Let me refresh your memory.
On June 6th I got myself 4 of these.
6 weeks later they looked like this.
Now they are these.
Yeah, that's a whole pack of Roosters and one lone gal at the end. Which means I now have a whole pack of roosters to get rid of. Also it means I've somehow angered the chicken Gods but that goes without saying.
I had high hopes that the 3rd chicken from the top was a hen, but one day I took a look at her and she'd developed a long, plume like tail with feathers that curled. And there wasn't a curling iron in sight. He was a she. The fact that he thought his farts were hilarious should have tipped me off long ago. Just kidding. Chickens don't fart. In public.
So now I have to get rid of my Black Copper Marans roosters by ensuring they get to a nice home where they can guard a flock. Roosters aren't always easy to get rid of because most people either don't have a rooster or they only need one to guard their flock of 20 or so chickens. Even if I was willing to sell them as meat birds it would be hard because killing a chicken and turning into dinner is a LOT of work. Not many people want to do that sort of thing.
I really was pulling for that one rooster to be a hen. The tail feathers looked henny, its comb was smaller than the other two obvious roosters and is was the one chicken out of all 4 that will sit and relax on my lap with me.
Lap chickens are hard to come by. Males that don't fart … even harder.
I'll keep you updated and let you know what becomes of the roosters. Unless it happens to be coq au vin.
I know this thread is old, but I have a infatuation, I mean, situation I'm looking to get advice on. We also have been obsessed with getting chocolate eggs. So, we purchased a French Black Copper Marans chick. We bought just one to go with the other dozen varieties of sweet baby chicks we had already purchased. We've raised them all together. We collected them all during the month of March, so at this point they are all roughly 8-12 weeks old. Our Jersey Giant weighs nearly 4 pounds, our Welsummer's are 2 and half pounds, but our BCM is only weighing in at a mere pound. Granted she could be only 8 weeks as compared to some that are 12 weeks. My first thought is we maybe we were sold a bantam!? Is this possible? Can you remember what your BCM girls weighed (and how tall they were) at approximately the same age? I'm trying to talk myself down from the ledge. At this point in the game, seeing as we only purchased one, we may have put all our hope into one basket here. We were hoping for large chocolate eggs and we may end up with those mini cadbury eggs instead if this little girl doesn't hit a growth spurt soon. :( When standing the height of her back measures 8", she's fully feathered. All black, no copper in sight, but she does have the lightly feathered legs, with the feathers on outer toes as well. Is it also true these birds wait to start laying until 8-9 months of age? Thanks for any input you can share!
Re: Integrating birds, maybe we make it too difficult for ourselves. Have a look at what this chap has to say:-
http://victoryfarm.org/entry/movingpullets.html
mike
Next time try Wheaten Marans. They are a fine looking birds and can be sexed by the colour of their wing feathers at 7 - 14 days.
(The books say 14 days but chickens don't read them books. I was able to sex my last hatch correctly at 7 days.)
Ah! Didn't know they could be sexed. But I probably would have gone for the black copper anyways because they lay the darkest eggs of all the Marans and that was my goal. And fingers crossed I won't be raising and integrating chicks for another few years. (they're cute as can be but a bit of a pain to do) ~ karen!
That is unfortunate you got so many roosters. I've heard a lot of horror stories about people selling straight run chicks and getting nearly all roosters. I only buy pullets and the place I get them from takes back an roosters if I don't want them so that's nice.
Hi, Karen! Mrs. Jeff here!! :)
We unfortunately had to get rid of four of our boys recently - Jeff raised a whole bunch of eggs, and as neither of us were very successful in sexing the chicks we ended up with a LOT of roos. One of his customers was thrilled to take them for his stock pot! Email me if u like, I'll see if he's interested in taking a few more. (Although I understand if dinner isnt exactly where you want your babies to end up!) Great blog, BTW - very nice to make your acquaintance!!
Any chance of keeping one to make the other hens broody? Do chickens cross breed?
Hi Karen....had a chance to get in touch with Jeff and unfortunately he recently had to get rid of a few of his own roosters so he can't take yours. But on a positive note, I hope you go see him for any car repairs or maintenance......... he's an awesome mechanic. My husband has been bringing our cars to him since we moved here 20 years ago and I highly recommend him.
Cheers!
:( boooooo. I wonder how he got rid of HIS roosters!? Thanks for the help tho! ~ karen
Not sure about how he got rid of them but I know he's at the garage right now. If you get a chance, go have a chat with him. He's quite the character.....I don't think he'll mind you dropping by to talk chickens.