Are these all Cuckoo Marans?

[Laurie4]

We bought 4 day-old chicks as cuckoo marans. One has a lot of speckling, and another one has quite developed comb and wattle at only 17 weeks old and doing a lot of nesting activities. Can she really be a cuckoo maran? They lay at 6-7 months old, from what I've read. See how underdeveloped the speckled one's comb and wattle is? Is she a different breed like barred rock? I'm having trouble loading the pictures.

 

[Buffbrahmasforever]

The pictures uploaded. Those do look like Marans. All except the one with the light head, she doesn't look like a cuckoo Marans, or at least a full breed one. But if they are hatchery stock that might just be the poor quality.

 

[Buffbrahmasforever]

Do they have pink/white legs? Cuckoo Marans look like this.

This is Lizy(Elizabeth) she started laying at about five months old. So yours could be a Marans.

 

[Folly's place]

Usually cuckoo Marans are the clean legged smaller variety, sold by more hatcheries, who produce slightly darker tan eggs than most brown egg layers.
French Marans come in several colors, including cuckoo, have lightly feathered legs, and produce eggs more or less 'chocolate' colored, much darker than the clean legged type.
Mary

 

[Folly's place]

Absolutely!
There's nothing wrong with hatchery stock! You may get more eggs from these birds, because that's a priority for hatching lots of chicks. Breeder stock, especially where the priority is show quality looks, may not produce all that well.
Egg color is another issue with Marans hens; the darkest eggs come when the breeder selects for that trait, and it may not be compatible with higher egg production, as hatcheries are interested in producing.
Always there are trade-offs!
Mary

 

[Folly's place]

And French Marans will have some feathering on their legs.
Mary

 

[Shezadandy]

The three darker ones look like my hatchery quality cuckoo marans - the other one seems to have more of a mix- the head/neck look like a barred rock but the rest of the feathers look more like a cuckoo marans. Always possible the wrong hen jumped in the wrong pen and made a mix at the hatchery.

 

[Folly's place]

Welcome!
Waiting for photos!
Mary

 

[Laurie4]

Usually cuckoo Marans are the clean legged smaller variety, sold by more hatcheries, who produce slightly darker tan eggs than most brown egg layers.
French Marans come in several colors, including cuckoo, have lightly feathered legs, and produce eggs more or less 'chocolate' colored, much darker than the clean legged type.
Mary

These are clean-legged. Thanks for the info!

 

[Laurie4]

The pictures uploaded. Those do look like Marans. All except the one with the light head, she doesn't look like a cuckoo Marans, or at least a full breed one. But if they are hatchery stock that might just be the poor quality.

I bought through a local feed store. Is that "hatchery stock" do you think?