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

[ChooksChick]

Quote:
That pullet would definitely be considered a dark cuckoo in the UK. She looks nice. How's her eye color?

Love the Dark Cuckoo. Her feathers almost look laced more than barred. The lighter one remids me of my bantam marans roo. He is blue and cuckoo.

I was thinking that that looks like a blue cuckoo cockerel, too! Very pale, but uniform and not all white.

 

[Hens and Roos]

Quote:
That pullet would definitely be considered a dark cuckoo in the UK. She looks nice. How's her eye color?

Love the Dark Cuckoo. Her feathers almost look laced more than barred. The lighter one remids me of my bantam marans roo. He is blue and cuckoo.


Do you have a picture or did you post one of him on here?

 

[jeremy]

So, I like the Golden Cuckoos much more than the Silvers & I'm in love with the Blue gene, in any poultry breed really.

Would it be possible to create Golden Blue Cuckoos using a Golden Cuckoo male with Blue Copper & Splash Copper females? Has anyone already done this? If so, what do the resulting offspring look like?

 

[OHmamma]

Hens and roos I suppose you wanted to see my Bantam roo??

I think I posted this somewhere but I don't mind.....He is not a perfect Bantam as he weighs a little heavy (about 10 oz too much) but I am using him and a few others I have to work on the size.

 

[Hens and Roos]

Quote:
thanks for sharing- I am kind of like blue

Here is our 4.5 month old cuckoo- he is blue and is LF, very mellow guy compared to the others he hangs out with!

 

[Myabcs3]

Quote:
That pullet would definitely be considered a dark cuckoo in the UK. She looks nice. How's her eye color?

VC - I will got out this afternoon and snap an updated pic and focus on the eyes. Is she too dark??? My choices for roosters for future matings are 1) her father; or 2) one of her brothers. I thought I had read that you should not do brother/sister matings? Thoughts? Or do I need to seek out some genetic diversity?

As to the two cockerels, the feather shanked one is definitely lighter, but blue? I believe you all, but never would have thought he was blue! Told you I was a new to all the genetic and coloring stuff! The body type is very different between the two of them. The clean legged is definitely going to be larger of the two, not that either are going to be "small". The feathered legged roo definitely follows his mother on some traits. I will also post updated pics.

I know I am planning way out in advance - I mean the girl has a ways to go before she starts laying! But in my household of men, I need to layout a plan well in advance so I can get all of them on the same page as well as allow them to interject their ideas! Also need to assure DH that I am not going to overwhelm him with birds...

 

[OHmamma]

Quote:
thanks for sharing- I am kind of like blue

Here is our 4.5 month old cuckoo- he is blue and is LF, very mellow guy compared to the others he hangs out with!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/fo...cuckoo_marans2_4_months_old_5-1-2011-crop.jpg

Is he a solid blue x cucu? Mine's parents were Blue/Cucu roo over a dark cucu hen.

I know it is odd but I have found the blue/cuckoo and silver cuckoo to be much more mellow than the other colors. Actually the cucus in general seem to be calmer. I am starting to think about getting rid of all my WJ Blue Coppers because they are just nuts!! My black coppers seem fine but not as friendly too.

 

[Hens and Roos]

Quote:
thanks for sharing- I am kind of like blue

Here is our 4.5 month old cuckoo- he is blue and is LF, very mellow guy compared to the others he hangs out with!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/fo...cuckoo_marans2_4_months_old_5-1-2011-crop.jpg

Is he a solid blue x cucu? Mine's parents were Blue/Cucu roo over a dark cucu hen.

I know it is odd but I have found the blue/cuckoo and silver cuckoo to be much more mellow than the other colors. Actually the cucus in general seem to be calmer. I am starting to think about getting rid of all my WJ Blue Coppers because they are just nuts!! My black coppers seem fine but not as friendly too.

I traded for him and this what the person who had him told me about the parent pen "The girls in the pen are all blue (non-cuckoos), 2 of which are also silvers. The 2 roosters in the pen at the time were a blue cuckoo with gold leakage and what I think was a silver blue cuckoo with gold leakage, though difficult to tell a silver on a cuckoo bird. He was lighter than the blue cuckoo male, not a splash, but nearly white head with faint barring visible more as you got closer to the body."

I have just 1 cuckoo hen whose is hatchery stock and clean legged so not sure what direction I will go with him as I do have 2 blue copper and 1 black copper Marans that are 5 weeks old.

 

[VillageChicken]

Quote:
That pullet would definitely be considered a dark cuckoo in the UK. She looks nice. How's her eye color?

VC - I will got out this afternoon and snap an updated pic and focus on the eyes. Is she too dark??? My choices for roosters for future matings are 1) her father; or 2) one of her brothers. I thought I had read that you should not do brother/sister matings? Thoughts? Or do I need to seek out some genetic diversity?

As to the two cockerels, the feather shanked one is definitely lighter, but blue? I believe you all, but never would have thought he was blue! Told you I was a new to all the genetic and coloring stuff! The body type is very different between the two of them. The clean legged is definitely going to be larger of the two, not that either are going to be "small". The feathered legged roo definitely follows his mother on some traits. I will also post updated pics.

I know I am planning way out in advance - I mean the girl has a ways to go before she starts laying! But in my household of men, I need to layout a plan well in advance so I can get all of them on the same page as well as allow them to interject their ideas! Also need to assure DH that I am not going to overwhelm him with birds...

I don't think your feathered roo is blue cuckoo. He just has two doses of the barring gene, as he should. I don't think your hen is too dark, cuckoos are supposed to be darker than barred rocks. She has the barring gene, and that's what matters. She may have a lot of melanization, (black) but that should help you on the rooster side with fewer white feathers. Your darker rooster probably only has one dose of barring, but it's hard to say without seeing him. If he's dark like the hen, I'd say one dose. He'll throw solid blacks half the time if he only has one dose.

I think father to daughter is better than siblings, but it really depends on which one has the better/desired qualities.

 

[flgardengirl]

How can we tell if our cuckoo roo is carrying double barring gene? Just test mating cuckoo roo over cuckoo hens and see if they all come out barred?
I tried the calculator for cuckoo over solid and you get 50% each (barred and solid) it says.