- Apr 9, 2013
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Back in September, when ordering chicks from a well known hatcery for this spring, I included 3 Black Copper Marans chicks - 1 cockrel/2 pullets. On the morning of the hatch (4/1) I received a call from the hatchery informing me that "the Marans didn't hatch" and to please call if I was willing to make a substitution.
Being VERY disappointed, I reluctantly replaced the Marans order with a couple Silver Laced Wyandotte pullets and a Buff Cochin pullet. The order was for 15 chicks total.
2 days later the chicks arrived, but instead of 15 chicks as ordered there were 18 - 3 extra. I contacted the hatchery to thank them for the "extras" and to inquire what breed(s) were the additions. The response was that they didn't have a record of including extra chicks in my order, so did not have a clue what breed the surplus chicks were. Because of their coloration, I assumed they were Australorps since I saw there were 5 black chicks (with light underbellies) instead of the 2 Australorps I had ordered. No biggie.
Yesterday I noticed one of the "Australorp" chicks was a tad leggier than the others, with longer tail feathers and a noticeably greater comb development. The chick was also showing more aggression/dominance towards the other chicks. My suspicion was this chick was a cockrel. I made a mental note to prepare to rehome this fellow if my suspicion was correct.
Today I thought I saw slight feathering on the outer shanks and toe on this chick, so picked him up and sure enough, there was feathering. Now I am wondering if this might be a BCM afterall??? Though I haven't noticed feathering on any of the other "Australorp" chicks, I do note that 2 of the 4 have noticeably less light coloring on their face than the other 2. Now I am wondering if I received the 3 BCM I had ordered, even though told by the hatchery that they "didn't hatch".
I have included a couple pics of what I think may be the BCM cockrel. I'd welcome comments from any of you Marans experts out there.
Thanks!
Being VERY disappointed, I reluctantly replaced the Marans order with a couple Silver Laced Wyandotte pullets and a Buff Cochin pullet. The order was for 15 chicks total.
2 days later the chicks arrived, but instead of 15 chicks as ordered there were 18 - 3 extra. I contacted the hatchery to thank them for the "extras" and to inquire what breed(s) were the additions. The response was that they didn't have a record of including extra chicks in my order, so did not have a clue what breed the surplus chicks were. Because of their coloration, I assumed they were Australorps since I saw there were 5 black chicks (with light underbellies) instead of the 2 Australorps I had ordered. No biggie.
Yesterday I noticed one of the "Australorp" chicks was a tad leggier than the others, with longer tail feathers and a noticeably greater comb development. The chick was also showing more aggression/dominance towards the other chicks. My suspicion was this chick was a cockrel. I made a mental note to prepare to rehome this fellow if my suspicion was correct.
Today I thought I saw slight feathering on the outer shanks and toe on this chick, so picked him up and sure enough, there was feathering. Now I am wondering if this might be a BCM afterall??? Though I haven't noticed feathering on any of the other "Australorp" chicks, I do note that 2 of the 4 have noticeably less light coloring on their face than the other 2. Now I am wondering if I received the 3 BCM I had ordered, even though told by the hatchery that they "didn't hatch".
I have included a couple pics of what I think may be the BCM cockrel. I'd welcome comments from any of you Marans experts out there.
Thanks!
