Let's talk Cuckoo and WHITE marans... breeding strategies...

[SonRise Silkies]

Hi again, I took some pics of my Cuckoos finally. They were hatched in April.
Some of them together

little roo

sleeping pullet

Question, I know some of these are a week older than the others but how come some
are smaller than the others? And how come some have tails and some are sort of tail less??
I thought maybe it had to do with the sex of the bird but can't see that that matters.
Any info will be appreciated. Also any comments on them bad or good.

Thanks, Cheryl

 

[geebs]

Here are a few of my project birds... two males and two females.

 

[PHarris985]

Here is another picture of the Cuckoo's I posted earlier. We have determined the Roo is a SLW. There is another one in the group with the same color leggs but she looks like a Cuckoo??? What do you think?
Group Shot

Leg Shot

Cuckoo ?????? or what

 

[Myabcs3]

Could it be a Rock-Marans cross? I have a 10 week old chick from a barred rock hen with a cuckoo roo and it looks very similar.

 

[cmfarm]

Quote:
Some breeds of chickens the males feather in slower than the females. The lighter ones are the males and have the short tails and the darker females have the longer tails. Anyone else now if this is true for all colors/strains of Marans? It seems to be true for my BCM (at least it does so far).

 

[OHmamma]

Quote:
I have, Black Copper,Blue Coppers,Whites,Cucus, Blues, and Black and all of them seem to do that. It seems that the first week the roos are taller and louder than the rest but around week 4 or 5 the pullets outgrow and outfeather the roos. I have just assumed that the roos have thicker feather shafts due to the larger sized feathers and it takes longer to develop. I'm just guessing there.

I have also noticed that in the bantam cochins I had years ago.

I think those yella legged chooks look like barred rock. Those that do have the white legs look like cucu marans, but that one with the white stripe on the inside of the feather looks like a silver pencilled wyandotte. Maybe the breeder had to many breeds in the bator/brooder. Speckled chicks all look alike, but the leg color thing should have been a little more obvious if they know what they were doing. All of them are still nice breeds and will still give you some good eggs or meat!

 

[oesdog]

Quote:
Cuckoo Marans only have PINK LEGS! -
Oesdog

 

[OHmamma]

Quote:
Cuckoo Marans only have PINK LEGS! -
Oesdog

Silver cucu and cucu/black crosses have some color "lacing" in their legs but the base color is pinkish white. I will try to get a picture of it for you.

 

[HenThymes]

Quote:
I had the same thing pop up from my hatch last Nov. of cuckoo/gold cuckoo and I questioned just like you. It was a pure hatch, no barred rock hopped the fence. I was told that because cuckoo/gold was still a "project" that the occasional throw back still pops up every now and again. I just culled the two I had and kept all white legs.

 

[flgardengirl]

Quote:
I love the leg feathering on your little guys. Where did you get your cuckoos and did you buy eggs or chicks?