Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome! - Page 3363

Quote:

Originally Posted by chicknadventure 

I have a genetics question, hope this is ok to ask here...

 

I have what I think is a cuckoo maran, but the breeder does not have cuckoo's. She does have black copper's. Is it possible to get a cuckoo from 2 BCM's?

I believe barring/cuckoo is dominant and, therefore, shouldn't be hiding. Would be interesting to see pictures of the parents and the suspect off-spring.

(edited to add: NOT an expert, just a reader)

Quote:

Originally Posted by desertmarcy 

I am seriously in need of help in determining which birds of my black copper Marans to cull. I hatched out a lot--I have about 125 black and 30 blue copper chicks on the ground!! OMG what was I thinking. Well, I know what I was thinking--that the birds I have need improvement, so I thought I'd hatch a lot so I'd have a lot to choose from. 4 out of 5 of my hens are solid black, improvement #1 needed. The 5th has only a little copper on hackles. The egg color needs improvement, big #2. Cock is pretty nice--I'd like to see his tail set lower and he has a thumbprint comb. And I'd like to see his hackle feathers more mahogany, not so brassy. So these are the things I wanted to work on, but really! I do not have the money to feed all these birds to the age where I can see what is what and the space for them--can't free range here, too many bobcats and hawks. Right now I have the ones that look male in one pen, females in another pen, and an outside brooder that has the younger ones, but it is too crowded and I am getting a lot of picking. So--here are a few questions, please experts out there, I need to thin numbers down soon.

 

1. Other than culling at hatch for obvious problems, how old (ideally and realistically) should I raise the birds before deciding? I understand they change quite a bit.

2. I have some mossy pullets. Are these a definite cull or sell as dark egg layer now, or will this go away/change?

3. Several of the pullets have white tipped feathers, especially on their breast. Cull or sell as above, or will this go away/change?

4. How long to wait to see if their foot color changes to gray/slate? Most of my chicks were hatching with yellow/pale feet/legs, but I see that most change to what they should be. (I see one of the mossy pullets in the first pic does not have solid slate feet).

5. How long before I know the pullets will stay solid black? How long does it take for the copper color to come in if it is going to? It seems like the ones that have some copper are also mossy.

6. What about those feathers on the middle toe? A lot of my chicks had this, and I didn't cull since I had what I thought were more important issues to deal with. If I culled for that alone, I'd be able to cut down numbers very fast. Some of them have just a few, others more.

7. And what about the color on this blue copper (don't know if it is a pullet or cockerel yet):

8. And lastly, is it usual to have so many culls with this breed? I know they are a work in progress, but I didn't expect quite this much of a job. Frankly, it is very discouraging, plus they naturally are much more flighty and "don't touch me" attitude than other breeds I have, which I don't like. Plus I didn't have any problems with picking with my other chicks until the Marans went out there (to the outside brooder). Insight on this? Please, give it to me straight what to do and what to look for, I am sure I am missing some things that I should be on the lookout for.

 

I was hoping to raise the extra cockerels to good size for butcher since we did that last year and they were very good. I think I butchered at 5 months, but not sure now. What age do you all recommend? I am sorry this is so long, but I have some issues here that need worked out yesterday.

 

 You should check out the begining section of the Black Copper Marans thread and jump around the earlier pages of this thread - there is some information about the mossy feathering there.  The  toe feathering is a DQ I think and I did cull for that with my birds except on my blue pullet and Splash Rooster as they were just the biggest birds in the bunch.  The coloring looks off to me on the blue bird. 150 birds is alot to me and I would imagine would give you the ability to cull severely at first and then slow down as they grow.  I am not sure about the white feathering but I know I culled my biggest black copper roo due to the persistence of his white feathers  (especially in his tail and hackle undergrowth areas) but that was after 15-17 weeks  and yours look like they are still feathering in. The pics of your girls look pretty mossy and they do have a lot of neck color and I think that could mean they will be overly colored but I am new to all of this.I would also think you want to look at the shape and stance of your birds when you are thinking of culling, as tail angle and comb issues also play a part.

I love my Black Roo but his back is to short so I'm hoping to hatch something new this year but really want to find someone with nice dark eggs. I'm looking on Ebay but if anyone wants to PM me please feel free. I am being NPIP cerified on May 8th so that's also a concern for me now.

My BCM's are not too flighty and have become much friendlier but my favorite is my Splash Roo - great personality -he's like a dog how he follows you about and he's a sweetie!

Well hopefully someone who knows can offer a fuller and better criitique than mine. Take care y'all.

