Let's talk Golden Cuckoo Marans!

[msheets]

Their combs look more correct also, is it supposed to be 5? I didn't do my research before getting the eggs, I went for convenience...regretting that now lol. Well at least I have some, I will work on better lineage in the spring. I love all your pics

 

[Theegoliath]

And my wife and I only want one pullet.... sigh. No one lives up here in Washington that has GCM... You wouldn't ship one of the darker ones would you? : P

 

[buckabucka]

I need to make my final cockerel selection before Oct. 4. The one I have my eye on is good size, and his tail feathers are heavily barred, compared to some of the others with more muted gray in their tails.

Is one more likely than the other to develop white tail feathers after the molt? I have a couple with whiter heads, and those two have that rich deep copper color in the saddle that yours shows, chickie. They are the beautiful.

One of the reasons I was leaning toward the heavily barred guy (with less copper), is in hopes of passing the barring onto the offspring (if I ever get any hens). The one golden cuckoo hen (an older hen from another source) has a much more muted barring pattern (and no feathered legs, so I'm not using her). Is the barring passed on by the male? What should I look for regarding the cockerel's plumage, if I'll looking at keeping him?

 

[freddyyoung]

Hi, I live in England and today I bought two golden cuckoo marans, but most of the golden cuckoo marans that I have seen on this thread have a black body and gold head, but mine look like this hen

They also don't have feathered legs, but I am going to buy a golden cuckoo maran cockerel who has feathered legs, will the feathered legs from the cockerel be passed on to the father? Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[buckabucka]

Sorry I can't answer your question about the feathered legs, freddyyoung. The breeder I bought my eggs from said it took 5 years to get consistently feathered legs. Your hen looks very much like my Marraduna Basque hen. In fact, I am struck by how much the golden cuckoos and Basques look alike (although my Basque cockerel is smaller and with yellow legs). Here is a golden cuckoo with a Basque:

I am also surprised by how much variation there is between golden cuckoo cockerels. These boys are from the same hatch:

I love the rich copper coloring, but I'm thinking I will keep the cockerel below, which is a compromise between the two colors. I like his barring, which extends to his tail more than it does in the other cockerels. He lives in a cage, because the others bit off the blade on his comb:

 

[chickee]

I need to make my final cockerel selection before Oct. 4. The one I have my eye on is good size, and his tail feathers are heavily barred, compared to some of the others with more muted gray in their tails.

Is one more likely than the other to develop white tail feathers after the molt? I have a couple with whiter heads, and those two have that rich deep copper color in the saddle that yours shows, chickie. They are the beautiful.

One of the reasons I was leaning toward the heavily barred guy (with less copper), is in hopes of passing the barring onto the offspring (if I ever get any hens). The one golden cuckoo hen (an older hen from another source) has a much more muted barring pattern (and no feathered legs, so I'm not using her). Is the barring passed on by the male? What should I look for regarding the cockerel's plumage, if I'll looking at keeping him?

I can't answer the question on color vs the likely hood of white tail feathering developing. I have only been working on mine for a year and a half. With the roosters I have hatched some showed white feathers in their tails at 5 months. The one I kept had no white tail feathers at 5 months and so far none have grown in. His father, my original rooster did shown one tail feather that was white tipped and he has developed white tail feathers. He is molting right now and practically tailless, so it will be interesting to see what color feathers come back in.

I would say the crisper the contrast between the white and grey coloring the better. Remember that they have a "cuckoo" pattern which is different than barring. I refer to it as barring myself, but it is technically cuckoo.

Hi, I live in England and today I bought two golden cuckoo marans, but most of the golden cuckoo marans that I have seen on this thread have a black body and gold head, but mine look like this hen
They also don't have feathered legs, but I am going to buy a golden cuckoo maran cockerel who has feathered legs, will the feathered legs from the cockerel be passed on to the father? Any advice would be much appreciated.

Sorry, I don't know the genetics of the leg feathering. Using a feather legged rooster is a good start. Just keep the feather legged pullet offspring and breed them back to their feather legged father. Then find a feather legged rooster from a different line for those pullets. Those offspring could then be bred back to their grandfather. I like how dark your rooster is though. Maybe find some feather legged girls for him. That would give you two lines to work with. Remember that the rooster determines egg color, so be sure to get a rooster that hatched from the darkest eggs you can find. Good luck!

