3 pullets...Barred Rock, Cuckoo Marans, or a mix??

[treefr0g]

Yesterday I purchased 3, 12wk old "Pure Barred Rock" pullets locally from craigslist. My objective was to add 3 pullets to my existing 5 ...roughly the same age, docile breed (or mix). I'm new to chicken keeping (Apr), and have much to learn yet, BUT I've also learned alot in 4 months!! When I picked up the little sweeties, in the pouring rain, (met the owner 1/2 way due to distance) I didn't have time to notice or ask lots of details. The gentleman did tell me that they were "pure" BR's, and that the mother was a "black on white", and the roo was "white on black"...if I was to breed these pullets, they would have beautiful babies due to the genes they carried.

Once home and in their little quarantine enclosure/coop, I noticed that all 3 had heavily feathered legs & feet. - I KNEW barred rocks were clean legged, so off I went to research what these little ladies were. Knowing there are only few feathered legged breeds, I deducted that they must have cuckoo marans in them...with the french feather leg genes. I've posted pics, please give me your opinions...

1 pullet is darker in color, a bit larger, and has white legs & beak. The other 2 are almost identical, they have a bit more white in coloring, and have yellow legs & beaks. All 3 have more heavily feathered legs & feet than my Salmon Faverolles roo.

I'm thinking that it's possible that the darker girl w/ white legs is a pure marans. The other 2...rock/marans mix?? Marans with rock genes somewhere? They also seem small for 3 months, more like 2 months in size. Could they be banty's?

This is the white legged pullet...

This is one of the yellowed legged pullets...both are identical...

 

[PotterWatch]

Well, they aren't pure BRs since they have feathered legs. I doubt they are cuckoo marans either though marans can have feathered legs as you found out. If they were marans, I'm betting the person selling them would have known it and would have charged more since marans are a hot seller right now. My guess is that you have some kind of BR cross.

 

[treefr0g]

I sent an email to the breeder of the pullets, asking about the parents. This was his reply:

"The Mother is Black with white dots and the father is white with black dots. Both parents are feathered legs. They both have white beaks and legs and they are standard size. They have large med brown colored eggs."

I understand that Marans are a "hot thing" right now, but even so, it's not impossible for someone to have a breeding pair of Cockoo Marans, and not even realize it. Most of us here on BYC realize that Marans are "special" and sought after right now. But there are a lot of people out there who have chickens and have no idea what kind they are...and frankly aren't really concerned about it. - I haven't seen the parents of these pullets, but the description above COULD be describing a pair of Cuckoo Marans...white feathered legs, white beaks, black and white with the female darker than the male.

I have a beautiful Salmon Flaverolles rooster, appears in every way to be pure bred...thanks to straight run chicks from TS last March! I'm just saying...it's not impossible to get a rare or hard to find chick or chicken, and not realize it until you look into it further. In the case of this breeder, he's a backyard breeder in a rural area, with what he believes to be pure Barred Rocks...yet they definitely could be Marans by his description. I agree with Barred Rock in the genetic mix due to the little "yellow leggers", but I can't help but think that these little girls have a very strong Cuckoo Marans background.

I'm not planning to breed them, so it really isn't a major issue for me. But I'm excited about the idea that I bought barred rock pullets, but actually ended up with something else...or at least partly something else!

I wasn't expecting Cuckoo Marans to be in the mix. It'll be fun watching them grow up to see what they end up looking like...and what their eggs look like.