Barred rock or Marans

[jimbrock63]

I Bought a rooster today that looks like a barred rock but when I looked at his legs after I got him home they were blackish in the front and between pink and red in the back. He seems pretty aggressive. But he had been penned up wth other roosters so maybe he just needed to get it all out! I know nothing about Marans but I do know barred rocks should have whitish yellow feet. Dont have a pic of him I can post one later. Just courious about the leg color! THANKS FOR ANY INFO.

 

[Illia]

Sounds like he may be a mutt or just a typical hatchery quality Barred Rock. Either can be aggressive, and either can have grey on their legs.

Cuckoo Marans have solid white/pink legs.

 

[jimbrock63]

Illia,

Thanks for your reply. I am shure he is a mutt. I hope he calms down rather than end up in the stew pot. I had a Brahma Rooster but a hawk got him. I was thinking that a Brahma and a Barred rock would be a good cross. I am down to 3 barred rocks and one Buff orpington hen now due to hawks. They are free Range and only get get locked up at night. So far hawks six and me one. Plus I lost 4 chicks to snakes I think. Any advice is more than wrlcome!
Regards,
Jim

 

[Katy]

Unless you keep your remaining chickens penned they more than likely will end up as the hawks' lunch.

FYI: It's illegal to kill birds of prey if that's what the "hawks six and me one" refers to.

 

[Kenshan1]

My 5 cuckoo marans started out with pink & black legs, they are now a kind of white, grey, pink color. They are about 23wks & starting to lay. My SLW pecks at my hands more then the cuckoo marans do. Mine started out really barred then darkened up with a little less barring as they have gotten older. One of mine is almost black now, she is the talker of the bunch. Mine are hatchery.

I heard that the Barred Rocks have very yellow legs.

Shannon

 

[Debbienmousey]

Is your run roof covered? That can really help too, because I know my birds see even their run as a safe place (As they should!).

Have you considered getting some guineas? Guineas are great at spotting predators and alerting the other birds of dangers. I've heard geese are great watchdogs too, but we don't own any. Main thing is to make sure you listen when your birds are making a fuss! Having attentive ears to our birds has saved us from quite a few losses, even just yesterday. We were still unwrapping gifts and the birds were out when I heard the guineas making a BIG racket down near the creek but couldn't see anything from the 2nd story window, but decided it was worth checking out anyway. I'm very glad I did, since as it turns out there was a coyote on the other side of the creek!