Barred Rocks!!

Really??? That's a bummer! The feed store had them labeled as Barred Rocks. How can I know for sure?
Skin color on the legs. Marans have white/pink skin. Rocks have yellow. And it's entirely possible that they just got put into the wrong bin, as they do look pretty much the same when they are under a week old. Still going to be fairly decent layers of brown eggs.
 
Skin color on the legs. Marans have white/pink skin. Rocks have yellow. And it's entirely possible that they just got put into the wrong bin, as they do look pretty much the same when they are under a week old. Still going to be fairly decent layers of brown eggs. 


I see. Thank you. How are they in the temperament department?? We chose Barred Rocks bc they were in our kids' book of raising chickens as one of the top 10 breeds for kids. Meaning BRs are pretty docile. I know nothing about Cuckoo Marans. Time to jump to the CM thread. Lol
 
I see. Thank you. How are they in the temperament department?? We chose Barred Rocks bc they were in our kids' book of raising chickens as one of the top 10 breeds for kids. Meaning BRs are pretty docile. I know nothing about Cuckoo Marans. Time to jump to the CM thread. Lol
I would not consider Barred Rocks docile, they tend to need plenty of elbow room and are usually at the top of the pecking order. But they are very inquisitive and have a lot of personality. If you don't keep them busy or you keep them in too small a coop/run, they can become overly bossy and even aggressive with the other birds in the flock.
Marans generally tend to be a bit more tolerant of confinement and tighter quarters.
 
I see. Thank you. How are they in the temperament department?? We chose Barred Rocks bc they were in our kids' book of raising chickens as one of the top 10 breeds for kids. Meaning BRs are pretty docile. I know nothing about Cuckoo Marans. Time to jump to the CM thread. Lol

I don't have Marans myself but know several people who do and they love their friendly personalities, so if your birds do turn out to be Marans then I wouldn't worry too much about temperament. Personally, I'm doubtful they're Cuckoo Marans given the regularity of the barring.

I know that BRs are supposed to have yellow legs, but I've seen hatchery BRs sold at feed stores that don't, so yours still might be BRs. Mine were BRs, and my hens definitely did NOT have yellow legs. Such are the perils of hatchery quality birds. Breeder quality birds will be closer to SOP, but most of the hatchery BRs I've seen don't have yellow legs.

If they are BRs, my own experience with them has been very positive. My BR hens have been very people friendly and sweet even though they are higher up in the pecking order. My BR cockerel was sweet until puberty set in and then he became aggressive and got invited to dinner. My BR hens are almost 3 years old now and still going strong.
 
I don't have Marans myself but know several people who do and they love their friendly personalities, so if your birds do turn out to be Marans then I wouldn't worry too much about temperament. Personally, I'm doubtful they're Cuckoo Marans given the regularity of the barring. 

I know that BRs are supposed to have yellow legs, but I've seen hatchery BRs sold at feed stores that don't, so yours still might be BRs. Mine were BRs, and my hens definitely did NOT have yellow legs. Such are the perils of hatchery quality birds. Breeder quality birds will be closer to SOP, but most of the hatchery BRs I've seen don't have yellow legs.

If they are BRs, my own experience with them has been very positive. My BR hens have been very people friendly and sweet even though they are higher up in the pecking order. My BR cockerel was sweet until puberty set in and then he became aggressive and got invited to dinner. My BR hens are almost 3 years old now and still going strong. 


Thank you for this. I have been looking at a lot of pictures of the two breeds and I'm seeing my chicks more barred than just randomly speckled or whatever it's called (newbie to chickens). We'll see.....
It does make sense to me that hatchery BRs wouldn't be as true to breed. Only time will tell, right?
 
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