Australorp x ??

[Solanacae]

This is the other hen. I saw the Marans getting off the nest and the speckled egg was underneath her, and I’m reasonably sure she laid it.

 

[Solanacae]

I think your best bet would be to catch them laying. All of these brown eggs are from australorps. They have a wide range of brown (the 2 circled ones are EEs)

This I’m is really helpful, thank you! My cousins Australorps lay a really light tan egg, so that’s what I was expecting. I’m not complaining though, I already have a Dominique laying a light tan egg, so having some darker colors again is nice.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

This is the other hen. I saw the Marans getting off the nest and the speckled egg was underneath her, and I’m reasonably sure she laid it.

She could also be a hatchery quality marans.

 

[Solanacae]

She could also be a hatchery quality marans.

Because of the eyes? Build? Just curious to learn as much as I can.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Because of the eyes? Build? Just curious to learn as much as I can.

Due to the dark egg and build, yes. Unless you’re wondering why she’s hatchery quality?

 

[Solanacae]

No, I totally understand the hatchery quality part. Just think it’s funny that my friend this whole time thought she had Australorps when neither of them may actually be. It makes almost more sense for them to both be Marans though, because the feed store guy probably wouldn’t have pulled two chicks that were supposed to be the same from two different broooders. Although, now that I think about it, she has what I’m pretty sure is a Cochin but she says it’s a Buff Orpington. She did tell the guy her first priority was that they be quiet, so maybe the guy just gave her ones that looked similar to the breeds she wanted but were actually a breed that’s characteristically quieter?

 

[Solanacae]

I did a little more research to find out where the feed store got their chicks from. Privett Hatchery has a Black Sex Link Marans, which explains a lot. Also, I noticed that their egg color examples include a speckled one that matches what I’ve been getting from the hen I originally had questions about. Case closed, it’s a cuckoo/black copper Marans cross.