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How old before a cock crows?

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  • How old before a cock crows?

    No doubt this has been asked before, but a search of RtR has not revealed the answer.
    What sort of age are cocks when they start to crow?
    I hatched 5 chicks (well, my little pekin Mavis did) back in Jun. 2 x cuckoo maran, 2 x marsh daisy and an araucuna. They are now about 16 weeks old and I still can't tell what's what! The marsh daisys are pullets - pretty confident about that. The marans look like one of each - although no spurs and although they occasionally square up to one another, no real aggression (if anything - the one we think is a girl is more feisty) No sign of aggression to or from Gregory - my pekin cockerel - either.
    As for the araucuna - from the cutest day old to the ugliest chick I've ever seen! Feathering makes me think it's a boy, but no spurs, small comb (but I guess rose combs are) and the scarediest bird I've ever come across (it sometimes seems to scare itself with its own feet! - good job there's not a mirror in the run!)
    Resigned to the fact that I might not know for sure until one of them crows.

  • #2
    I got an araucana a little while back that turned out to be a lad instead of a lass. (had to go back to breeder and swap for a girl)
    Back to the point... it was about 16wks old at the time and it was the crow that gave its real sex away!
    Last edited by kirsty b; 16-10-2007, 10:38 AM.
    Kirsty b xx

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    • #3
      Thanks Kirsty. Was yours a scaredy too? I picked him/her up last night - what a drama queen! (Remember Olive Oil? "HEY-LP! HEY-LP!") I always thought that the best way to judge the girls and boys early was by their behaviour - but this lot have definitely proved me wrong! (Unless, of course, they all turn out to be pullets)

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      • #4
        It reminded me a lot of roadrunner. It hadn't quite figured out the shed was home so I spent a few nights chasing, and once I'd caught the damn thing, wrestling with it till I got it inside! It did seem a lot more jumpy than the other girls
        Kirsty b xx

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        • #5
          My Araucana is also scared of its own shadow and spends all day hiding in the roost - the only time it comes out into the daylight is if I open the door and lift her out! That said she is a friendly thing and loves to be cuddled ......

          Watch for long tail feathers (called hackles) only the boys get them and remember that none of you birds may 'mature' until next spring.

          Other than that - have you got a friendly breeder local to you whom you could ask for help on this delicate subject?
          The weeks and the years are fine. It's the days I can't cope with!

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          • #6
            Most of the folk with chooks round here wouldn't keep anything as 'silly' as an araucuna!
            Thanks for the advice though - the tail feathers do seem to be growing quite fast at the moment. Shame really - i've got quite attached to the little wimp!

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