Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[Banjoplayer]

There are pictures of chicks ALL through this thread.  There is a link in the top that will show you ALL the pictures on the thread........ thousands and thousands of them.

 

[Banjoplayer]

Alright, thank you!

 

[Kaylish]

I am pretty sure the one on the right is a cockerel.  No idea on the small one in the middle.  I have only hatched a few GCM but it is not the right coloring for sure.

Thanks! The little one was from a dark egg and the outer toe is feathered. But the guy I got them from had said that some of his SFH hens had gotten in with the GCM; I wonder if a SFH roo snuck in with the GCM? I'll post pics as it starts to feather out.

 

[French Hen]

I am pretty sure the one on the right is a cockerel.  No idea on the small one in the middle.  I have only hatched a few GCM but it is not the right coloring for sure.

My chickies have all looked pretty much exactly like that. The red faces being the pullets with the pretty deep red down and the golden chicks with lots of yellow and very little red down being cockerels. I must be missing something then because they looked normal to me. Off to read!

 

[French Hen]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/golden-cuckoo-maran

This could help you @Kaylish

 

[Kaylish]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/golden-cuckoo-maran

This could help you @Kaylish

Thank you very much! There is always so much more to learn.

 

[DMRippy]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/golden-cuckoo-maran

This could help you @Kaylish

Not sure that person is correct in that post. Cuckoo Marans are NOT SEX LINKED. They are like barred rocks in that some can be sexed but not sex linked. That is called Auto Sexing. Not very accurate in barred birds by the way. These were the only ones I hatched. The black one didn't even have a head spot. More hatched but I don't have another pictures of them. @Raven1 You got any better pictures?

My guess is with the size of the small one you have a fence jumper. It looks too yellow to be a golden and SFH are yellow at hatch so probably a mix. If the sire was a SFH then if there is a head spot it is a cockerel. THAT IS A SEX LINK CROSS.

 

[Nana Ton-Ton]

Experienced French Copper Maran peeps- do you believe that the dark color of the egg shell gets lighter even if breeding with only FCM's? or is the lighter shell from cross breeding.

Any thoughts?

 

[Kaylish]

Not sure that person is correct in that post. Cuckoo Marans are NOT SEX LINKED. They are like barred rocks in that some can be sexed but not sex linked. That is called Auto Sexing. Not very accurate in barred birds by the way. These were the only ones I hatched. The black one didn't even have a head spot. More hatched but I don't have another pictures of them. @Raven1 You got any better pictures?

My guess is with the size of the small one you have a fence jumper. It looks too yellow to be a golden and SFH are yellow at hatch so probably a mix. If the sire was a SFH then if there is a head spot it is a cockerel. THAT IS A SEX LINK CROSS.

Thank you very much!

Looking at these I have 2 boys either way, bummer. What's the possibility if they grow out to look just like Marans that there is still a mix involved? Or would there be some kind of easy "tell" with a SFH cross? (I saw the pens; that's the only possible cross if it is a mix)

Now I have to go find a Swedish Flower Hen thread because the one that I hatched with this batch looks a lot like the girl above (I knew there was a possibility of a mix when I got the egg so no loss there)

 

[snowbird]

Quote: There is a possibility that the eggs will lighten up even if mixing BC Marans. Sometimes the color will come back and other times it will not for several generations.