# maran question



## WstTxLady (Mar 14, 2009)

This Easter we purchased some Cuckoo Maran chicks from a feed store. They were just the plain Cuckoo Marans so my question is...

Why do some have slate gray legs and some yellow? And a couple have come copper coloring to their neck feathers, what gives? Just a fluke of feed store chicks? Plus they are due to lay ANYTIME and look to be done with molt but haven't started laying yet even tho the roos are acting like roos and a few pullets are dropping for them too.

I was lucky enough to get 2 roos out of the 8 Maran chicks we got:clap:

And I have discovered that a couple of my beautiful Welsummer pullet hens (yellow legged) have a tiny bit of feathers growing in between their toes. Not enough that its really noticeable but since Im very hands on with my birds, I noticed. Weird. I also have to say that the Golden Laced Wyandottes that were also purchased at the same time, same feed store are absolutely beautiful with big fluffy full bodies and perfect rose combs. I have some Silver Laced Wyandottes and out of the 9, 2 of them are NOT rose combs.

OK Im done lol thanks


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## onthespot (Oct 7, 2007)

Yellow legs is a recessive trait. Marans do not come in yellow legged variety. Barred rocks do. Some hatcheries crossed their marans with barred rocks to get the numbers up to commercial production. Egg color went out the window. Most of those will lay no darker than a Rhode Island Red. Copper on their necks is called Golden Cuckoo and the result of crossing Copper Black Marans on the Cuckoos, generally to try to darken up the egg color. Copper hackles is not neccessarily a bad thing. Probably will lay darker. Squatting and breeding behavior usually means eggs in a few weeks or less. This close to the days getting shorter, you could be not lucky enough for them to go dormant for the winter (egg laying wise) before they ever start laying. That happened to a friend of mine and her marans didn't start laying until 11 months old!


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## BlackWillowFarm (Mar 24, 2008)

Can I ask a question here too? I have a Cuckoo Maran rooster who has black dots on his legs. He sort of looks like a dalmation. His legs are pale, not yellow with black polka dots. What does this mean? 

I bought straight run Cuckoo Marans and ended up with 7 roos and 3 pullets. I found out later you can sex them as chicks. (Mother Earth News) I really like the breed and will go back for more. How can you tell a pullet from a cockerel in day old chicks?

Sorry for the thread hijack.


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## WstTxLady (Mar 14, 2009)

couple of my maran hen pullets have spots on their gray legs also.

check the wing weathers, i believe the hens have feathers that are long and short but the lil roos have all the same length.

i will keep a light on them once it starts to get cold, should help get eggs.


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## onthespot (Oct 7, 2007)

In cuckoo or barred, typically the males will have a much brighter, bigger yellow spot on top of their heads. Not always. Let me blow some hot air for a second, and re-phrase that. Chicks born with a single copy of the barring gene will have a less distinct spot on their heads. Birds with two copies of the barring gene will have a noticeably brighter spot. The barring gene is sex linked. Hens carry only one copy. They pass it to their male offspring. Males can carry either one or two copies. If they carry only one copy, they are colored like hens, darker barring. Two copies, usually their plumage is lighter colored in overall appearance, even from as soon as they start to feather out. Here are two roosters, father and son. Father is darker, single barring gene. Son is lighter, two barring genes. 



















If you cross a barred hen on a single gened roo, all the male offspring will be barred, but about half of them will be single gened barred. Half the pullets will be barred, half will not be barred at all.

If you cross the double barred gene rooster on a barred hen, all the offspring will be barred, and all the males will have two copies of the barring gene.

If you cross the barred hen on a non-barred rooster, you will get all pullets NOT barred at all, and all the cockerels will get a single copy of the barring gene. 

Hope this is not too much info, but info is power, especially when it comes to barring and other sex linked genes.


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## WstTxLady (Mar 14, 2009)

Out of the 2 maran roos we got, one is much lighter then the other but the other is lighter then the females. I will try to remember and take pics tomorrow...it rained here today and everyone of them looked like wet rats.


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## BlackWillowFarm (Mar 24, 2008)

I think my Cuckoo Marans are just hatchery birds that were bred and I got the offspring. I found them on Craigslist. They're nice birds, but probably not great quality. I like the hens because they grew big so fast, they're quiet and a full bodied bird, like a Buff Orpington or similar. I will definitely have more next year. I can't tell about egg color because I have Barnvelders and Welsummers in the mix too. I don't know who's laying what. There are some nice dark eggs being laid. 

My rooster has the double barring gene because he's lighter than the pullet. She's very dark, her legs are dark gray and I think she's quite attractive in a plain sort of way.


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## WstTxLady (Mar 14, 2009)

I just LOVE their disposition. The roos, since we raised them from fluff, are very tame and handled almost everyday. The Welsummers are sooooooooo pretty and social, very curious too.


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## Wisconsin Ann (Feb 27, 2007)

Just a point of clarification...the large spot on the top of the head is WHITE, not yellow. I'm sure onthespot was thinking about those yellow legs and typed "yellow". 

The female chicks do seem to be VERY dark compared to the males. If you have a chick with a LARGE white splotch, it's going to be a boy. Some of hte girls will have the splotch, but it's smaller, more likely pointy instead of this big roundish thing. In combination with checking wing feathers, you should be able to give it a 95% probability.


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