French Cuckoo Marans Roo x with ...

[whitewood]

Hi,
We have just recently hatched a few eggs from these hens : Buff Orpington, White Jersey Giant, Barred Plymouth Rock, Olive Egger and French Black Maran. The eggs are fertilized by a French Cuckoo Maran Roo.

The chicks all turned out to be looking very similar with just one's face looking quite different from the rest. However, their bodies all looked somewhat blackish with a bit of whites and greys here and there. And almost all of them have a white spot (just different tone) on their heads. Does anyone know if that's an indicator of having boys? Also, does anyone have these crosses offspring and know how they will look ultimately?

I read somewhere that with Marans crosses, the chicks are sex-linked but then French Cuckoo has the dominant barred gene so the black is not there anymore. It's really quite complicated for my understanding. Does that mean all the chicks will have the barred patterns and can I still sexed them this young (about 5 days old) as with other sex-linked chicks?

Would love to hear from anyone who knows about this. Thanks.

 

[whitewood]

Here are some pictures of the chicks.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

The sex linking with barred only works if the hen is barred and the rooster is not barred. As your rooster is barred (cuckoo), most of the chicks will be barred and have a head spot, but they are not sex linked.
Cute chicks!

 

[whitewood]

The sex linking with barred only works if the hen is barred and the rooster is not barred. As your rooster is barred (cuckoo), most of the chicks will be barred and have a head spot, but they are not sex linked.
Cute chicks!

I see. Does that means I can't determined if they are male or female by the spot on their heads? Thanks!

 

[LadiesAndJane]

I see. Does that means I can't determined if they are male or female by the spot on their heads? Thanks!

Yes, you will not be able to tell unfortunately. But combs should be tellable by about 5-6 weeks of age.