I'm new to Marans, but fell in love with them last fall when I saw a flock of them at a breeders place, so I got some chicks this spring. They were straight run and I only ended up with 3 girls. One of them is quite beautiful even though she didn't turn out black. I'm going to keep her anyway, because she is such a sweetie pie. The other two are all black with a white spot on the tip of their wings. I wonder if the white will disappear as they get older. The white on their faces has been slowly disappearing as time goes by. There has been no copper showing up on the two black ones yet. I think they will end up being completely black.....except those white spots on their wing tips. Can anyone tell me about how the colors change as they grow? They are eight weeks old now.
Here are some pics.
They are still very young, so a lot can change in the next 6 or more months! The white on the wings should go away as they get older, or with their first molt. The copper may or may not come in, and sometimes it doesn't come in until their adult molt at about a year old. Even though they may not express the copper, keep in mind that they are still genetically Black Coppers, and not a true or pure Black. That first bird has something going on there, looks like barring?? If it were just the straight patches of copper on her body, I would call it "mossy", but she looks barred to me. Pinkchick had this sort of thing come up in her flock, she would be able to help you more than me.
"Live and learn from fools and from sages" ~ Aerosmith
Black & Blue Copper Marans, and one Wheaten ~ White, Partridge & BBS Silkies
Member of: ASBC
"Live and learn from fools and from sages" ~ Aerosmith
Black & Blue Copper Marans, and one Wheaten ~ White, Partridge & BBS Silkies
Member of: ASBC
The ground in the pen is being visited by Mr. Gopher, hey, saves me from taking the tiller in there!
