Average weight of a maran chick?

[SuzyB]

Can anyone offer an average weight for a black copper maran at 4 weeks?

Only reason I ask is I have 5, 4 week old chicks, 2 wellies, 1 cuckoo maran and 2 black copper marans. One of the black copper chicks looks younger than the others, has lots of fluff still and bald bits where feathers are just appearing, and nothing short of stubby little wings. The odd thing is when I pick them up, this chick seems to weigh a tonne in comparison to the others.

She seems healthy enough, perky and lively, she just feels really solid and heavy compared to the others. Should I be concerned or can you get chubby chicks??

[Nicos]

Myblack copper Marans are very hefty- 16 weeks I think now- so sorry- can't tell you about the actual weight.
The boys esp have thickly boned legs compared to the gal- and did infact feather up quicker.
So - no use to you at all I'm afraid
Do you know for a fact she's a she?
Marans are a mixture of different breeds- so maybe that ones bone structure has taken on a heftier ( or lighter as in the 'sister')

[SuzyB]

Thanks Nicos.

I say 'she' but thats really just best guess by the breeder. The other copper maran looks like a crow in comparison, lots of quite long feathers so they look very different even though they hatched together (so Im told). I'll try to get photos.

[Glutton4...]

My Marans are all light weight with fine bones! And scatty as hell!

[SuzyB]

Ok, first photo is tub'o'lard chick as its been lovingly nicknamed and the second one shows the difference in the amount of feathering in the two black coppers.

Also, can anyone confirm that the yellow one in the second shot is a cuckoo maran? All the photos I found on google had cuckoos as dark chicks, not creamy yellow?

[RichmondHens]

I would say the "tub of lard" is a boy. It doesn't seem to matter what breed they are, my boys are always heavier than the girls, and feather up more slowly. Boys tend to be lacking in the tail department for a long time too.

Both my cuckoo chicks have been black, so my guess is that yours isn't. Yellow down is generally an indicator of white feathers to come.

[SuzyB]

Thanks RH. Ive found a better shot of the cream one so I'll start a new post, see if anyone can identify it.

[jessmorris]

My cuckoo marns were both dark with yellow blobs. They're in my album, but not sure if labelled so may not be useful. They'll be with a brown broody................