Cuckoo Maran and ???

[FireGal]

The little black cutie is supposed to be a cuckoo maran. I know nothing about this breed. Will she stay this dark or lighten up? Pictures of others I’ve seen look more like my Dominique. This poor thing looks like a baby crow to me right now
The other picture is supposedly of an RIR and buff Orpington cross. She doesn’t look like either of those breeds to me, but I know nothing. She’s beautiful, a deep copper with black. Any ideas of what she actually is, if anything? I’m fine with her “just” being a chicken

 

[ValerieJ]

Hi! Welcome to BYC! I have no idea! But, they are sure cute chickens. I will say this, I have both RIRs and BOs, that first one looks like neither, not even a mix of them.

 

[FireGal]

That’s what I think too. She (I hope) is pretty but I have no idea what she is

 

[Frazzemrat1]

Your Marans will lighten a little, but truly, you want them dark. Dark means female.

As for the mix... Not sure what's in there yet. Could be a RIR and Orp mix, but who knows. Also, it could be a cockerel, given the size of the comb already.

 

[FireGal]

The darker marans are females? Y’all are going to see my ignorance a lot. Here is one of those moments. I’ve been looking at pictures on the internet, and seeing marans that were more silver and didn’t have feathers on their feet. Thank you.
The other little unknown is the smallest of the bunch. They don’t have names yet (we just got them Tuesday) but I’ve been calling her Rookie because she is so much smaller. We are a firefighter family, so it has to be rookie or probie if you are the new guy, you’re small, and you run around following the group with no clue what is going on

 

[Frazzemrat1]

Barring and cuckoo are similar in that the males have two copies of the gene, causing them to be lighter in color, while the females have only one; making them appear darker.

These are barred rocks, but the appearance between male and female is similar.

 

[FireGal]

Thank you. I didn’t know that

 

[cstephens1987]

The darker marans are females? Y’all are going to see my ignorance a lot. Here is one of those moments. I’ve been looking at pictures on the internet, and seeing marans that were more silver and didn’t have feathers on their feet. Thank you.
The other little unknown is the smallest of the bunch. They don’t have names yet (we just got them Tuesday) but I’ve been calling her Rookie because she is so much smaller. We are a firefighter family, so it has to be rookie or probie if you are the new guy, you’re small, and you run around following the group with no clue what is going on

Marans come from two basic stock (especially the cuckoo). The UK stock is clean legged and the French stock is feather legged. The popularity of one vs the other has fluxuated in the US. Sometimes you'll see them referred to as French Cuckoo Marans to denote that it will have feathered legs.

 

[ColtHandorf]

Here are some images of clean legged Cuckoo Marans. You can see the difference in the color on the males versus the females.

I would also agree that the first chick is probably a cockerel and potentially a mix.

 

[FireGal]

Thank you.