Thought I had this breed thing nailed from a newbie in West Virginia!?

[rtmf626]

Can't wait to read the responses. Two days after Thanksgiving 2009, (six weeks ago) I took on 9 chics and raised them in my basement from the hatch. Started with ye 'ole fish tank and heat lamp...moved to brooder box...they are now in the beautiful coup I built back in the fall. All nine are doing fantastic.

I asked the breeder to hatch out about 10 general run Golden Comets. When I picked them up, he stated they were crossed between a Cuckoo Marans (CM's) and a Golden Comet (GC's). After reading about the different breeds and the mixed breeds on different sites and posts, I cannot get my mind around how they can be Golden Comets with CM's and GC's as parents? I could not ask for better looking birds but want to be able to explain the mix breed to others as I proudly show friends and family my birds.

There are two colors, five of them are white with a couple of black feathers on their backs...these appear to be GC's and hens, and then 4 of them are black with white tips, these appear to be the CM's and roos. I will post pics as soon as I figure out how to do it. But can someone help explain the mix breed on the Golden Comets?

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[al6517]

 

[b.hromada]

Now, advice on how to tell the difference or which breed is which, can't help you there, but................... Hello and

from S. Florida. Glad you joined us! I'm sure someone will pipe up with an answer for you. Enjoy!

 

[Cindiloohoo]

What you have are some of what we call 'designer chickens' They are not pure if the parents are different breeds, simple as that. They're mutts. That particular mix may produce sex linked birds, that could explain the roo's being one color and the hens the other color. The 'breeder' did not sell you GC's. He sold you a mix.

 

[Kenyon's Poultry]

Hello
and Welcome
from UPSTATE NY!!

 

[texasgal]

A big Texas size

 

[froggie71]

and

from NJ!

 

[ChooksChick]

There is a big difference between a hybrid and a breed. Within each breed there are colors or varieties. An example of a breed is Marans, and a color or variety of Marans is Cuckoo. A hybrid is a very specific mix of two breeds, and each parent is a specific of color/variety of their breed- an example is a Red Sex Link hybrid, which is usually a silver (white) mother bred to a red father. In the case of the Cinnamon Queen, it's a New Hampshire Red roo over a White Rock hen, also noted as NHRxWR.

You can see more info here: http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGP/Sex-links/BRKSexLink.html

Since one of the parents is a hybrid, you can't end up with anything but a hybrid. In this case, not knowing what the genetics of the Cinnamon Queen look like, nor whether the Cuckoo Marans was the roo or the hen...it's hard to tell whether you can even know whether there are any sex-linkable characteristics or whether they'll just be multicolored birds.

The good news is that hybrids are often hardier than purebred birds and you ought to have great egg layers there!

 

[ThePamperedPullet]

Welcome to BYC from The Pampered Pullets Farm in North Central Florida (Ocala)

 

[rtmf626]

Thanks to those who replied. The breeder did use the word "mutts" and did assure me they were hardier birds and great egg layers. And fortunately (because my 9 year old daughter and I are doing this together) he gave them to me for free.

I'm certain the breeder told me the roo was the Cuckoo Marans and the hen was the Golden Comet. None the less, I believe he knew what he was doing and I believe he knew I would love these birds. They are beautiful!!!

I will enjoy my mutts and continue to read other posts to understand the "sexing" better. That does fascinate me.