Black Copper Maran Chicks?

[MotherHen of10]

I bought 12 Black Copper Marans Eggs from a breader. Two broody mums were very diligent but only 7 hatched. One died.
Of the 7, three are black, two are lemon and one buff. Do I only have 3 Black Copper Marans?
Oh, I worked out how to upload photos. Both mum's are not Marans, chicks are being adopted.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

You probably need to post a few more times before you can upload photos.

Hard to say if the 3 are actually Black copper Maran, since some appear mixed or a different breed, I wouldn't trust they are what you were told unfortunately.

 

[drumstick diva]

agree

 

[junebuggena]

Very likely that all those chicks are mixed breed.

 

[donrae]

Best pic I could find of my Marans chicks. From what I can see, the middle pic may well be a Marans chick--right color, looks like right skin color, feathered legs, straight comb. You'll just have to look at them and see. The light chicks---her black coppers could be hiding Wheaten, but since there's so many of them they're probably mixed breeds. That could account for the light chicks, but that reddish one is a mixed breed or something else entirely.

I'd send pics to the breeder and ask them to help you.

 

[BantamLover21]

Very likely that all those chicks are mixed breed.

x2

 

[MotherHen of10]

Thanks, I contacted breeder but have not shown him photos yet. He said that the roosters dad was a wheaten. Explains the two yellow ones but not the buff colour.
Also not happy as he did not mention this when I picked up the eggs. Just curious too, is 7 out of 12 eggs an expected result for hatching?
Here are more pictures. Only one week old so too soon really but starting to think about what sex these may be.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

It will be a little while until you can tell the sex of your chicks. Around 5 weeks the boys will start getting pink comb where the girls will remain orange yellow.

Sounds like maybe the hen was a Maran and the rooster was something else.

I get about 90% hatch out of my own eggs. Shipped eggs are usually around 50% hatch rate, but can vary from 0% to 80% from my own experiences.

 

[donrae]

It's not a great hatch rate, but it's not horrible. Depends on a lot of variables, how the eggs were stored, how they were transported, how old they were, etc.

How much did you pay for them? Myself, I'd be very unhappy if I paid $$ for BCM eggs and got mutts. I mean, yeah, the pullets should still lay decently dark eggs if the father is a pure Marans, but they're not going to be pure for variety, and not what you paid for.

 

[abbey21]

I have BCMs and they looked just like that as chicks. I also have a Buff Maran which lays beautiful dark speckled eggs. In my experience, the pullets developed tails and feathers faster than the roos. Karan's grow very quickly but are my favorite breed! I have kept BCMs, Blue Copper Marans, and a Buff Maran- all very sweet and lay huge brown eggs! : )