Barred rock or cuckoo Marans

[Aapomp831]

I breed French Black Copper... But to me your chicks look the same as the hatchery cuckoo's... which I don't know the SOP for. Rock eggs are not dark brown at all. More medium to light. Maybe you got what he was selling truthfully and just paranoid.

I have raised Rock's and NONE looked like your chicks.

Your local farmer may be JUST breeding and NOT care about the SOP, therefor not cull birds who don't fit.

Either way, good looking chicks!

In your Marans opinion, would you say these black ones are Marans?age progression backwards....

 

[debid]

Excuse my ignorance, but what is SOP?

Standard of Perfection. The SOP doesn't vary by source, hatcheries just don't adhere strictly to it, preferring to call their birds "breed representative". For example, hatchery cuckoos are not feather-legged as they should be. But, I haven't gotten yellow skin in the hatchery cuckoos either. White skin is dominant so they don't usually mess that up.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Excuse my ignorance, but what is SOP?

No need to excuse it, we are all here to learn!

It is the Standard of Perfection.
http://www.maransofamericaclub.com/cuckoo-marans.html

Here is a link to some others you WILL see here on BYC.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/acronym-list-for-byc.64740/

 

[Aapomp831]

Standard of Perfection. The SOP doesn't vary by source, hatcheries just don't adhere strictly to it, preferring to call their birds "breed representative". For example, hatchery cuckoos are not feather-legged as they should be. But, I haven't gotten yellow skin in the hatchery cuckoos either. White skin is dominant so they don't usually mess that up.

Ok, thank you! I’m not into showing them or anything, and although dark eggs would be nice I’m not going to get rid of these guys for that reason alone.

 

[Aapomp831]

No need to excuse it, we are all here to learn!

It is the Standard of Perfection.
http://www.maransofamericaclub.com/cuckoo-marans.html

Here is a link to some others you WILL see here on BYC.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/acronym-list-for-byc.64740/

Thanks so much!

 

[EggSighted4Life]

In your Marans opinion, would you say these black ones are Marans?age progression backwards....

I am still working on getting down my standards and training my eyes what to look for. But NO, IMO those are not Marans.

And culling doesn't have to mean killing... though I suspect you may end up with more cockerels than pullets. At least that is my usual fate. I excel at hatching boys to the tune of 80%! Do you have a contingency plan for too many boys? This is always essential when buying straight run. Culling can also mean rehoming. It just essentially means not including in your flock.

 

[Aapomp831]

I am still working on getting down my standards and training my eyes what to look for. But NO, IMO those are not Marans.

And culling doesn't have to mean killing... though I suspect you may end up with more cockerels than pullets. At least that is my usual fate. I excel at hatching boys to the tune of 80%! Do you have a contingency plan for too many boys? This is always essential when buying straight run. Culling can also mean rehoming. It just essentially means not including in your flock.

Ah, ok. Well we live in North Carolina and have plenty of neighbors who would take roosters.
And do you say I will end up with roosters because of what you observed in the pics? Or because of my purchasing of straight run chicks.... below is our Bantam rooster (brees unknown) and I believe he would be too small to pick on another rooster.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Ah, ok. Well we live in North Carolina and have plenty of neighbors who would take roosters.
And do you say I will end up with roosters because of what you observed in the pics? Or because of my purchasing of straight run chicks.... below is our Bantam rooster (brees unknown) and I believe he would be too small to pick on another rooster.

I say you will get roosters because you are buying straight run. I didn't look at or see anything screaming cockerel. Once I got 3 straight run Silkies that all ended up female. But that is a RARE exception. More often than that I end up with lots of boys.

Don't kid yourself about bantam roosters being all weak and docile. My Silkies will take on and put SOME of my Marans on the run! And my females don't take crud either. They don't seem to know they aren't Pit Bulls. It isn't the size of the bird in the fight, but the size of the fight in the bird. Whether bantam or full sized all are individuals and behave as such. Some of my Silkie boys even started trying to mate at 8 weeks old! And no it isn't as threatening, but some can be just as nasty as full sized roos too. I had 2 Silkie boys decide they were tired of me putting their dumb hinies up the other night and both attacked me. Those two who couldn't seem to figure out how to go into the coop with all the other boys met their fate soon after. Even if it doesn't hurt, I don't tolerate aggression! Bantams may have less meat, but that doesn't mean they aren't edible... waste not, want not. No drama!

 

[drumstick diva]

Seems like into each Chickener's life, must fall some roosters

 

[MysticUniKitty]

In your Marans opinion, would you say these black ones are Marans?age progression backwards....

If you find out what this breed us let me know! One of my chicks looks exactly like the baby photo.