Cukoo Maran x Red star?

[Chicken love to infinity]

Thinking about breeding my Cukoo Maran rooster with one of my red stars, next spring. What would the babies look like? How many eggs per year? What color eggs? LMK if you want to see pics of the "future parents". I would breed him with one of the cuckoo Marans I got with him, but I'm worried they are brother and sister.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Can you post pictures of the future parents?

 

[WallyG74]

I would breed him with one of the cuckoo Marans I got with him, but I'm worried they are brother and sister.

Doesn’t matter with chickens.

 

[Chicken love to infinity]

Can you post pictures of the future parents?

Sure!

 

[Chicken love to infinity]

Doesn’t matter with chickens.

The offspring wouldn't be Imbred?

 

[Chicken love to infinity]

Here are photos from when they were younger- The "future" Mom looks like more of a golden comet than a red star, but the person I got her form from said they were red stars.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

The offspring wouldn't be Imbred?

Not enough to matter.

A cuckoo marans male over anything will make cuckoo babies

 

[Ridgerunner]

That Red Star is just a red sex link hen. That means she has a gold gene she got from her father and did not receive a silver gene from her mother. She will give that gold gene to her sons but nothing at that gene pair to her daughters. She does not have any birchen or extended black genes but has one that gives a red base pattern. A red sex link is a mix by definition so I'm not sure exactly which "red" patter that is or what other genetics might be hiding under there. The white tail feathers should mean she could have at least one dominant white gene. Dominant white turns what would normally be black to show as white.

Your Cuckoo Marans will give a barring gene to all his chicks. Since Barring is dominant all the chicks will show barring on anything except white feathers. It is there but you won't see it in white feathers. He should be pure for extended black. Extended black is dominant over the other patterns/colors at that gene pair so all his chicks will have a black base. It should override any red pattern the hen gives. He should be pure for silver, which is dominant over gold.

So what will the babies look like? If it were not for that hen's white tail I'd totally agree with JacinLarkwell, they would all look like their daddy, black and white barred. Some of the boys would probably have some read leakage from the gold they got from their mother even if silver is dominant. Leakage is scattered feathers of a color that should not be there and can be a pain to get rid of.

If that hen has a dominant white gene that messes this up. About half the chicks will be the black and white barred but about half will be solid white. They will still have the barring but you won't be able to see it on the white feathers. It is theoretically possible that the hen would have two dominant white genes at that gene pair so all the chicks would be white but the practical chances of that are really remote.

If I hadn't seen the photo of the hen with the white tail I'd have expected all the chicks to be black barred. They may still be, that is still a possibility. It is also possible you could get some solid white chicks. Not a certainty but a possibility. I'd love to see photos of those chicks.

How many eggs per year?

The pullets inherit those genetics from both parents, not just the mothers. If you know how much the hen lays you have half the equation. Roosters don't lay eggs so you don't know what he actually contributes genetically. If you knew how many eggs his mother and grandmothers laid in a year you'd have a pretty good idea.

Red sex links can vary, it depends on whether they are the commercial red sex link laying hybrids (really serious egg layers) or are made from two dual purpose breeds. If they use dual purpose breeds they typically use good egg laying breeds so the chances are your hens will lay really well. Marans are not known to be great egg layers. Decent but not great. Hatchery Marans tend to lay better than Marans from other sources.

I can't tell you how many eggs you will get, it can vary by individual even with the same parents, but you will probably be happy with the number of eggs you get.

What color eggs?

Again the pullets inherit egg shell color from both parents. You can see what your hen is contributing, probably some shade of brown. Could be light or could be dark.

Some Marans lay incredibly dark chocolate eggs. Some don't. If the person that selects which Marans get to breed uses egg shell color as a criteria they are usually really dark. If it is not one of their criteria then they may not be all that dark. I doubt if you know what shade of dark he hatched out of.

You can get surprises from the eggs full sisters lay, the genetics can be that complicated. Generally you get an eggshell color somewhere between what each parent contributes. In your case I'd expect a fairly dark brown. I don't know how dark brown.

I'm worried they are brother and sister.

Don't let that stop you. If you got them from a hatchery it's highly unlikely they are even half-brother sister, let alone full. That's because of the way they manage and breed them. If you got them from an individual that story can change but even then, as long as you don't keep and breed defective individuals you can usually go several generations before inbreeding becomes a problem.

 

[Chicken love to infinity]

That Red Star is just a red sex link hen. That means she has a gold gene she got from her father and did not receive a silver gene from her mother. She will give that gold gene to her sons but nothing at that gene pair to her daughters. She does not have any birchen or extended black genes but has one that gives a red base pattern. A red sex link is a mix by definition so I'm not sure exactly which "red" patter that is or what other genetics might be hiding under there. The white tail feathers should mean she could have at least one dominant white gene. Dominant white turns what would normally be black to show as white.

