Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome! - Page 2

Here is a cute pic of "Pipsqueak" and her teddy bear. She can hear the other chicks next to her, but I have blocked their line of vision for now as they are so much bigger, and I don't want her to feel like she's being looked at like their possible dinner!  Still, no further signs of life in the other eggs...

Hi everyone!

I was kinda scared to post in the other thread, but it was pretty interesting reading.  Thanks for starting a new Marans thread though. 

I have fallen in love with this breed - my little BCMs are only about 10 weeks old, but they're a pleasure to have in the flock.  I'm not going to be breeding these particular birds since they don't have the feathered legs BUT they sure are turning out to be beautiful.  Does anyone actually favor the clean legs even though it isn't included in the proposed standard?


Again, thanks for starting the Marans thread again.

I like to show birds.  And my Marans are not too far off what the French standards wants.  I guess I expect more from them in the way of consistancy throughout the flock which has inhibited me from showing them yet.  But, I found that taking my 6 BCM boys to our Indiana Chickenstock today for others to see who are respected Exhibition breeders has made me feel more comfortable now in taking a few of my boys to the upcoming shows.  We need to get our babies out there to change the minds of those into APA shows.   I think, alot of my past thinking of the breed has been tainted by those folks who just don't have the patience needed to take on a breed like this.  It isn't going to happen overnite without folks gettin them out there to be seen.  I was shocked on how few knew what a Marans was when I went to Chickenstock today.  And most were surprised how big my boys are.  They too think Marans are a bunch of scrawny birds.
We just need to get them out where we all can compare our birds to each other.  Then we know what we need to do to make this breed thrive in the USA.  To me my boys don't look big.  I guess I have been looking at them thru Orpington eyes and not Marans breeder's eye.  So, starting with our Lebanon IN APA Show in October I will take a boy or two.  Get em out there is the key.  Good luck to those who do!

My boys I am keeping have plenty to be adressed.  I hate their tails.  BUT, I have girls who have great tails.  SO, I gave away for free to SEABRIGHTMOM (Heather Perkins) my best tailed BCM boy today.  His tail is perfecto.  She is a very smart, sweet lady and has a good eye.   The boy she got is from the same breeding as these two.  Except 4 months younger, & he has one point too many on the comb.  So we all have something to breed towards.  And we all have to share to make our breed better.  Sharing to me, means for "FREE".  Good luck Heather with little Rondo.
November of last year hatch, R00p

His 1/2 bro R00fus who is 3 months younger

Im growing out 2 Wheaten marans boys that are a bit over 4 months old. Both came from excellent lines and really really dark eggs.  I have to choose between them, because they are all that I have.  One is much bigger than the other, broader, just a big big boy.  Looks to be really nice....but he's got that squirrel tail thing going on.  The other roo is smaller, narrower, with a better tail.  Im thinking that at this junction, size and width is more important than the tail.  I suppose as long as I can get the next generation to be good size, I can always work on the tail.  Does that make sense?  I hate looking at that tail, but I hate worse looking at a smaller rooster.

halo, except for obvious faults, such as squirrel tail,they are far too young. Let them grow out & mature, check the weights on a scale & compare with the Standard.
David

Debbi~ She's really cute! that more will hatch for you!

As stated int he first post here, this thread was started to replace one that got out of hand.

I just cleaned it up again which is sad for only being on page 2.

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UNLESS the smaller birds tail is perfect, I agree with you.  Go for the size.

Hi Everyone!!!   

Debbi~ Congrats! Please keep us posted.

Hi all,

I am looking for information about Wheaten Marans because I'm trying to determine if a chick I hatched from a batch of Black Copper Marans eggs is a Wheaten or possibly something else.  I posted in a different area (please forgive me for double-posting) before I found this thread.  What better place to get accurate information on Marans than the Marans Thread?

I purchased 7 BCM eggs from a local breeder.  According to her, they are from the Wade Jeane line.  This is what I got when they hatched:


I was surprised when one of them was yellow. 

Here are a couple of pictures of my chick at 6 weeks:



In the first, he is pictured with another chick from the same hatch.

As far as I know the breeder does not have any White Marans, and I believe she keeps her breeding birds segregated as she sells the eggs for hatching.  I have also hatched Blue and Splash Marans chicks from her eggs, and they are definitely blue and splash.

Someone suggested that this was either a White Marans, which I really doubt, or a "sport", which I'm still not exactly sure what that is.  I found an old post that discusses Wheatens coming from BCMs of the Wade Jeane line, but the photos were no longer accessible.

I'm hoping that you can shed some light on this and help me understand a little more about chicken genetics and the Marans breed. 

Thanks for your help!!