Information on breeds

[_Kimberli]

Hello, I recently got 7 more chicks and I'd love more information on them. I got two colorpack blue layers, two mystic onyx, and three blue cuckoo marans. I've been recently looking online for more information on these breeds but it doesn't show very much.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Hybrids and mutts are not breeds. The only breed you have is the Marans.

 

[NatJ]

Hello, I recently got 7 more chicks and I'd love more information on them. I got two colorpack blue layers, two mystic onyx, and three blue cuckoo marans. I've been recently looking online for more information on these breeds but it doesn't show very much.

Apart from the Marans, you have specially-bred hybrids (mixes of two or more breeds) rather than actual pure breeds. But I think you are asking for information about the kinds of chickens you have, not whether the word "breed" is technically correct.


As regards information on them, not much information is available on some new hybrids, because no-one has had them for long. Hatcheries keep developing new hybrids and selling them, but without providing much information other than what egg color and maybe a photo of what they look like.

I can find a few hatcheries that talk about the color pack blue layers. Example:
https://www.thechickhatchery.com/product/color-pack-blue-layers/
https://jenkshatchery.com/products/cs-t2
It looks like they are hybrids that include some Cream Legbar ancestry (for the blue egg gene), and there are actually several different crosses involved to produce color-sexable or feather-sexable chicks with a variety of feather colors. Beyond that, I would expect blue eggs (possibly some green ones or brown ones), a variety of feather colors, probably a slender body shape.

Hoovers Hatchery sells Mystic Onyx and marks the name as being a registered trademark:
https://hoovershatchery.com/mysticonyx.html
Basically, black-skinned birds with some Silkie ancestry (black skin being the most obvious Silkie-type trait).
They have been around long enough that there are probably some threads on this site talking about them, but I didn't do a search to verify that.

For Cuckoo Marans, they are a pure breed that lays dark brown eggs. They grow up to be black with white barring, have single combs, white soles on their feet (vs. some other chickens have other-colored soles). They may have some feathers on their feet or lower legs, or they may not, because that trait is variable. They should generally have a dual-purpose body shape (not very slender like the best laying hens, not big and round like the best meat chickens.)

 

[Egghead_Jr]

Easter egger is a term for mixes with some blue egg laying ancestry. They usually produce a pale blue or pale greenish egg and of course there is no guaranty the particular bird carries a blue egg gene so pink or brown eggs are also possible.