Your Cuckoo Marans will give a barring gene to all his chicks. Since Barring is dominant all the chicks will show barring on anything except white feathers. It is there but you won't see it in white feathers. He should be pure for extended black. Extended black is dominant over the other patterns/colors at that gene pair so all his chicks will have a black base. It should override any red pattern the hen gives. He should be pure for silver, which is dominant over gold.

So what will the babies look like? If it were not for that hen's white tail I'd totally agree with JacinLarkwell, they would all look like their daddy, black and white barred. Some of the boys would probably have some read leakage from the gold they got from their mother even if silver is dominant. Leakage is scattered feathers of a color that should not be there and can be a pain to get rid of.

If that hen has a dominant white gene that messes this up. About half the chicks will be the black and white barred but about half will be solid white. They will still have the barring but you won't be able to see it on the white feathers. It is theoretically possible that the hen would have two dominant white genes at that gene pair so all the chicks would be white but the practical chances of that are really remote.

If I hadn't seen the photo of the hen with the white tail I'd have expected all the chicks to be black barred. They may still be, that is still a possibility. It is also possible you could get some solid white chicks. Not a certainty but a possibility. I'd love to see photos of those chicks.


The pullets inherit those genetics from both parents, not just the mothers. If you know how much the hen lays you have half the equation. Roosters don't lay eggs so you don't know what he actually contributes genetically. If you knew how many eggs his mother and grandmothers laid in a year you'd have a pretty good idea.

Red sex links can vary, it depends on whether they are the commercial red sex link laying hybrids (really serious egg layers) or are made from two dual purpose breeds. If they use dual purpose breeds they typically use good egg laying breeds so the chances are your hens will lay really well. Marans are not known to be great egg layers. Decent but not great. Hatchery Marans tend to lay better than Marans from other sources.

I can't tell you how many eggs you will get, it can vary by individual even with the same parents, but you will probably be happy with the number of eggs you get.


Again the pullets inherit egg shell color from both parents. You can see what your hen is contributing, probably some shade of brown. Could be light or could be dark.

Some Marans lay incredibly dark chocolate eggs. Some don't. If the person that selects which Marans get to breed uses egg shell color as a criteria they are usually really dark. If it is not one of their criteria then they may not be all that dark. I doubt if you know what shade of dark he hatched out of.

You can get surprises from the eggs full sisters lay, the genetics can be that complicated. Generally you get an eggshell color somewhere between what each parent contributes. In your case I'd expect a fairly dark brown. I don't know how dark brown.


Don't let that stop you. If you got them from a hatchery it's highly unlikely they are even half-brother sister, let alone full. That's because of the way they manage and breed them. If you got them from an individual that story can change but even then, as long as you don't keep and breed defective individuals you can usually go several generations before inbreeding becomes a problem.

Thanks! Only 3 of the red stars I have have white. The one in the photo has white on her tail but the other 2 almost look like a red star with white wyandotte patterns- if that makes sense. I got them from my neighbor's daughter who was moving, and she didn't tell me where she got them from. Another weird thing- I think the 3 other Cuckoo Marans may be leghorn mixed. 1 has a straight comb but white earlobes and lays white eggs. The 2nd has red earlobes, a huge floppy comb, and lays brown eggs with dark brown spots. The 3rd just looks like a normal Cukoo maran and lays dark brown eggs. He is my fourth but is a rooster, so I can't really tell if he maybe leghorn mixed. What do you think?
I'm excited to see what the babies look like !

 

[Chicken love to infinity]

Thanks! Only 3 of the red stars I have have white. The one in the photo has white on her tail but the other 2 almost look like a red star with white wyandotte patterns- if that makes sense. I got them from my neighbor's daughter who was moving, and she didn't tell me where she got them from. Another weird thing- I think the 3 other Cuckoo Marans may be leghorn mixed. 1 has a straight comb but white earlobes and lays white eggs. The 2nd has red earlobes, a huge floppy comb, and lays brown eggs with dark brown spots. The 3rd just looks like a normal Cukoo maran and lays dark brown eggs. He is my fourth but is a rooster, so I can't really tell if he maybe leghorn mixed. What do you think?
I'm excited to see what the babies look like !

Here are some photos of them when they were around 12 weeks old. She and her sister still have so much white! As you can see, In the background, the others don't have as much white as the 2. My neighbor got the 3rd white looking one, and half of her backside is completely white.