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Some more chick photos. I don’t know if you can see, but the BlCM has a yellowish patch on its head. Does anyone know if this is similar to the red spot on a BCM chick you guys were talking about before?

All pullets to me. Barred rocks are a colour of Plymouth Rocks.

That’s good then. I would be interested to know the colour of their eggs when they lay. If they are dark brown, they have marans blood in, but I doubt they will. Barred rocks are good layers and strong, healthy birds.

My best bets are either poorly bred barred Plymouth rocks or a barred rock cross. I don’t believe they are good/pure barred rocks due to the shading on the legs. I would guess the shading will reduce as they get bigger, so maybe they will have solid yellow legs when older, making them better...

I’m trying to think. Sorry, I realised after I wasn’t very helpful by not actually suggesting what it was rather than what it wasn’t. Let me have a think and I’ll respond again. Where are they from again?

I don’t think these are marans. The barring is too distinct for female cuckoos, more like a barred rock. They all have yellow legs, so can’t even be an F1 Marans x Barred rock. The shading on the legs also makes me think they’re not pure barred rocks.

No, but they had chicks in (three did), so I’m at a loss. All my own eggs hatched, but the hen didn’t put much effort into incubating the rest after the first four chicks hatched, so they died before hatching. I don’t understand why they weren’t hatching at the same time though.

No, England. It seems to me that chickens are harder to come across here but generally better quality when you find them. At least with a lot of breeds. I think it might be a matter of contacts. One of my customers was buying some eggs from John Lobb, who has a 90 year unbroken line of SDWs that...

My monthly(ish) non marans related post, sad this time. I had to cull Captain Jack with SDW cock today as he had gone lame randomly in one leg, and got himself in a state under a part where the water from the roof drips. Unlike some joint issues, when I moved his leg the toes wouldn’t move at...

I have had a person contact me on eBay asking if I post eggs to the states. I told them that it would be costly and I am sold out of Marans eggs until next week. I suggested that I could ask around for any one across the pond selling Marans eggs, and wondered if anyone here would be interested...

Sad news: no more chicks. I checked each egg and only found two DCM chicks compared to the six I thought I had candling. I think my next move is buying DCM pullets/a trio. The breeder I used has great stock and I don’t think it was his fault, so I might see if I can arrange something when he has...

I thought the BlCM appeared paler and with a yellower belly than Chanel did when she hatched, but looking back at photos I don’t think this is true. The Olive egger is almost certainly a cockerel (sex linkage). Five silkies hatched this year, and all different colours, I think this is a blue...

5 hatched so far. Natasha’s chick, Chanel’s chick and Esme’s chick, the olive egger and a silkie. Chanel’s chick died, it appeared to have broken its neck getting out the egg. No cuckoos hatched yet, there are six of their eggs remaining after candling. I’m worried because all my eggs hatched...

DCM is dark cuckoo marans BCM is black copper marans BlCM is blue copper marans So I use B(l)CM to mean black/blue copper marans, when I’m referring to both or either.

I true rumples bird will not develop the straight, main tail feathers. I don’t know exactly why his tail is so small, but I think it’s clear now he isn’t true rumples. Once his main sickle feathers grow it might look bigger. Marans shouldn’t have too big a tail anyway.

Here’s my book, still only at the beginning. I hope this gives you inspiration to lay out your own. I note down each hatch, some notes, and give each chicken a page (or part of a page if they are culls). I then give the birds I keep a scoring and progeny page to note all their offspring and...

Yes, I’ll give a full breakdown of points about a couple more photos would be beneficial.

Do you have a book where you write down all your hatches, marans, breeding programmes etc? I’ve started doing this an I think it’s really helpful. It allows you to keep track of who’s related to who as your flock expands, and therefore understand which pairing has produced the best outcomes...

He’s a mixed breed. A very easy way to tell with roosters is that single barred roosters (faint bars, not fully barred feathers all over) are always mixed colour, so therefore often mixed breed.

Something I noticed today while putting new leg bands on my Marans that I thought I might comment on is how big they are under their feathers. All my BCM/BlCM hens look pretty much the same size at a glance, but when handling I got a good understanding of how much more meat was on Chanel...