How to differentiate Black sex-link, cuckoo marans and Barred rock hen

[kandoos]

It's really difficul to differentiate these three breeds especially hens, I have some chicks one month old and I can't till now tell the breed of them, are they BRs or BSLs or Cuckoo marans ? I will post some pics later in order to give me some help ..

 

[morninggloryhatchery]

If i remember well with Cuckoo Marans , you can tell the difference cause they have with ears or "muffs" . And for the Barred Rock i can't really help you there but maybe she has barring starting to come in?

 

[kandoos]

I ordered 100 Black sex-link chickes all of them hens before a month , but yesterday I noticed that some of them aren't BSLs

 

[Chickens n' more]

What is it about them that makes you think they are not BSL's? Supposedly, the males should have the barring, and the females will either be all black or black with varying amounts of red. As chicks, the males will have a white spot on the top of their heads.

 

[Krys109uk]

How old are the chicks?
As you are in Switzerland, I'd imagine your cuckoo Marans would have a bit of leg feathering (or fluff depending upon age), they would also have white legs. The Marans ought to feather up faster than the others & the cuckoo marking is blurred. Depending upon what they are eating, you could expect the barred rocks to have yellow legs. Barred rocks ought to feather up with a more definite barring marks & without the blurring at the edges of the bars.
Black sex links would be black chicks, unless you asked for some males.
As they grow you ought to be able to tell the difference by the general shape of the bird as well as by colour.

I just re-read your second post. Do you mean you ordered 100 black sex links & some of them are feathering up barred? If so, as someone else said, you might have been sent some males.

 

[Katy]

Quote:
Morningglory.....Cuckoo Marans don't have muffs.

Cuckoo Marans have white skin while Barred Rocks have yellow. The barring on cuckoo Marans is "messier" than a BR's

 

[kandoos]

OK I will post some pics today after I go back from work ,, be with contact