Cuckoo Maran
“This breed, which originated in western France in the town of Marans, is best known for its dark chocolate colored eggs. It is a fast grower and does well in damp areas, having been developed in a marshy portion of France. The original French birds have feathered legs, but this characteristic has been bred out of the British and many American lines. The French recognize 8 varieties: 1. Silver Cuckoo, 2. Golden Cuckoo, 3. White, 4. Coppered Black, 5. Black, 6. Wheat, 7. Black-tailed Fawn, and 8. Ermine; they are considering adding the Silvered Black (created since 1932 and remarkable for the color and spherical form of its eggs). In the Cuckoo Marans, males are lighter in color than females–it is said to be possible to color sex them even as chicks with pretty good accuracy.” ~ http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGK/Marans/BRKMarans.html
Our hen should look a lot like the color variety above and as a chick she is black on top with cream underneath. She is our oldest chick, between 2 and 3 weeks of age. We have decided to name her Henny. We have two other chicks which are younger and they have been treating her as Mom. They like to get underneath her (she is only slightly larger then they, so doesn’t work very well) and since she is older she is the first to explore new foods and the other two come running to see what she has.
Buff Orpington
“Orpingtons are big, friendly dual-purpose birds originally developed in the UK, and for many small farms Orpingtons are the only way to go! They’re friendly and cold-hardy due to their fluffy plumage. They lay large brown eggs.” ~ http://www.mypetchicken.com/chicken-breeds/Orpington-B80.aspx
Our Buff is the second oldest chick between 1 and 2 weeks of age and is the typical yellow fluff ball. We have named her Penny.
Ameraucana
“The “Easter Egg Chicken” originally came from Chile in South America, discovered by the Araucana Indians. The true Araucana chicken is rumpless (tailless) and has a small curling tuft of feathers next to each ear. The Easter Egg Chicken (Ameraucanas) is different because they have a full beard under the beak and have a tail. This breed comes in a wide variety of colors, patterns, combinations of colors, with a full beard under the beak and high egg production of colorful eggs. The color of their egg shells vary from pale blue to dark blue, to various shades of green.” ~ http://buycitychickens.com/chickens-for-pets-fun/21-easter-egg-standard-chicken.html
Since these chickens come in a variety of colors in the same batch we are not sure what final color our chicken will be. Right now she is very light color with a few brown spots, so she may be light brown as an adult. Note the blue legs, bill, and ear on this bird – our girl will have blue skin too (thus the blue eggs). She is our youngest chick, just a week old. We have named her Sky.
Turns out as an adult Sky did not get the blue gene nor have a beard, so she does not look like this chicken and she does not lay blue eggs, they are light brown. But we love her anyway.