Age/Breed of Maran Pullet

[bigangrychicken]

Hello everyone. A week ago I bought a new Maran Pullet. The seller stated it was a Blue Copper Maran about 8 weeks old (now 9 wks). I'm pretty new to all this, but I believe the pullet to be younger and not a blue copper. It has no brown or copper color on the head. From the pics I've seen on BYC and elsewhere, they should have some brown color in the head area especially if it's 9 wks old. Here are the pics. For some reason the pics came out looking like the pullet has some brown/copper in it, but it doesn't. thanks in advance for any information

 

[mshuntjump]

It will develop the coppery tone in the feathers as she grows. She is good looking, though.

 

[debid]

I have a BCM hen without a hint of copper. She's over-melanized. If you read the Marans threads, it's not uncommon. I bought her from a breeder as a grown pullet cull and she's a lovely hen even if she didn't make the cut. Yours looks dark for a blue -- perhaps she is also over-melanized.

Your chick could be as young as 4 weeks but could also be the stated age depending on feathering rate. Were you charged by weeks of age? If so, they may have padded her a couple of weeks. Otherwise, I'd just take their word on it.

 

[DelcoChix]

Maybe this will help as sort of a guide for you to compare? This is one of my Blue Copper Marans (pullet I think/hope!), who doesn't have a shred of copper on her neck. I have two others, same age that have noticeable copper. Don't know if it might show up later, but not holding my breath. I have a 3 year old Black Copper Marans hen that following her first molt had no copper, it was minimal before the molt.

This photo is at 9 weeks:


And here's one, same age, with copper:


Hope this helps!

 

[DelcoChix]

And...just one more thing---just found a decent shot of a Blue Copper Marans at 37 days old...just over 5 weeks...yours still looks a little younger in my opinion.

What do you think? The cockerals (pretty sure I have three Blue CM boys, and one splash BlueCM boy too...bummer) still had fuzz on their faces/heads at this age, like yours....the girls were past that stage.

 

[bigangrychicken]

I paid $10 for her. Don't know if that's appropriate for that age. She looks a lot like your 5 wk old than the 9 wk old. She does have a lot of fuzz on the head. I really appreciate the pics. She is definitely tinier than my 13 wk old BR and Americanan.