What breed is this broody???

[ChickenHooked]

Hi all! Hopefully you can help me - I am going crazy here. Not a big deal, just one of those things... I have Australorps In my flock that are almost 2 years old, and also added 2 black copper marans (among others) as day olds last June. All are hens/pullets. The bcms were purchased from MPC and never had any copper on them. Pure black. Clean legs. Also had smallish combs. Once they were intermingled with the older flock I had difficulty distinguishing the bcms from the 'lorps. I "believe" I lost a bcm last month - died in the nest box and I didn't want to see it, so hubby took care of it. He said there was very little/no comb, so I assumed it was a bcm, leaving me with just one. The other day we noticed a broody hen. Set her up in a basement broody breaker. Problem: it's either my 9-month old bcm or a 2 year old Australorp. Can you help? I'll try to attach photos. Total newbie to this site. Thx!!!!

 

[wyandottegirl]

Does your broody have a single comb? If she does then it's probably the Australorp.

 

[ChickenHooked]

I thought both the marans and the Australorps have single combs... Now I'm totally confused. To make it even more weird my broody has a small, kinda pea-like comb, as seen in the pic.

 

[wyandottegirl]

Do you have any cross's in your flock? Oops I forgot that you said you had some marans.

 

[ChickenHooked]

I have many other chickens; can differentiate between all except the totally black ones. My black sex-links have the brown in their necks. Just the marans and Australorps are all black.

 

[goodb]

Looks just like the Black Australorp I had.

 

[ChickenHooked]

The comb is throwing me off - are the marans or the Australorps more likely to have a comb like that? This may be a better pic of her comb:

I'm leaning to my 9 month old maran...

 

[Wyandottes7]

Her comb is wrong for either an Australorp or a Marans. I'm leaning towards her being the Australorp.

 

[wyandottegirl]

I have an Australorp cross that has a rose comb. So I'm probably leaning towards the Australorp.

 

[BantamLover21]

She is not a purebred Australorp or Marans, but may be a mix of one of those breeds.