Wheaten and Blue wheaten Marans Discussion Thread - Page 244

Thanks Randy!

Your males are looking very nice!  I am guessing those in the last group shots are about 3 months old?

If you guys remember, I've been posting pictures of my oldest male every few weeks as he grows up:

Here he is (left) on June 10th :

and then again on June 19th:

and the last update I gave was on June 29th! More than a month ago:

And here's his progress 4 weeks later! This is Caesar today:

The only thing I can spot with my inexperienced eye that is a problem is the lack of points on his crest/crown -  only 4.  So far there isn't much sign of white fluff on his back. His leg feathers are getting darker by the day.  

Let me know what you folks think and many thanks!

Boy, how quickly they grow! The things that bother me most about him is,  #1) there should not be any copper on the breast or front of neck.  #2) he has very light colored eyes. This could be the light they were taken in, and the fact that he is young the color may deepen with age.  I have no experience with Wheaten except for the one pullet here, so maybe they develop differently due to their color, but I would watch those eyes. At 7 weeks, my pullet has a greyish green eye color, and that is what I am used to seeing in the Black and Blue Coppers also. I can't see his comb very well, but I think I would rather have one less point on the comb than too many, just me. Here is a link to the Wheaten standard for you to check out.  http://marans.org/WheatenVariety.html

Hey gang! Mine are still growing and starting to look better. Thanks very much to Randy for all the pictures, nothing like that kind of detail to see what I'm after. My little cockerels DO seem to have the reddish triangles after all, but sadly they were a little feather picked from being cooped up in the small coop together. Or perhaps maybe now that they are all out and free ranging they are holding their postures better so that I can see them. 

Another question for the group: I have a couple that are definitely black tail buffs and won't be keeping them.. My assumption is that they will not be useful to me in a wheaten breeding program. Can I sell them as BTB even though they come from lines that are meant to be wheaten? My understanding is that this would be ok since the two colors seem to be very similar in relation. But I wouldn't want to lead anyone down the wrong path. Thanks! I'll get pictures up soon of their progression. I'm much happier with some of them and their plumage as they are growing..

Quote:

Originally Posted by Debbi 

#1) there should not be any copper on the breast or front of neck.

Ahh, so no red in the chest eh?

I think all of my males have some red speckling in the chest area.  maybe it's a juvenile thing?

Quote:

Originally Posted by snowbird 

The wheaten males should not be culled for the spotted breast until they have molted out in the Juve molt.

Thanks!

That eases my mind a bit.  

This  might give you a chuckle,

Out of my original 8, where only 2 were supposed to be males, 4 turned out to be Roos.  Not so bad really considering all factors.  Well I was headed up to the original breeder that sold me the wheatens and they were guaranteed, so I arranged to return 1 male (i decided to try and keep 3 males) and she said sure.  Well she gave me a little two week old chick for my trouble and I also decided to get another so that I would have at least 6 pullets (like I originally intended.)

Well, I got home and a few days later, wouldn't you know it?  

Yup, One of those little chicks started growing some awfully dark feathers and now I'm back to 4 Roosters again!  

i will ad some comments later