[snowyriver]

Hi.
I've 11 cuckoo marans chicks that are 3 weeks old today and I would very much appreciate your guidance about sexing them, I've no experience with the breed so this is a first for me. Is it possible to feather sex them at this young age before they start growing combs?

[Clansman]

I'm not sure if you can feather sex marans, possibly but really you need to feather sex in the first few days before the feathers catch up with each other.

I keep Scots Greys which are similar to cuckoo marans, with many cuckoo varieties the males are lighter and the females are darker.

Can you see any differences in colouring in yours?

Do you have any pictures?

[bloomer]

So far the only way to sex marans I have found is when they either cockadoodledoo or lay an egg :-D

Thankfully the boys do fine in the freezer so I don't mind running them all on till its clear...

[Sbom]

I thought the boys had white spots on head and girls didn't ?

[snowyriver]

Thank you for your help.

They all had white spots of varying sizes when they hatched, 8 of the 11 have clear barring on their wing feathers whereby the grey and white barring is pretty much equal in size, the other 3 are pretty much all black with grey around the end of their wing feathers.

I've no way of knowing whether my cockerel carries 1 or 2 barring genes as he is quite dark for a cuckoo marans, therefore these black chicks could be black or very dark cuckoo females.

I'll just keep them all a bit longer to see how they develop.

[Marches Farmer]

Broadly speaking by that age we expect L/F hens to show little tail feathers growing closely together in a little round clump.The cockerels tend to start growing tail feathers later and the sickles come through at a different angle.  The cockerels' combs often begin to redden before hens'.  Also check out the legs - hens are generally more slender than the sturdy legs of the males.

[Stereo]

Comb should start to show at 3-4 weeks.

[mojocafa]

These birds are older than yours but you can see the difference in colour the lighter ones being male. If anyone wants a cuckoo marans young cockerel, just say the word!

[mojocafa]

Whist we are sexing marans...

Do you think all 3 are boys

[Stereo]

Yes, I think they are.  I find with my Coppers that the pullets are considerably smaller and daintier by that stage.

[mojocafa]

The one at the back under nettles is actually much smaller than the other 2 but their combs and wattles are a similar length
Will try to get another picture for comparison

[Clansman]

These birds are older than yours but you can see the difference in colour the lighter ones being male. If anyone wants a cuckoo marans young cockerel, just say the word!

Same as the Scots Greys 

[snowyriver]

From the information on here and PM's received, I'm pretty sure that I've got 8 males and 3 females.
I'm planning to retain the pullets for crossing with an indian game cockerel and the males shall probably be reared for meat.
Thank you.