What Breed are my Hens?

[Northfork Butt Nuggets]

I got four grey chicks from a feed store about two and a half years ago. They are supposed to be pure bred chickens and for the life of me I can not remember what breed they are. They are all this color. Two have lightly feathered feet/legs and the other two do not. But all same coloring all lay a variation of large brown eggs. Can anyone help me try to identify the breed?

 

[Noraaaaa]

Those would be blue Orpingtons! They usually sell for about $25 a chick, they do very well in shows, are good layers and are just a solid chicken.

EDIT: do your birds have feathered legs? I was looking back at pictures if they do they are not blue Orpingtons.

 

[wrathsfarm]

Blue Copper Marans

 

[Northfork Butt Nuggets]

Those would be blue Orpingtons! They usually sell for about $25 a chick, they do very well in shows, are good layers and are just a solid chicken.

EDIT: do your birds have feathered legs? I was looking back at pictures if they do they are not blue Orpingtons.

Two have feathered legs and two do not

 

[Noraaaaa]

Two have feathered legs and two do not

Okay! The feather legged ones I would guess blue cooper
Maran then the non feathered would be blue Orpingtons!

 

[wrathsfarm]

Two have feathered legs and two do not

Egg pics please?

 

[Northfork Butt Nuggets]

Egg pics please?

 

[Rhodebar Lover]

The two pictured appear to be Blue Marans. I need pictures of the two without feathered legs and pictures of their foot bottoms to determine skin color. Type, eye, and skin color are very helpful when determining breeds

 

[wrathsfarm]

Just for clarification here, Marans can be heavy, light or non feathered legged. I'm not saying the 2 non feathered are Marans by any means and according to that light egg on the right, whoever layed that would be not a Marans or very poor quality example if it is.

Look for slate grey legs and pink feet for the Marans, the leg feathering and straight comb is a clue, plus the darker eggs.

As stated above closer pics will help identify.

 

[Rhodebar Lover]

Just for clarification here, Marans can be heavy, light or non feathered legged. I'm not saying the 2 non feathered are Marans by any means and according to that light egg on the right, whoever layed that would be not a Marans or very poor quality example if it is.

Look for slate grey legs and pink feet for the Marans, the leg feathering and straight comb is a clue, plus the darker eggs.

As stated above closer pics will help identify.

That is true. Hence why I asked to see the full bird. Two with feathered legs and two without coupled with a very light egg is pointing to a blue hybrid layer. If the suspect hybrid has the heavier Marans type and pink skin, Marans is still an option. That being said, these birds are from a feedstore and likely is sourcing from Hoover's. They state their Blue Copper Marans should have feathered legs and call them "French." The French and APA standard call for feathered legs and English for clean. Clean legged Marans seem to be most common in the cuckoo lines that were around before the French popularity surge. Now, these birds aren't even exhibiting proper levels of copper so this becomes a question of what's most likely. Poor quality Marans or another blue hybrid. I think seeing the whole bird will give more of a picture. When you see hoof prints, think horse not zebra. Instead of a Marans showing very few traits of one/not exhibiting leg feathering which is dominant, I would start to suspect that there were multiple breeds in the bin.