Black Copper Maran leg feathering question

[SIMZ]

Hello! I hatched five BCM's almost 5 weeks ago. I suspect that I have 3 roos and 2 pullets. My concern is that 4 of the chicks have very heavy leg feathering and one has very little. Is leg feathering related to gender? Please tell me it's not and it's still possible that I have more than just one female in the bunch!!

Thanks!
Stacie

 

[bigshawn]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=383387 This may help..........

 

[SIMZ]

Thank you! I'm not sure where to start, but it looks like very interesting reading.

 

[bigshawn]

Post your ? there I'm sure it will get answered qwickly........

 

[aChickted]

Leg feather has really nothing to do with gender. You don't want heavy leg feathering on a marans, just a light amount down the shaft of the leg and outside toe

They are usually pretty easy to sexy by a few weeks old!

 

[D'Angelo N Va.]

Marans are definitely on my list for next year.

 

[snowbird]

post a picture. at 5 weeks they are easy to tell the difference.

 

[SIMZ]

Thanks so much for the replies!

I'll try to post some pictures in a little bit. I have 3 boys that I'm almost positive about. I have one female for sure. I'll be sure to post the picture of the questionable chick. She has a more developed comb then the female, but much less than the males. I was really hoping for at least 2-3 females out of the bunch, but so it goes.

I'd be curious to your expert opinions on their leg feathering, too. I'm not planning on showing them. I just want to try the breed and have some dark eggs in my cartons.

I would like to learn more about the standards for the breed regardless.

So many chicken breeds........so little $$, space, and time! LOL

Stacie

P.S. Please excuse my missing "S" on the end of "maran" in the thread title.

 

[pinkchick]

The amount of leg feathering does not indicate the gender of the bird. They should have feathered shanks, but sometimes a clean legged or sparsely feather shanked bird happens.
Photos of the chicks would help determine gender, at this age they should be relatively easy to sex.