The rooster that laid an egg.

So, I have this cuckoo maran chicken.

The thing is HUGE, towering over my barred rock, and probably weighing upwards of 10lbs. It's a struggle to hold it. Based upon size, flopsy tail feathers, big comb, and um... "jumping" on a hen or two, I thought my rooster suspicions were accurate. It hadn't crowed, but all else was there.

Or so I thought.

I even went so far as creating a craigslist ad for the maran, hoping someone would want to pay a few bucks for a maran rooster (breeding and thus possibly creating baby hens that would grow up and lay dark colored eggs). I had a few people interested, but none could pick up the bird right away.

And thank goodness.

Because, yesterday, when I went out to the coop, I found this:
Yes, a dark cuckoo maran egg. It's pictured next to one of my regular brown eggs to show color differences. And, it's possible the maran egg will get even darker in color.

That big bird sure lays pretty eggs.

Craigslist ad: deleted.