Orpingtons and Marans, Boys or girls?

[Basskids08]

Here are a few of my surprise chickens from California. 1st: BCM at 3 mos old NO Copper feathering anywhere 2nd: Smallest of all, 3 mos old. Still no tail. Black Orp or Olive egger. NO feathering on legs 3rd Black orp (possibly split to chocolate) 3 mos old Super slow to feather in. No feathering on legs. 2 pics 4th Black Orp 3 mos old

I'm going against the majority too. I believe the top 3 are pullets and the last cockerel.

 

[One Chick Two]

We have BCM, so I believe the top BCM is a pullet.

And a lovely one at that. Nice, long, slanted conformation of the back. Green-black feathers, no shiny pointed saddle feathers, right? Does the bottom of her feet seem pinkish? She does have black brown eyes, so would need a mate with strong red-orange (bay) eyes to help get corrected color eyes in any young. (Look at the males eyes carefully. No dark eyed or "dirty" eyed males for her.)

Seeing what I see here and no big hidden issues, assuming she is a she (hard to tell 100 percent with the photo) and lays a dark egg (at least a 4 on the Marans darkness scale) I would absolutely consider finding a quality mate for her in time. The BCM male should have good color balance to balance out her over-melanization, plus a few copper spots on his chest to balance out the hackle of the next gen of hens, but not bring in mossy coloration. A balanced female does not usually require a male with a bit of copper on the chest- BCM are all about balancing the mating partners strengths and weaknesses.

If you should breed BCM, find out whatever you can about their genetics- they can be tricky, but not impossible, and you have to cull quite a bit to maintain a quality flock. Reading the BCM disscussion thread is very helpful.

The Orps all seem to be male to me, but it is hard to tell from the angles of the photos. Best of luck!

 

[jklyles1]

We have BCM, so I believe the top BCM is a pullet.

And a lovely one at that. Nice, long, slanted conformation of the back. Green-black feathers, no shiny pointed saddle feathers, right? Does the bottom of her feet seem pinkish? She does have black brown eyes, so would need a mate with strong red-orange (bay) eyes to help get corrected color eyes in any young. (Look at the males eyes carefully. No dark eyed or "dirty" eyed males for her.)

Seeing what I see here and no big hidden issues, assuming she is a she (hard to tell 100 percent with the photo) and lays a dark egg (at least a 4 on the Marans darkness scale) I would absolutely consider finding a quality mate for her in time. The BCM male should have good color balance to balance out her over-melanization, plus a few copper spots on his chest to balance out the hackle of the next gen of hens, but not bring in mossy coloration. A balanced female does not usually require a male with a bit of copper on the chest- BCM are all about balancing the mating partners strengths and weaknesses.

If you should breed BCM, find out whatever you can about their genetics- they can be tricky, but not impossible, and you have to cull quite a bit to maintain a quality flock. Reading the BCM disscussion thread is very helpful.

The Orps all seem to be male to me, but it is hard to tell from the angles of the photos. Best of luck!

Great info! Thanks so much for sharing. Ive read it 3-4 times already and running out to look at the flock! I appreciate everyones advice, info and guesses on these chickens!

 

[jklyles1]

Here is a known male! I heard him crow yesterday morning and of course all the copper coloring in feathers. Blue Copper Marans..he is a little darker than other pics I've seen.