Barred Rocks or Cuckoo Marans?

[gway2008]

Hi, Can someone please tell me how to tell the difference between a Barred Rock and a Cuckoo Maran juvenile? I bought 6, BR week old chicks from my local feedstore a couple of months ago and now I am seriously wondering if they are possibly Cuckoo Marans instead? Mine have definite barring, but their legs are white with a pink tint to them, not yellow like I thought they were supposed to be. Will I have to wait until they start laying eggs before I know for sure or not? I have looked at pics all over the web and every pic I see mine look more like Marans than they do BRs.

I have 1 roo and 5 hens and they are all 11 weeks old now. Any help? I can maybe get some pics up later today.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

White legs means they are Marans. Barred Plymouth Rocks have yellow legs, unless they are hens who are laying very well. Yellow legs get lighter and paler the longer the hen has been laying. Seeing as how yours are young, then they have no reason to lose the pigment in their legs.

 

[gway2008]

Oh that would be sooooo awesome!! I hope they are Marans, I have been wanting some Marans so bad. I adore these chickens, they are so lovable and sweet. This one is my special girl though, she follows me around like a puppy and loves to jump up in my lap when I sit with them. I hope these pics turned out ok.. I have some chickens with yellow legs and I assure you, these do not have even the slightest yellow tint to them.

Here is a closer pic of my girls feet.

My feedstore guy is sweet, but he doesn't really know the different breeds very well.. He tends to group them all together, but in this case it was an awesome thing, lol.. I got these girls for $2.00 each when they were a week old. If he had known they Marans, he probably would have had a bigger price tag on them, lol...

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Yes, looks like a Maran to me.

I wouldn't get my hopes up too high about getting dark eggs though. Many hatcheries that sell to feed stores do not go by egg color and simply sell the breed without caring too much about the requirements.


I hope all of them become your little puppies though!

She looks friendly!

 

[gway2008]

They are all very friendly, but this little girl is just obsessed with me, lol

Even the roo is very gentle and sweet. He started crowing a couple of weeks ago and I just love to listen to him in the mornings when I go out to feed. I have a bunch of chickens now, but these are my favorites. I had them in the house until they were almost 5 weeks old, lol.

 

[halo]

Unfortunately there have been several sources of barred rocks with white legs. I had a few for a while. Some are coming from some hatcheries. Actually, that bird looks much more like a barred rock to me; the cuckoos barring is generally more blurred than that one is. I have 4 cuckoo marans girls and they are much darker than your girl is.

 

[M To The Maxx]

Quote:
You took the words right out of my keyboard.

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

halo is correct as well.

I have a feeling it's because some hatcheries are mixing up the breeding pens of Marans and Barred Plymouth Rocks. If that is happening, then the resulting offspring will have white legs with barring similar to that of a Barred Plymouth Rock.

The wings of you birds remind me of the cuckoo pattern on the cuckoo marans, but the breast and body remind me of a Barred Plymouth Rock.


This is JUST speculation, but I'm just assuming they are mixing the breeding pens because the handlers do not know any better, or they are trying to increase the productive capabilities of the Marans by infusing Barred Plymouth Rock blood.

 

[acdoc]

Ok i have some out of the same flock and some have yellow legs and some have white legs. no

ne of them are layin

If you look over in the left corner you can see the yellow legs

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Did these come from a hatchery or a member on BYC?