cuckoo marans?

[hillbillyfarmer]

My CM hens are really dark also compared to Belle. You said that it was an extra. Could it be a different breed all together? They rarely send extra pullets especially ones that they can sex by the white spot on their heads as chicks. The extras are their way of getting rid of extra roosters that they have not sold. Also agree with BeulahBreezes post about the parents. I have 3 different lines of Black Copper Marans and each line has their own distinct differences. Hope this helps.

 

[Choco Maran]

I have Cuckoo Marans and all my girls look like Crazy4Spurs. I also seem to have a Roo that looks just like henryhoe's chicken. I beleive it to be a Roo also. My are all about 12 weeks. I was sure there was something different about him because he has all ways been lighter in color. Now that they are 12 weeks I can tell that he is going to be a Roo.

This is he second set of Cuckoo Marans I have gotten and all mine have been very gentle and easy to pet and handle. I have not had a Roo in this breed so I'm uncertain as to a Roos behaviour.

 

[Bogart]

Thanks hillbillyfarmer and BeulahBreezes. That is good information. They probably did stick in an extra rooster and there is just a difference in lines. That is a good point. Belle was actually the one that my friend said she thought was my bird. I told her well it can't be because there are 2 of them and I only ordered one Cuckoo Maran,and that is when we discovered we had an extra bird. I'm not thinking they are a different breed because shank color is identical. So I guess Belle will be Bell (a male French name meaning handsome) I'll let everyone know if he lays an egg though. I would love it if anyone would share pictures of their Cuckoo Maran roosters/hens. Thanks for all the input!!

 

[aggiemae]

I don't know if this will help but although I can tell all our chickens apart ( even the ones of the same breed) we have two RIR's that have looked strikingly different from each other almost right from the start and not just feathering but also body structure and shape. There were several weeks where we suspected that one or the other was a rooster. Someone who knows chickens better than I do suggested that it could be a matter of interbreeding with another breed many generations back.

We have Puli's which are a very rare breed of dog and though we have "papers" on her going back five generations, one of ours is very far breed off breed standards. Her legs are long, her coat is wiry and will not cord, most of all she barks incessantly and we suspect she would chase a ball over and over until she dropped dead of exhaustion. While researching we learned that about 200 years ago there was purposeful cross breeding with french terriers to increase prey drive so I suspect that this is just as possible with chickens.

Just a though.

 

[Bogart]

Very interesting aggiemae. Genetics is a facinating subject. A likely reason. I have noticed since posting that Phillipe looks like someone has blown gold dust on him. He has tiny specks of gold on the hackles and saddle feathers that are coming in, giving him a gold cast. On the other hand Bell has a lavender cast. I also notice that the longer feathers on Bell's tail have grown and must be sickles or coverts, but I'm not educated enough to tell, partly because he has that underneath tail that Phillipe doesn't have. That kind of messes me up! So I'm playing it by ear at this point. I don't know what to do with three roosters.

 

[aggiemae]

Are you sure they are roosters? I wasn't sure about one of our RIR's until she finally laid an egg. There was even a point were if you crowed at her she was crowing back!

Our Wellsummer has a golden cast to her neck feathers. Also green and red and orange and blue but mostly gold and all iridescent. I would imagine that coloring this strong and bold would transfer readily to mix breed offspring. Wellsummer hens have also have pretty fancy tails compared to most hens.

Our Moran, Dumpling, was black with a blue black cast. The woman who sexed her is really good at it so I always knew she was a hen. But when she was a chick she had very thick legs compared to any of the other 8 chicks all born with in days and many of my back yard chicken friends were convinced she was a roo.

 

[Bogart]

Well aggiemae there is still a small percent of doubt in my mind. I am going with roo for now and he is Bell for now. I will play it by ear and just keep watching and waiting. I can't do much right now. I would like to build another chicken area, but I would have to build the coop myself a little at a time. My husband isn't too enthusiastic I don't think. He just built a coop for roasters and I thought I could squeak in some rare hens for myself when he orders his birds. I saw a woman on the internet that looked older than me that built a coop so I'm up for the try.I had ordered 1 Maran rooster and 7 hens, but ended up with 2 Marans. I didn't realize how much I would love my chickens. My Golden Polish ended up being a roo too, but he is just SO adorable. So I will watch for that dark brown egg. You give me a little hope for a hen.

I've never heard of Wellsummer chickens before. I found a hatchery that has feather legged Cuckoo Marans and thought I would like to order some hens. They also have Indian Red Jungle Fowl. I thought the hens were adorable. I don't know anything on their temperment however.

 

[aggiemae]

I've never heard of Wellsummer chickens before. I found a hatchery that has feather legged Cuckoo Marans and thought I would like to order some hens. They also have Indian Red Jungle Fowl. I thought the hens were adorable. I don't know anything on their temperment however.

Our Wellsummer is our prettiest hen but she is very timid and at 24 weeks she is still not laying. On the plus side Wellsummer roos can be distinguished from hens almost as soon as they hatch and certainly by 4 weeks.

Though she wasn't exactly a lap chicken I think that the Maran that died was my favorite Her "voice' was very distinct from the other breeds and I loved the little sounds she made. BTW, she was mounting one of the other hens pretty regularly and though she looked 100% pullet, I was concerned until she laid finally laid an egg.

Do read the "favorite chicken" thread. You might just start to take the descriptions you read about breed temperament less seriously.