Let's talk Golden Cuckoo Marans!

[morbius18]

I hatched a few chicks and I had a few show some brown along the faces. They don't have the penguin look either, their chest is gray instead of white.

Brown faced chick:

Penguin ER looking chick:

I had one of my F1s have a brown head, and it showed way too much red and not enough gold.

F1 chick:

Him older:

They're still birchen, Golden cuckoos, but something else is showing here, is this a mahogany gene that is showing?

 

[cree57i]

A very pretty little pullet I hatched from @Morbius18 eggs.

 

[morbius18]

A very pretty little pullet I hatched from @Morbius18 eggs.

This girl really confuses me. Looks cuckoo on the back, but there is definitely lacing around the feathers. The hackles look like a faded buff color. At first, I though she was a mossy black copper from the mating of two single barred birds, but I really don't understand this one.

 

[backyardchicks]

I just think that the Golden Cuckoo Maran is such a beautiful bird and they lay a nice dark brown egg as well! Here is one of my 3 Golden Cuckoo Marans at 29 weeks old.



This is what she looked like a few days old. Everyone thought she was a rooster, but she fooled us!!

 

[morbius18]

I just think that the Golden Cuckoo Maran is such a beautiful bird and they lay a nice dark brown egg as well! Here is one of my 3 Golden Cuckoo Marans at 29 weeks old. This is what she looked like a few days old. Everyone thought she was a rooster, but she fooled us!!

Mine lay super big eggs too. One of the GCM eggs on the right:

 

[backyardchicks]

@morbius18 Wow! That is a very large Golden Cuckoo Maran egg! Is the other really dark egg from a Black Copper Maran? And how about the green eggs? I love the variety of colors you have there.

 

[morbius18]

@morbius18  Wow! That is a very large Golden Cuckoo Maran egg!  Is the other really dark egg from a Black Copper Maran? And how about the green eggs?  I love the variety of colors you have there.

I've almost got the whole family tree in eggs there. Blue egg is easter egger, the mother of my olive eggers. The olive eggers are from my GCM rooster and her. The big GCM egg is from one of my roosters daughters. So mother and step sisters, lol.

The dark one is from a blue copper that I'm working into my my GCM line. So hopefully in addition to the dark egg gene, I'll get blue golden cuckoos and one day splash golden cuckoos.

 

[Chooks man]

Hi Morbius18 .
I think the your chick GCM with a Brown face when hatched and more orange at Adult because he carry the combination of Co Columbian restrictor and the Dark Brown Db.
i suspect the atavistic return of the eb bird carying the Columbian where mixt to the original e+ stock.
the Co is responsible for turning the Wheaten yellow hatch down to buff with the addition of the Db we ll get the Black tail buff Marans.

Co is not dominant to the ER so does not change the chick hatch down by it self does need other modifier gene like the Db or Pg ( patterning genes ).

Only the ER looking chicks ,lighter cockerls ( blue grey with a larger dot ) at hatch and a darker pullets ( black with a little dot ) are the proper phenotype for the GCM

So any modifying gene should be breed out to purify the ER hatch down of the chicks.

the Mh does not affect the chicks hatch down but will react with the other Autossomal red genes in the adult pattern .like dark hackle and lancet of the copper Coq or the Wheaten .

Hope that help my friend

Cheers Chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

backyardchicks beautiful GCM hen you got there nice eggs too.

your are e+ based with a Co and Db gene as a modifier
the gene Co removed the black strips and the Db lighten the hatch down.

Morbius18 your chick is like this one but as recessive return from the ER plus the Barring affect the hatch down of the chicks.

Cheers
chooks man

 

[morbius18]

Hi Morbius18 .
I think the your chick GCM with a Brown face when hatched and more orange at Adult because he carry the combination of Co Columbian restrictor and the Dark Brown Db.
i suspect the atavistic return of the eb bird carying the Columbian where mixt to the original e+ stock.
the Co is responsible for turning the Wheaten yellow hatch down to buff with the addition of the Db we ll get the Black tail buff Marans.

Co is not dominant to the ER so does not change the chick hatch down by it self does need other modifier gene like the Db or Pg ( patterning genes ).

Only the ER looking chicks  ,lighter cockerls ( blue grey with a larger dot ) at hatch and a darker pullets ( black with a little dot ) are the proper phenotype for the GCM

So any modifying gene should be breed out to purify the ER hatch down of the chicks.

the Mh does not affect the chicks hatch down but will react with the other Autossomal red genes in the adult pattern .like dark hackle and lancet of the copper Coq or the Wheaten .

Hope that help my friend

Cheers Chooks man

That does help. I've found that the ones with the brownish coloration any where seem to be too red/orange, so I've been culling those when I see their final coloration. I've been growing them out to see what the brown seems to result in. Either way, the roosters are very tasty birds, and people always want laying hens.

Here is a body shot of the one with the brownish face. It has mostly black body though.