Mystery Lemon Cuckoo Orpington Chick

This is a color question. I ordered Lemon Cuckoo fertile eggs that were represented to be a Lemon Cuckoo Rooster over 5 hens, Lemon Cuckoo, Buff and Golden Cuckoo. Now I know how Lemon Cuckoo is defined and Buff is defined but when I read Golden Cuckoo I just presumed the breeder meant a deeper shade of gold. However, when chick "L" hatched it is likely a blue. It is dark all over with blueish fuzz around its rear and a bit on the underside and face. It has been a great hatch of 10 chicks out of 14 and hatch day isn't even over yet, so I haven't complained to the breeder. I asked the question but he hasn't responded but he also didn't respond when I sent him my pre-lock down candling results which showed 100% fertility with only one quitter, so I am assuming he just isn't checking email.

SO..............can anyone help me understand where this black/blue baby came from? Obviously, I recognize that the breeder could have exposed his hen(s) inadvertently to another rooster or that his imported English are not what he advertised. My question really hits whether this could happen for birds breeding true?

I'm not familiar with Golden Cuckoo Orps, and when I Google it, I get a lot of other breeds that all have dark bodies and tails. So if "Golden Cuckoo" is a project color of theirs, who knows what's in the mix.

That was exactly my result when I googled Golden Cuckoo. The only thing that I have seen that is remotely related is the discussion of "blue lemon" or birchen but surely he would have advertised such a rarity or project.

Who knows what happens in the "wood pile" of experimental color pens, LOL! Post some pics of the chick as it grows!

Here is the day one picture:

This is the Rooster in the breeding pen:

Maybe you just got an egg from a different pen? Cause yeah, that's waaaaaay off.

I have heard people refer to crele Orps as golden cuckoo.

rainbowrooster said:

I have heard people refer to crele Orps as golden cuckoo.

Click to expand...

That might actually fit. When I look up crele orp chicks, some of them are dark brown with a lighter/redder face.

All I know is that it will be super interesting to see these guys hatch. I have 4 more eggs in the incubator that are likely not going to hatch, so I will check them tomorrow and see if there were any other dark colored chicks. In the pictures, the chick looks brown in the lighter parts which in the brooder it looks blue - BUT i have a red light in the room, so the picture is probably most accurate. It appears to be an orpington chick, although I didn't think this fellow had other orpingtons. But even the rooster in the pen looks similar to the crepe that I am looking at now that you mention it. Now that I am really paying attention, he doesn't look lemon cuckoo at all, does he?