Red Star x BCM, Dark Star x BCM

[Mountain Bird]

Hello!
I have two different age groups within my flock, some 1.5 year olds and some 6 month olds. Within the groups, I have a 6-month-old Black Copper Marans rooster who has been quite roo-ish since he was about 4 months. He initially began mounting the younger hens but started working his way up the pecking order and into the mature hens soon thereafter. I noticed some very healthy "bullseye" spots within the yolks of the Red and Black Stars. I wanted to see how viable he was at that age, so I decided to throw some eggs on the incubator. Of those that hatched, three were Red Star x BCM and one was Black Star x BCM. I am aware that Red Stars, ISA Browns, are proprietary. I was purely interested in seeing some F1s for curiosity and have no intention of anything other than that. The Red Star in question also lays beautiful, dark brown eggs, much more than any of my other Red Stars. So I thought "what the hell!". If the F1s lay a similar dark shade, or darker, then wonderful!

Unlucky for me, the first chick to hatch was white in color and definitely from the Red Star egg. Sometime in the hours I was away, I missed the rest, and I am now completely unsure who the Black Star F1 chick is.

I thought I would share progression pictures of these little F1s if anyone was interested. I was very surprised to have one white/blond chick, but I just never considered the pedigree coming through in the Red Star. I knew anything from the Black Star x BCM was going to be BLACK. Lesson learned. I also have considered that I won't really know until I see more feather development, eyes, feet, egg color, etc. But nonetheless, it's been fun.

BCM Rooster:

Red Star hen & her eggs:

Black Star hen:

 

[nicalandia]

Redstar carry one copy of dominant white on them, BCM are ER based(black down) so that chick is ER/eWh, I/i+ therefor its completely white with a few black specks. a Black Star are E/eWh, when crossed with ER/ER rooster the chicks will be E/ER and ER/eWh.

Chick number 2 and number 3 seem to be from the Black Star hen one seem to be ER/eWh and the other one seem to be E/ER, both seem to lack the columbian restrictor found on the BS hen so one will look like a BCM and the other one completely black

 

[YardMoa]

You might be able to tell when they're older, mainly by build, and size. But the two hens are hybrids made from the same/similar breeds.

All three black chicks are likely to have coloring similar to a BCM, but with more red leaking through.

 

[SunsetValleyAcres]

Following, I’d love to see them grow up!

 

[Mountain Bird]

4 weeks old:

Chick 1

Chick 2

Chick 3

Chick 4

 

[Mountain Bird]

Chicks at 5 weeks.
Chick 1

Chick 2

Chick 3

Chick 4

 

[Mountain Bird]

Update: 3/4 chicks obviously were cockerels. They were rehomed.

The only pullet resulted from the Black Star x BCM. She looks exactly like her Black Star mother but with lightly feathered legs. Her eggs are very dark!

 

[Mountain Bird]

Chick 1, Week 1

 

[Mountain Bird]

Chick 1, Week 1

View attachment 2921953

Chick 1, Week 2

 

[Mountain Bird]

Chick 1, Week 2

Chick 1, Week 3