Why is her comb so dark?

[Livia Ammon]

I have a pullet who is a ‘Midnight Majesty Marans’, but her comb is way darker than her two ‘sisters’ combs. They have a reddish comb, but she has a pitch black comb still. She is 16 weeks old, and hatched in early February. I included a picture. Any good ideas on what could be going on?

 

[nuthatched]

Skin pigment, she's a melanistic

 

[Livia Ammon]

I didn’t think that MMMs could be melanistic. Besides the dark comb, she looks very similar to the other Midnight Majesty’s, just the comb is different. Any ideas on how she ended up melanistic without that being the breed standard?

 

[AinaWGSD]

MMM's are a hatchery hybrid, so there is no standard for them to adhere to. That said, it does seem unlikely for that hybrid to produce a fibromelanistic bird. Maybe she's a mislabeled Mystic Onyx?

 

[Livia Ammon]

Perhaps so, but I was under the impression Mystic Onyx didn’t have feathered legs. We got these from Hoovers Hatchery, I think

 

[AinaWGSD]

Mystic onyx are another hatchery mix. They look like they have silkie in the mix somewhere, so I'm guessing feathered feet are possible

 

[Livia Ammon]

I took some more pictures in sunlight.

 

[Livia Ammon]

I just noticed that her eye is a bright orange/brown, and from what I can tell, that isn’t normal for melanistic hens. Could the dark comb just be part of her development?

 

[nuthatched]

I didn’t think that MMMs could be melanistic. Besides the dark comb, she looks very similar to the other Midnight Majesty’s, just the comb is different. Any ideas on how she ended up melanistic without that being the breed standard?

They're hatchery 'designer breeds' so there's no standard. They some throw silkies there breeding pens sometimes. She's a pretty mix.

 

[nuthatched]

I just noticed that her eye is a bright orange/brown, and from what I can tell, that isn’t normal for melanistic hens. Could the dark comb just be part of her development?

She's not full melanistic, and bay eyes seem to beat out dark eyes most of time.