silver cuckoo marans X easter egger question please

[chkinut]

hi guys! i hatched 5 eggs a few days ago. 3 of them that hatched are a silver cuckoo marans and EE cross. out of those 3 black chicks, one has a white spot on its head. i know that with barred rocks (and possibly cuckoo marans) that if it has a white spot on the head then its a female. what do you guys think? do i have one female out of the 3 then? please, if someone could help me with an answer i would greatly appreciate it! these 5 chicks came from 2 VERY loved pet hens of mine. i want to keep a female baby from each hen.

 

[nicalandia]

Quote:
let me do a genetic guess here... if the Cuckoo maran paren was pure and the crossed produced black chicks but only one of them has a headspot... the Only possible cross would have been EE rooster with a Cuckoo Maran Hen, this infact would have produce the Sex linked trait you are seeing, the males will have a headspot and the females will be solid black at hatch(with cream underbelly), they would have hatch out of dark maran eggs

 

[chkinut]

the hen was a silver cuckoo and the roo was a EE. so r u saying that my 2 black chicks with NO head marking are female? the 2 with no head markings have white underbellies.

 

[nicalandia]

Quote:
so I see I was right.. Yes, the chicks with no headspots are Females and the ones with a headspot will be males.. thats a Sex link cross

 

[chkinut]

awesome stuff!!! thank you SO VERY MUCH!!! now if i only knew what my other 2 chicks are!! lol. but i know only time will tell with those 2. they are both EE. mom and dad were EEs. but thanks on the other ones!!!

 

[chkinut]

one more question tho, both female chicks have pink toes and grey/black legs. will they lay brown eggs or green?

 

[nicalandia]

Quote:
the shanks will turn mostly back when they mature and if both females have peacombs then they will lay Olive eggs.. they are Olive Eggers which is an Upgrade too me

 

[chkinut]

both chicks have single combs. does that mean they will be brown egg layers? i was hoping for some olive eggs.

 

[nicalandia]

both chicks have single combs. does that mean they will be brown egg layers? i was hoping for some olive eggs.

are you 100% sure they have single comb? its normal for EEs to carry only one copy of the pea comb gene, seems like this is the case, so if all of the pullets inherited the single comb gene from her dad(and one copy from mother) this means they will have about 95% chance of be brown egg layers instead of Olive eggers, I know this sounds bad or the numbers are just too high to expect them to be Olive Eggers, but its what it is. I would keep them to see if maybe you are that lucky..

 

[chkinut]

without a doubt, they both have single combs. and i am definately keeping them since the whole point of me hatching them is to carry on another generation of my very much loved and spoiled pets. u sure seem to know your stuff!!! and i thank you VERY much!!! you've been a wonderful help!!!