Marans crosses always have feathered legs?

[JesWith3]

Chicken math attack yet again...I've got four more ((sigh)); two Cream Legbar and two Olive Eggers from My Pet Chicken.
The little Olive Egger chicks look indentical (Black/Charcoal/Grey/Cream/White) except for one thing...leg feathering. One has it and one does not. When I saw the leg feathering on the first one, I thought I knew (based on MPC's listed birds in their OE breeding program; Marans, Legbars, Welsummers, and Ameraucanas) the likely mix of my chicks ... Marans x Ameraucana.
But can that be true for the little chick withOUT feathered legs? Or would it have to be a different mix? Both have fluffy cheeks (so definitely one Ameraucana parent...right?).
They hatched at the same hatchery on the same day and look identical otherwise. What other mix from Marans, Legbars, Welsummers, and Ameraucana could result in a dark charcoal chick with cream and white butt, chest, cheeks but no leg feathering? I'm not breeding and in the grand scheme of things it REALLY doesn't "matter", I'm just curious and it helps me to learn and know my chickens and their genetics and also what I can expect from their offspring's eggs as far as colors go.
Thanks all!

 

[NatJ]

Chicken math attack yet again...I've got four more ((sigh)); two Cream Legbar and two Olive Eggers from My Pet Chicken.
The little Olive Egger chicks look indentical (Black/Charcoal/Grey/Cream/White) except for one thing...leg feathering. One has it and one does not. When I saw the leg feathering on the first one, I thought I knew (based on MPC's listed birds in their OE breeding program; Marans, Legbars, Welsummers, and Ameraucanas) the likely mix of my chicks ... Marans x Ameraucana.
But can that be true for the little chick withOUT feathered legs? Or would it have to be a different mix? Both have fluffy cheeks (so definitely one Ameraucana parent...right?).
They hatched at the same hatchery on the same day and look identical otherwise. What other mix from Marans, Legbars, Welsummers, and Ameraucana could result in a dark charcoal chick with cream and white butt, chest, cheeks but no leg feathering? I'm not breeding and in the grand scheme of things it REALLY doesn't "matter", I'm just curious and it helps me to learn and know my chickens and their genetics and also what I can expect from their offspring's eggs as far as colors go.
Thanks all!

Some Marans have feathered legs, some do not.
Some Marans-mix chicks have feathered legs, some do not. (This can happen even if the Marans parent does have feathered legs.)

Your chicks could both be Marans x Ameraucana. Or they could be what happens when a Marans x Ameraucana gets crossed with one of the other breeds or mixes. Or when a Marans x something gets crossed with an Ameraucana x something. Or they could be one each of two different combinations.

I don't think there is any way to tell for sure, but for now you have a convenient way to tell them apart, and hopefully they will both grow into beautiful hens that lay colorful eggs

 

[JesWith3]

Some Marans have feathered legs, some do not.
Some Marans-mix chicks have feathered legs, some do not. (This can happen even if the Marans parent does have feathered legs.)

Your chicks could both be Marans x Ameraucana. Or they could be what happens when a Marans x Ameraucana gets crossed with one of the other breeds or mixes. Or when a Marans x something gets crossed with an Ameraucana x something. Or they could be one each of two different combinations.

I don't think there is any way to tell for sure, but for now you have a convenient way to tell them apart, and hopefully they will both grow into beautiful hens that lay colorful eggs

Beautiful! Thank you so much! I appreciate you taking the time to explain it for me and yes, fingers crossed for healthy girls with beautiful eggs

 

[NatJ]

Beautiful! Thank you so much! I appreciate you taking the time to explain it for me and yes, fingers crossed for healthy girls with beautiful eggs

I'm glad it helped

Hatchery descriptions can be confusing sometimes, especially when they don't want to tell about their "secret" breeding program