Barred Rock vs. Cuckoo Marans Chicks

[Eowyn2]

I just got my spring chicks and have both a Cuckoo Marans and a Barred Rock in the mix. They look very similar, and an internet search took a while to figure out the subtle differences. They both have white spots on their heads and mostly black fuzz - the main difference is that Marans legs are pink (aka white) while Barred Rocks are yellow. When going through the pictures I took of my chicks, I found two that seemed to illustrate that well:





First chick is the Marans; second is the Barred Rock. No, the red toenails aren't standard, they're just for me. I don't think the white-tipped wings are necessarily a difference between the two, I think the Marans is just a little older than the BR is. I could be wrong, however.

Hope that helps someone else out there who had the same question as I did.

 

[Pinkaboo]

It lets you put nail varnish on!

 

[Discodog]

they're adorable! I just want to them!
Doesn't the white spot on the head mean you've got baby boys?

 

[Pinkaboo]

They are amazingly sweet
I was told the bigger white spots are boys
I'm guessing if only the boys had a white spot
They would be very easy to sex
Can't possibly be that simple!

Out of interest I paid £2. Each how much do you pay in USA

 

[Eowyn2]

They're both hens, and lay well.

I think I paid around $3-4 for them, which is probably pretty close to what you paid, Pinkaboo.

 

[Discodog]

@Eowyn : lucky you, lots of beautiful brown eggs, though cuckoo marans roos are stunning too

@Pinkaboo : I had a chat with a Marans breeder the other day and basically : well defined light spot = roo, no spot = pullet, not so clear spot or fuzzy around the edges = one or the other.

50% of the time, it works all of the time

 

[Pinkaboo]

@Eowyn : lucky you, lots of beautiful brown eggs, though cuckoo marans roos are stunning too

@Pinkaboo : I had a chat with a Marans breeder the other day and basically : well defined light spot = roo, no spot = pullet, not so clear spot or fuzzy around the edges = one or the other.

50% of the time, it works all of the time

Thank you discodog
I know one has a big white spot
One slightly smaller
And the other four are very small but fuzzy!

I think maybe when trying to guess the sexes it helps to put the one you think is def cockerel next to one you think def a hen
It does show a big difference( all I can hope is I get two hens)
How on earth I'll agree to killing my others if they are cockerels I don't know!?
It certainly won't be us doing it
It seems inhumane to kill them because they are male

I think if I get anymore ill go for auto sexing breed
I do like the cream leg bar hens
Is auto sexing 100% on this breed?

 

[Discodog]

Basically (or so I'm told, I don't have much experience) all cuckoo breeds are autosexable if the roo used for breeding is homozygous (much lighter in colour). Here marans roos have to be homozygous to conform to standard, so almost all marans chicks are autosexable.

Other than the cuckoos from homozygous father, the other breeds that I know of are :
- Dorkings : dark spot on the head helps tell the girls apart.
- Bielenfelders : light brown stripes for roos vs. dark brown stripes for pullets
- Cream legbars : http://poultrykeeper.com/poultry-breeding/what-is-autosexing
- faverolles : dark boys, light girls
- hollandskriel : supposedly autosexable but I'm not sure how, if anyone can complete...
- Other theory that I've heard of, to be confirmed : a black roo with a cuckoo hen will have black daughters and cuckoo sons, but it sounds a bit too iffy to be true.

How many chicks do you have?
It's true, I got 21 week old pullets to be (almost) sure to not have to get rid of anyone. I defo could not kill any of my birds, I've had them for three weeks and am already so attached to them!
My bpyfriend would like to get a flock for meat, but I don't want to have anything to do with them, I just know that it would break my heart to cook an animal that I cared for.

You could always try to rehome them if anyone turns out to be a boy instead of taking more drastic decisions, here people are fighting over marans, roos and hens alike, give it a try!

 

[Pinkaboo]

Hi thank you that's really interesting
I have six chicks( bought as black Marans turned out cockoo )
This is my first chicken owning experience
I also bough 6 hatching eggs bresse gauloise and borrowed an incubator
Fingers crossed they hatch

[VIDEO][/VIDEO]

You can't even give away cockerels here sadly!

What do you mean by Easter eggers? I keep seeing the term but don't know what it means ; )

 

[Discodog]

Easter eggers (I think its a vastly used term accross the atlantic) are chickens that have the blue egg gene, but can't be classified as pure breed. So any mix of ameraucan or araucana would be an Easter egger.