Cuckoo marans

[MandyH]

Can sombody tell me the difference between English cuckoo marans and french cuckoo marans. There is a man selling English non feather legged cuckoos around here. I CAN tell you that the eggs are DARK, I mean rally darker than any I have ever seen from a cuckoo maran before.

 

[onthespot]

feathered shanks seems to be the main difference. If the eggs are DARK then you should be easily able to add feathers by selective breeding, probably somewhat at the expense of egg color until you breed back a few generations... feathered legs is a dominant trait, which makes it easy to know where you stand in your breeding pen. Dark eggs in cuckoos is a lot harder to find than feathered shanks. If you are not planning on showing and just want dark eggs, keep the line pure.

 

[MandyH]

Thanks. I went ahead and got several dozen of them and have hatched some real beauties. Only time will tell if these lay the dark eggs too.

 

[blackdotte]

The English Standard recognised two colours in Cuckoo, the Silver Cuckoo in which the the male is homozygous for the Barring gene, B/B and it's hen is hemizygous B/- ; & the Dark Cuckoo where the male is heterozygous B/b+, the hen is hemizygous B/- .
Silver Cuckoo are bred Cuckoo to Cuckoo, Dark Cuckoo are often bred Silver Cuckoo male to a Black hen.
The French only recognise the Silver Cuckoo variety
French Marans are feather footed/shanked. The English are clean shanked.
The term English Cuckoo should no longer be used due to the acquisition of legal protection of the word "Marans". Marans can only be used with birds that are bred to, and comply with, the French Standard.
You can use feather footed Block Copper Marans hens with your Cuckoo male to introduce feathered shanks. This mating will give Cuckoo feather footed silver based pullets which can be incorporated into your flock. The males , which will be gold/silver splits should be culled.
David.

 

[MandyH]

That's what I'm talking about, I KNEW somebody would be able to tell me. Thanks a bunch blackdotte!