Mystery Free "Rare" chick from McMurray 2/13/10 **pix UPDATED here*

[becky3086]

Maybe it is just me, but don't three of those toes look like they are too short and missing joints? I kept thinking something about the feet didn't look right.

 

[aussieheelr]

I saw that wierd short toe thing too, but I think it might just be the way his toes are sitting on the girls fingers. I think it's a male barred variety, I'd say BR but they're far from rare. Maybe it is a cuckoo maran, but it looked like it had yellow legs which would mean no on that.

 

[Minniechickmama]

I got both BR and Aussies from McM last summer and this little one looks like it could be either. The Aussies had white on them like this and some of them had light colored beaks and feet that by 8-weeks had turned the slate colored as they should be. The rocks were in a separate batch from the Aussies, but if I had ordered them together would not have seen any difference for a few days.
I still don't see how anyone can distinguish gender at a day or two old by a picture unless it were some sort of sex-linked color difference, which I just don't see here.
Time will tell in both respects.
BUT DON'T get hung up on it being rare. Like I said before, they don't really give you rare all the time, it is just a free chick of their choosing from whatever they have a lot of.

 

[onedoodle3]

Whatever it is, he/she is adorable!

 

[criker99]

Thanks to everyone for the input. I will post pictures when he's a bit older ... will try for 10 days, but I've just been called to Alaska unexpectedly, so will take photos when I get back. It will be interesting to see what he looks like. He is much smaller than the other chicks (which are pearl white leghorns) ... more than 1/2 their size which seems odd to me.

 

[Minniechickmama]

Quote:
The Aussie chicks I got last fall were the same way at first, but then the side toes catch up and look normal. I was a little freaked out looking at them like there was something wrong, but it all worked out fine.

 

[criker99]

So I updated the photos in the first post...

 

[Illia]

Looks Cuckoo Marans to me - Barred, pink feet. . . Sounds right.

 

[CheerfulHeart2]

A cute one !

 

[criker99]

So we seem to have consensus on Cuckoo Marans ... any guesses on pullet or roo? how do you distinguish them in that breed? I don't suppose I would have been lucky enough to get a pullet