Calling all Marans experts!

[wrathsfarm]

Picture:

In my opinion I think his copper looks gorgeous...

 

[BrahmasMama02]

How exciting! Feel free to drop pictures!!!

 

[Chicken_tiger_catt]

I have posted about this little dude before, but now at 7 weeks I’m still at a loss. What in the world is he?

I’m determined to figure it out once and for all!

History: purchased from Rural King (Hoovers hatchery ) from an “assorted marans “ bin.

he's got orange on him? he kind of reminds me of some mixes I have, who are half Rhode Island Red and half Midnight Maran.

 

[BrahmasMama02]

he's got orange on him? he kind of reminds me of some mixes I have, who are half Rhode Island Red and half Midnight Maran.

Hmmm well he came from the Hoovers hatchery/ Rural King assorted Marans bin. Does Hoovers sometimes accidentally give out mixes?

 

[Chicken_tiger_catt]

Hmmm well he came from the Hoovers hatchery/ Rural King assorted Marans bin. Does Hoovers sometimes accidentally give out mixes?

I don't know. usually, mixes would be labeled under "Easter Egg", or "Americana", but I'm not sure what that would be.

 

[BrahmasMama02]

I don’t think he’s one of their Easter eggers/ Americanas. I got two midnight majesty Marans pullets with him as well as two blue copper Marans / blue marans. He’s definetly not an mmm because mmm roosters are barred.

 

[wrathsfarm]

he's got orange on him? he kind of reminds me of some mixes I have, who are half Rhode Island Red and half Midnight Maran.

Sorry I don't see it. What I do see in several pics is that his back/body is a tad darker like a mahogany color compared to his hackles. This could be OPs camera, the lighting/shadows or it is his true color right now.
What I can say is it's all way too early to worry about, he's too young and his true colors won't emerge until his adult molt roughly around 18 months.

Hmmm well he came from the Hoovers hatchery/ Rural King assorted Marans bin. Does Hoovers sometimes accidentally give out mixes?

You need to remember he's hatchery quality not breeder. You can't expect him to be an SOP (Standard of Perfection) quality show bird. That's not gonna happen.
As far as mixes, if they're not posted on their page I would not think you would get an odd mix. Sure accidents happen, but if he's sold as a BCM the only mix that I would see occuring is the MMM if they sell them. And like you said, he's not that (no barring). He's a BCM, hatchery quality.
If you want another opinion post pics of him from every angle. Back, front, sides, top, feet, legs, close up of eyes and comb over on the Marans thread and the experts there can 'critique' him for you, the good, bad and ugly.
Like I said, I'm no expert but what I see is he's a little dark like mahogany on the back compared to his hackles. You want copper but again it's too early. I also see he looks a little tall, you want short and chunky.
Again, too early. He should fatten up.
If you want to get serious about him as a keeper/breeder, let him grow more.

I like him..I don't see any white on him, his comb looks decent and he has good coloring from my eyes, he just needs more time.

 

[wrathsfarm]

Heres my Kong, if I haven't posted pics of him here. I've been told by some of the best breeders here on byc that he has very good coloring.
His faults are he has a huge comb, he's a little over colored in the chest and he's a little narrow from chest to tail (type...he should be wide all the way back, a little incline is acceptable in the breed standard.) He's from Meyers hatchery. Not tooting any horn, here. He's hatchery quality and I'm working with him. I just did a test hatch from 3 of my best hens to hopefully fix his faults in his progeny. 2 hens are my darkest layers with not a lot of copper in their hackles to get darker eggs and see what coloring his progeny produces. The 3rd hen is all black, no copper. This should be the best girl to fix his over colored chest.
We shall see....
A highly regarded Marans breeder here on byc once told me.. "we work with what we have and everything is fixable. If we cull all our Marans for faults, we won't have any Marans"

Kong...

 

[wrathsfarm]

@BlueTheBrahma @Bantambird could you give your thoughts on this young lad here?

 

[TexasBlues]

I love his color and the way his hackles reach to his saddle feathers. His comb reminds me of some wrestler’s ears lol.