What do I have here?

[Kensfarm]

I recieved a dozen super dark chocolate eggs from a coworker. I was told they are from french marans in monterey, ca. I incubated them all and ended up with 7 chicks that have made it to almost 4 weeks old. First chick hatched out 3/22 and last one made it out 3/24. Did alot of research on the marans breed, and now I'm thinking what I have isn't pure bred. I also want to see if anyone can give me an idea of what sexes I have at this age.

This is a photo of the whole flock together. I put numbers so that I can easily show who is who and replies correlate to the numbers for each chick. I think the black ones are Marans but the brown speckeled ones look like easter eggers. (I've scoured google pictures and that is the closest match I found) I think 1,2&3 are hens, but worried 4,5,6&7 are turning out to be roosters.

Here is a closer side view of them. (also have same numbers)

number 1 closer

number 7 closer

number 5 closer

number 4 closer

Picture of the eggs I have been getting

I also like this sticker he puts on the little egg cartons. (its a business so please don't call and ask him for eggs)

Let me know what you guys think, thanks in advance.

 

[Mary Of Exeter]

The black ones may be pure Marans, but those brownish looking ones are definitely mixes. Probably had some other kind of roo running with them and got some of the Marans hens. Unless they are Penedesencas, which are also dark egg layers (but not as dark).

Also, I agree with you on who are roos and who are hens. That sucks that you ended up with so many roosters!

 

[Kensfarm]

ugh, well thanks for your input.

 

[Sparklee]

My guess: (heavy on the "guess")

Having been sold some PURE French Black Copper Marans from IMPORTED LINES, I know that there are some odd genetics running around out there. Your chicks could easily, very easily, have parents that are lovely and proper looking Black Copper Marans. Yes, even the rusty and brown ones. The "pure" lines being propagated out there are not all pure. The autosomal barring that #1 and #7 are showing indicates Db (Dark Brown) has been thrown into the mix somewhere along the line probably before the flock owner got her/his chicks. (You are remembering the word guess, right?) Depending on how many chickens the flock owner has and which matings were made, your other birds may also have Db in their makeup which could show up in future matings. The "black" (ER) of the Black Copper Marans often trumps (covers/hides) any brown that might be able to show through.

I believe #1 and #7 are both cockerels because the way ER/ER works is that the females will have black bodies with the heads and necks only being reddish. With #1 and #7 the complete body is reddish. That would indicate a male. These cockerels may feather out exactly correctly, but likely they will be extra reddish down their chests or possibly all over if Db isn't the only wrong gene. eb or e+ or eWh could be in there, too, from what I understand. The overly reddish chests don't mean they're not Black Copper Marans according to the standards, just that they're not the best examples. I don't remember if overly red chest is a disqualification in the show ring or just a fault. As long as the Black Coppers breed correctly 50% of the time, then a Black Copper Marans is a Black Copper Marans. That's the beauty of chickens. If you'll notice, you do have over 50% of the chicks showing the basic correct coloring. Just as an aside, some breeders keep the overly red chests roosters and breed them to hens that are way too black which then produce a more balanced chick. I have read that advice more times that I can count.

The Monterey Bay Marans seem to be breeding just for eggs. So these are fine egg layers. I would myself not believe that any other breed got in with them and made some mutts. These are quite likely Black Copper Marans. You can breed with the two rusty and brown cockerels if you first test mate all their children and only breed with those children that pass the tests. In reality, all the black birds should go through test matings also because these rusty and brown genes hide in the flock. There are few flocks that have been test mated with NH or RIR chickens to make sure that they are truly ER/ER (pure birchen or at least pure extended black/birchen). I can't even begin to suggest a breeder of pure Black Coppers because I haven't heard of any that claim that their birds have all been test mated with NH or RIR, etc., chickens to make sure that no Db, eb, eWh, etc., aren't floating around in their flock.

If you want to breed these chickens without first doing the test matings, then it would be really nice if you could explain to those you sell to that these are not Show Quality Black Copper Marans and that they have good egg color, but may breed a few off color birds 2 times out of 7 (as the case with your chicks) or something like that.

On another note, that's so cool that you can get eggs like that so simply. Those are some dark eggs and probably much cheaper than what many folks have to pay for hatching eggs of the exact same quality.

My guess: Only #2 and #3 are hens

 

[Sparklee]

If you post these pics over on this thread about Marans

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=444381&p=27

you might get some more educated opinions from Marans owners.

 

[Kensfarm]

Wow, Thanks Sparklee. Very informative with your genetics help.

I think I will just keep them as long as possible to see who feathers out to what colors.

I was definitly not looking to have show quality birds myself, but I'm glad you mentioned that breeding info, just in case I put them on craigslist. I wouldn't want someone to see that I have Marans eggs and not be informed of the genetic possibilities of the chicks.

Adding to your sidenote, I didn't realize how much these eggs go for when I first took them home. I didn't even know they were Marans until after they hatched and I asked the guy what breed he thought they might be.

I saw that Marans thread last night, but it was really long and I didn't get very far reading through the posts. I will definitly post there, to see what they have to say as well.

Thanks again.