Well guys, I'm back for now, I really need a distraction from my life! What better way than to talk chickens??

Donna ~  I may be way wrong here, but I believe the middle toe feathering is a DQ. The SOP calls for outer toe feathering only, so anything else would be incorrect. All you lucky folks with the SOP books, chime in here!!

Marcy~ This breed is not something you are going to fix overnight; and I don't care if you hatch  500 chicks at a whack!  You will have to learn to pick and choose your battles here, ie, what bugs you the most outside of being a DQ.  Funky combs, cull them! Clean shanks, cull them! Mossy like the ones you show probably won't get any better, cull them to the laying flock as they will probably lay the darkest eggs! Yellow legs past 4 weeks, cull. Anything not looking like it will be of good size and type, cull.  If I were you, I would not worry much about the white feathers you are seeing at that age! White feathers can be defeated in a few generations too, if you are dealing with otherwise nice birds! White feathers in some lines will come and go, according to molting. Black hens can be overcome by using a more "colorful" roo in the breeding. You know, the ones with the slight copper on the breast area, and rich copper color in the hackles/saddles. Please! Watch the combs very carefully for sprigs and carnations!!!!  If you get into this problem, you will have a real hassle on your hands, and should cull ALL with the problems! Looking at your pics, I like the bunch you have shown with the white feathering the most! I have yet to have a mossy problem here, everything here is over melanized. Some of the mossy girls also look to have "Crow heads" which is not desireable. If you hatched 100 chicks, you should cull hard and consider yourself lucky to get 10 - 20 good ones to keep and experiment with. You can't clean it all up in a year or so, it's just not going to happen. Stay with the line/lines you have, don't introduce more stuff in there that may have other problems, and keep trying. I've not seen anyone yet that has had total success with this breed, it's all still a crap shoot! Good luck, and just try to remember to ENJOY your chickens!!!!

I just noticed an issue with one of my maran chicks.  Its about 4-5weeks old and has what I would think is webbed feet.  What should I do for it? It can't spread its toe out and seems to have some issues walking. I though it had something stuck on its foot the way it was acting.

All that said, my Wynette babies are now 6 weeks old! Gees, where does the time go??  The pullet is looking good, nice shank toe feathering, and she is very adept in giving me the stink eye on a regular basis! I know she won't have many problems consolidating with the flock! The first cockerel had clean shanks at hatch, and of course, was the better looking of the two roos. He has since grown some stubs on his shanks, so???  The other roo that hatched was the one I had to help out, and I am so glad I did!! Pretty boy, nice frame, a tad of color already coming in on the front of his neck (something I could use here with all my over melanized girls!) , nice comb, and almost street sweeper shanks/toes! And a very calm attitude to boot!!  He looks very promising at 6 weeks, hope he keeps going that way. I will try to get some pics of them soon. I sure hope the pullet isn't the broody type, if she is, I can see losing a finger or two to her! Oooo, you should SEE the looks I get from her at 6 weeks of age, and she gets right into my face!  She won't be the "favorite" of the roos, I can already tell, she will be kicking butt!

Quote:

Originally Posted by Debbi 

All that said, my Wynette babies are now 6 weeks old! Gees, where does the time go??  The pullet is looking good, nice shank toe feathering, and she is very adept in giving me the stink eye on a regular basis! I know she won't have many problems consolidating with the flock! The first cockerel had clean shanks at hatch, and of course, was the better looking of the two roos. He has since grown some stubs on his shanks, so???  The other roo that hatched was the one I had to help out, and I am so glad I did!! Pretty boy, nice frame, a tad of color already coming in on the front of his neck (something I could use here with all my over melanized girls!) , nice comb, and almost street sweeper shanks/toes! And a very calm attitude to boot!!  He looks very promising at 6 weeks, hope he keeps going that way. I will try to get some pics of them soon. I sure hope the pullet isn't the broody type, if she is, I can see losing a finger or two to her! Oooo, you should SEE the looks I get from her at 6 weeks of age, and she gets right into my face!  She won't be the "favorite" of the roos, I can already tell, she will be kicking butt!

My broodies never really did anything like attack.  My marans she puffs up really big, but she is all talk and no action.  She lost another chick, my fault sort of.  There was a gap in between the wall and the box and the chick was stuck and died. I have not really tried to play with the chicks. but they do see me often.  I like to watch the mamas work.  The rock is doing great!  she pecked one on the head today when she called it to hide from me it didn't come quick enough.... too cute.