Hoover's Hatchery 5 Midnight Blue Marans, 5 Midnight Majesty Marans

I have to give the Hoover Hatchery Midnight Blue Marans five stars because these are living creatures and it just seems wrong to give them anything less, or even to rate them at all. I purchased four chicks from Tractor Supply in April 2026. These chickens are beautiful, healthy and thriving. I raised them by hand and spent hours with them as chicks. I started them in a tent in my house and every day I would sit inside the tent with them and all four would sit on my lap for our daily lap time. Now I have four sweet love bugs who follow me around like puppies. That being said, the experience has been just short of heartbreaking, as two of my four chicks are roosters. I've exhausted myself trying to humanely rehome one or both roos, as I never wanted a rooster to begin with. These are more than livestock to me, they're my pets. I understand TS and HH only offer a 50/50 guarantee on gender, but since April I've seen countless tales of people in exactly the same situation as myself; stuck with roosters we did not want and cannot keep. So far there is harmony in my coop as they are a family unit, but I sit in dread waiting for them to age and get hormonal, knowing my flock is not sustainable and this delightful family unit could break down. It saddens me even to consider rehoming one or both, because I adore them, even as it's proved impossible to find a home I trust to take them. I get it; chicks are born, of course there are boys in the batch. I just wish they had been more consistent in sexing. For anyone considering these beautiful Midnight Blue Marans, my suggesting is to ask the staff in the store where you buy them to give you chicks with black legs. My two roos both have white/light colored legs, and I read about another person on backyardchickens.com that had the same experience as me; her hens have black legs, and her cockrels have white legs. I might be wrong and this is completely coincidence, but it's worth a try.