French Black Copper Marans

Eggselent MaransHardy, friendly, and prolific layers of DARK brown eggs, these are among my favorite birds. They all went broody at the same time and were so determined we ended up giving each hen 2 chicks from a large hatching.

DisappointedI was SO excited to see that Mcmurray added the black French coppers. We splurged and ordered 15 to use as breeding pens for our kids for 4H.

They we were all healthy and alive upon arrival. I was expecting a clean legged variety so was nervous to find that most of them were feather legged/ footed. With some research it depends upon which strain that is being used.
In the end we ended up with 10 roosters and 5 hens. (first disappointment but the chance you take with straight run).
Next disappointment was that we noticed 3 of the hens had curled toes. They were still able to eat and live however as time went on their toes curled to the point that they were walking on a knuckle.
Some of the roosters had bent toes however not the severity of the hens.
I did call Mcmurray and they explained its a riboflavin deficiency. We immediately started to supplement however at this time I believe its too late for the hens (I have not been unsuccessful in selling the roosters so plan to butcher them this fall). I ordered 7 different breeds in addition with the French black copper marans and the FBCM were the ONLY ones effected by the curled toes/ feet.
Mcmurray did request photos and is willing to replace the birds. Which is great on their customer service end however we are fearful of receiving another 10 roosters.
ADVISEMENT be sure that your supplementing your feed with QuickChick or something AT ALL TIMES.
We had used QuickChick the first week but then stopped. If we ever order these again we will do something different (even tho I don't think we will order them again)