Birchen barred pullet?

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Good point that at least one parent must show each of those traits. But I would recommend that OP look at the father's legs & feet too. Since he's an Olive Egger, and Olive Eggers are often Marans crosses, that might be the source of the leg color and foot feathers.

I thought the rooster in the third picture was the father? His legs are yellow and unfeathered.

 

[NatJ]

I thought the rooster in the third picture was the father? His legs are yellow and unfeathered.

I think that rooster is a brother or half-brother of the pullet, not the father:

she is a barnyard mix - a crele olive egger rooster over an unknown hen
...I also have a crele olive egger rooster from said barnyard mix
...Here she is (and my crele roo as a bonus because he's a looker )

 

[lizziehollar]

Interesting! If I recall correctly father is clean-legged, which would mean her mother had to have been one of my friend's BCMs. How do you visually differentiate between leakage and birchen in a situation like this where either is possible?

The photo I posted of the rooster is a half-brother. I'll post an updated photo of the pullet in question this week.

 

[NatJ]

If I recall correctly father is clean-legged, which would mean her mother had to have been one of my friend's BCMs. How do you visually differentiate between leakage and birchen in a situation like this where either is possible?

If Black Copper Marans are pure for birchen, and if the foot feathers tell us the mother must be BCM, then the pullet must have at least one copy of the birchen gene. Birchen is fairly dominant, so that's probably what we're seeing.

But she certainly could have leakage in addition to that.

(I'm just trying to apply what I've read about genetics here, because I don't know enough to tell from the bird's appearance.)