Oh I'm so sorry to hear that Spartan, that must be so sad.
So I had to go and look this up and this is what Wikipedia told me:
Though the original Marans could also be feather-legged birds, British breeders preferred the clean-legged version, and thus feather-legged Marans are now mainly found in France and the United States. The Australian Poultry Standard recognises both feather- and clean-legged.[4] The American Poultry Association only recognises feather-legged.
So far I've only seen the clean legged ones here and that is what I've got!
Thanks Poulechick!
Yep on feathered legged FBCM, That’s when I know we have the authentic chickens since I paid $24 per chicks from a reputable breeder and I saw in some store they’re selling “Black Marans” for $5/chick but they’re clean legged and lack the Copper on the hackle when matures.
 
	 
 
		 
 
		 
			
		
		
		
	
	
			
		 that is an awful lot of chicks. Have you got space for them all?
that is an awful lot of chicks. Have you got space for them all?
 
 
		 
 
		 
			
		
		
		
	
	
			
		 
 
		 
 
		 
 
		
 
 
		 
 
		 
 
		 
 
		 
 
		 
 
		 
 
		 
 
		 
 
		 
 
		