Barred Rock or Cuckoo Marans? Cockerel or Pullet?

[tori729]

So I got some eggs from a friend and only one of them hatched. The rooster was a lavender orpington and they have various hens but some are barred rocks. When this baby hatched, I thought for sure it was a barred rock MALE because of my research about possibilities with those two crosses sounded like it would only produce a male barred rock. However, he is looking much more like a SHE and her legs are more of a white than a yellow so I was wondering if it makes more sense that she is a cuckoo marans instead? My friend just has random barnyard mixes plus some austrolorps, barred rocks, and orpingtons.

I guess I'll know more once she's laying but we already have marans so it may be hard to tell if one is from her.

 

[JedJackson]

If the flock only had one rooster and it was the lavender Orpington, then the mother was barred and the chick must be a cockerel due to sex link genetics.

If there was a barred rooster in the flock then it could be a female.

 

[tori729]

If the flock only had one rooster and it was the lavender Orpington, then the mother was barred and the chick must be a cockerel due to sex link genetics.

If there was a barred rooster in the flock then it could be a female.

I know there was at least one other rooster but I don't remember what kind it is, I'll have to find out.

 

[tori729]

Ok so my friends have two separate flocks; the one is more "purebreds" with the lavender orpington rooster and several different kinds of hens.
The other flock are all babies of the original flock which means they are NOT purebreds. I know the rooster is black so he's probably an Australorp mix. I don't know as much about the hens but a lot of them are also black. So with mixes like this, is it possible to get a female BR? Maybe the females in her flock had the BR gene and were able to pass the barring on? The white feet throw me though.
I just would be really surprised if this one is a rooster, she's six weeks old and looks nothing like our orpington rooster which is the ugliest little thing I've ever seen.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

The white feet throw me though.

white skin is dominant to yellow.. and lavender being recessive will breed as black when not bred to another lavender or lavender split.

 

[WingItRanch]

Sounds like either way, you've got a barnyard mix on your hands. With those THICK legs, I'm leaning toward cockerel.

 

[Chicken_tiger_catt]

So I got some eggs from a friend and only one of them hatched. The rooster was a lavender orpington and they have various hens but some are barred rocks. When this baby hatched, I thought for sure it was a barred rock MALE because of my research about possibilities with those two crosses sounded like it would only produce a male barred rock. However, he is looking much more like a SHE and her legs are more of a white than a yellow so I was wondering if it makes more sense that she is a cuckoo marans instead? My friend just has random barnyard mixes plus some austrolorps, barred rocks, and orpingtons.

I guess I'll know more once she's laying but we already have marans so it may be hard to tell if one is from her.

probably not a Maran, as the legs are clean, whereas a Maran would be feathered.

 

[tori729]

probably not a Maran, as the legs are clean, whereas a Maran would be feathered.

But cuckoo marans can have clean feet, right?

Sounds like either way, you've got a barnyard mix on your hands. With those THICK legs, I'm leaning toward cockerel.

His/her legs are no thicker than the others we have that are 1-2 days older although I could compare them with the rooster; there may not be a huge difference at this point.

 

[AinaWGSD]

It's a barnyard mix and if neither of their roosters are barred it is for sure a cockerel. Barring is dominant, if they have the gene for barring they will be barred. It can't be carried, hidden, by a non-barred bird.

Birds are "backwards" from mammals when it comes to sex chromosomes. Males are ZZ and females are ZW. Barring is only found on the Z chromosome. So a barred female can only pass barring on to her male offspring because her female offspring will inherit the (in this case, non-barred) Z chromosome from the rooster.

 

[tori729]

It's a barnyard mix and if neither of their roosters are barred it is for sure a cockerel. Barring is dominant, if they have the gene for barring they will be barred. It can't be carried, hidden, by a non-barred bird.

Birds are "backwards" from mammals when it comes to sex chromosomes. Males are ZZ and females are ZW. Barring is only found on the Z chromosome. So a barred female can only pass barring on to her male offspring because her female offspring will inherit the (in this case, non-barred) Z chromosome from the rooster.

This is what I originally thought but it just doesn't look roosterish yet. Plus when I went to find out the difference between BR cockerels and pullets, it seemed like a pullet (black with white stripes, small dot on head, dark splash on feet) but maybe it's just a late bloomer.

Plus, we are sort of in love with this one, having actually hatched it. <3 At least if it's a rooster, my friend is happy to take it back so we know it will be loved.