockerels of purebreeds are ready for culling from 24 - 35 weeks depending on their breed.
The mother will ease up laying whilst the nights are darker and the days shorter - she will be back in full flow early spring  .
Do you have a photo of the youngsters - are they definately all boys? although going by the combs of the 2 I can see I would say they are.

[peter rooster]

From the eight I thought I had four boys and four girls going by combs and colour. When the four started full blown cock a doodle they had to go in freezer. Last month the other two got full roll over combs and then started to cock a doodle. They are in freezer just leaves two I will get a photo of the two left but I am sure they are hens. Often wondered if they had been sexed prior to Selby market. Now looking for 3 point of lay marans.

[joyfull]

if they are cuckoo marans then yes they will have been sexed - there is a difference in their markins - but don't ask me as I always get it the wrong way and once told a member on here that she had a hen which later turned out to be a cockerel 

[darkbrowneggs]

if they are cuckoo marans then yes they will have been sexed - there is a difference in their markins - but don't ask me as I always get it the wrong way and once told a member on here that she had a hen which later turned out to be a cockerel 

Hi there - Cuckoo Marans are fairly easy to sex if there has been other blood introduced in the past,  as is often the case as the Cuckoo gene ( I think  ) is dominant,  If this is the case the male should have a large paler spot on the head, and the female should be nearly all dark with maybe a smallish head spot. 

However with a more purebred Marans it is often difficult to tell by the headspot.  Check the comb -  often the comb is more pronounced and also the feet on the male chicks are thicker and stronger, and when the wing feathers start to come in the cockerels have an obvious paler band towards the wing tips.  And within a week or two the female starts to grow her tail feathers more quickly than the males.

Hope this helps
Sue
Dark Brown Eggs

[peter rooster]

Hi

I dont think mine are pure the eggs from mother hen (if she was mother) are brown but not dark brown. I was a little disapointed with the colour as I was hoping for the darker egg. I may put lights in the run to extend the day by a couple of hours.

Peter Roostrt