Sorry I can't answer your question about the feathered legs, freddyyoung. The breeder I bought my eggs from said it took 5 years to get consistently feathered legs. Your hen looks very much like my Marraduna Basque hen. In fact, I am struck by how much the golden cuckoos and Basques look alike (although my Basque cockerel is smaller and with yellow legs). Here is a golden cuckoo with a Basque:


I am also surprised by how much variation there is between golden cuckoo cockerels. These boys are from the same hatch:


I love the rich copper coloring, but I'm thinking I will keep the cockerel below, which is a compromise between the two colors. I like his barring, which extends to his tail more than it does in the other cockerels. He lives in a cage, because the others bit off the blade on his comb:

I like the rooster you are keeping.

Now you just need to get some eggs from me and hatch out some pullets.

I need to make my final cockerel selection before Oct. 4. The one I have my eye on is good size, and his tail feathers are heavily barred, compared to some of the others with more muted gray in their tails.

Is one more likely than the other to develop white tail feathers after the molt? I have a couple with whiter heads, and those two have that rich deep copper color in the saddle that yours shows, chickie. They are the beautiful.

One of the reasons I was leaning toward the heavily barred guy (with less copper), is in hopes of passing the barring onto the offspring (if I ever get any hens). The one golden cuckoo hen (an older hen from another source) has a much more muted barring pattern (and no feathered legs, so I'm not using her). Is the barring passed on by the male? What should I look for regarding the cockerel's plumage, if I'll looking at keeping him?

Hi, I live in England and today I bought two golden cuckoo marans, but most of the golden cuckoo marans that I have seen on this thread have a black body and gold head, but mine look like this hen
They also don't have feathered legs, but I am going to buy a golden cuckoo maran cockerel who has feathered legs, will the feathered legs from the cockerel be passed on to the father? Any advice would be much appreciated.

Sorry I can't answer your question about the feathered legs, freddyyoung. The breeder I bought my eggs from said it took 5 years to get consistently feathered legs. Your hen looks very much like my Marraduna Basque hen. In fact, I am struck by how much the golden cuckoos and Basques look alike (although my Basque cockerel is smaller and with yellow legs). Here is a golden cuckoo with a Basque:


I am also surprised by how much variation there is between golden cuckoo cockerels. These boys are from the same hatch:


I love the rich copper coloring, but I'm thinking I will keep the cockerel below, which is a compromise between the two colors. I like his barring, which extends to his tail more than it does in the other cockerels. He lives in a cage, because the others bit off the blade on his comb:

Their combs look more correct also, is it supposed to be 5? I didn't do my research before getting the eggs, I went for convenience...regretting that now lol. Well at least I have some, I will work on better lineage in the spring. I love all your pics

Yes, 5 points in the comb is what is called for in the standard. The quality of your birds looks good compared to many I have seen out there, so don't worry too much about the combs right now. You can work on those. Type and egg color are more important. There are so few good GCMs available and even fewer breeders. They still need a lot of work.

 

[Cyan Night]

Are GCMs known for dark eggs? Or are their eggs more like regular cuckoo marans? I have a person on Craigslist selling a "Moran" and he sent me a picture, but I'm pretty skeptical. Could she be one? Or should I ask for more pictures or just pass?

I'm actually just thinking of passing though

 

[freddyyoung]

I am picking up a golden cuckoo cock today, and I have a choice of two, they are both about twelve weeks and one of them has better colouring, but one has a better body structure, which is the most impirtant if it's going to be used for breeding?

 

[michaely]

Can anyone help me, I have got a golden cuckoo maran cockerel,if I bred him to some cuckoo hens, would I get some golden cuckoos offspring?

 

[buckabucka]

I am picking up a golden cuckoo cock today, and I have a choice of two, they are both about twelve weeks and one of them has better colouring, but one has a better body structure, which is the most impirtant if it's going to be used for breeding?

I've always heard you "build the house before you paint it", so I think I'd go for body structure and work on coloring later.