Golden Cuckoo Marans Roo

[reallemons1]

This spring we hatched a GCM roo. I don't have a hen for him. So I was thinking about pairing him to a Black Copper or a Wheaten Marans hen or maybe both. What would the chicks look like from these, and would the eggs from the chicks still be a good dark colored? Thanks.

 

[reallemons1]

Here is a picture of my GCM.

Any ideas for the better pairing to keep the cuckoo coloring?

 

[Pumpkinpup]

Wow, he's pretty! I have never seen that cross so can't help ya there but he's a real good lookin boy.

 

[klf73]

Although I have no idea what the resulting offspring would look like, it would depend on the genes each is carrying as far as egg color. If both the roo and hen came from good egg color then you may also get good color, of course you may not

. I personally would get some regular cuckoos since he has so much gold, to tone it down a little.

 

[walkswithdog]

There's some suggestion on the marans sites that crossing color lines can cost you bigtime in egg coloration.

you have to sort through it all but basically there are different genes associated with the different color groups and crossing can really adversely cost you egg color.

GCM can, I think, be crossed to BC without a loss, same group, I think. Not sure about blacks.

But cross to wheatons, blues or lemons and phfizzle.

Not sure about crossing to silver cuckoo but I'd bet you get odd results. Gold based birds have different genetics than silver based birds.

In marans that includes the genetics of how dark the eggs get.

 

[reallemons1]

Thanks. Loss of the nice egg color is what I am mainly concerned about. I love this guy's color and want to use him, but have only splash, black copper and wheaten marans hens. Was kinda hoping if I'm lucky to get more like him. Of roos I have the golden, a silver, splash, and black copper. Which of these roos if any might work better over the wheatens? I'm guessing the chicks color probably won't be standard, but I am going for best egg color.

 

[walkswithdog]

If I were JUST shooting for lovely egg color and I had mixed color birds I'd probably find a way to have just one roo at a time with the WHOLE group of hens and then see what that produces. But howdy, that'd take awhile. There's laying and hatching and growing out then trying to figure out which hens lay what color range ... don't you have yourself a task? LOL

I'd pick one or two roos at best and limit it to that. Or put up some breeder cages and see who produces what. Always a choice but kind of expensive.

Since I free range it's two roos, with spares in a pen once they hit maturity.

But I'm only working on ONE color.

I wish you the best luck decoding what you've got

Ask on the Marans posting thread. Someone will help you pick out your best options with those colors...

 

[reallemons1]

Isn't it the challange and experimenting that makes chickens fun anyhow? Guess these will keep me playing for a while! I'll check out the Marans thread too. Thanks.

 

[walkswithdog]

It IS the challenge that makes it fun. I think if it were too easy I'd have gone to a different breed. I love the learning.