Black, Blue and Splash (BBS) Marans discussion thread

[Amina]

The one in your profile pic is a pullet, KerriAnn00. See her teeny tiny comb? Marans mature really early, so you'd know by now if you had a boy. Here's a cockerel at about 6 weeks, for comparison:


At that age, it's hard to know how they'll turn out. But so far she looks pretty good to me! The only problem I can see so far is that her eyes look black. The eye color does change as they age, but with such black eyes, hers are likely to end up too dark for the breed. All in all, not that bad a problem to have.

 

[KerriAnn00]

The black eyes is a recessive trait, yes? So easily bred out with a roo with the correct eye color? I have been trying to read all I can on Marans standard and chicken genetics in general.

She was about 5 weeks in that pic so yeah I see the distinction. All the others that I have are showing combs pretty clearly at 5-6 weeks now too so that makes sense. Hers was just super pink for a pullet and she was so HUGE in comparison to the others. I don't know if I'm happy or sad at the thought of her being a girl. She is my only blue, so I was thinking I could have a roo to pass that color on to all my other black ladies.

Speaking of...a question. Most of my blacks have very small tinges of copper here or there on their breast. I can't seem to find if that is acceptable or not for the BBS specifics. Would that make them Black Coppers then?

 

[Amina]

Black eyes are recessive and sex-linked. So this pullet has one copy of black, and a rooster with orange eyes could have either two oranges or one orange and one something else.

The father would entirely determine the eye color of a daughter from this mating. Sons would get one copy of black, and one copy of something from dad... if the sons from this mating have orange eyes, that would mean they have one orange and they're silently carriers of black (because the mom can only give black since that's all she has).

Hope that makes sense!

As for the copper... well, these solid bbs marans aren't currently accepted by the APA. But if they were, no, copper leakage is not something you want. If it's a really small amount, then they wouldn't be standard black coppers either. I'm newish with marans breeding too, so I could be wrong, but personally if it's a very tiny amount, I'd just consider it an imperfection and work to breed it out. Can you post a picture?

 

[KerriAnn00]

My goodness, that took some doing. It was like a Glamour Shots shoot. I think this will work for pics, yes?

https://flic.kr/s/aHskCE9bA1

 

[Amina]

Those are very nice pictures! Yes, haha, definitely like a glamour photo shoot! It looks like some of your chicks may well be solid colors, but others have way more than just a tinge of copper. Those that have the copper do look like black coppers to me... the copper color goes all the way down the hackle feathers.

For the ones that look solid, from what I understand, it takes a while for the full copper coloration to show up if it's going to. So you'll probably have to wait a bit longer to know what you have for the apparently solid color ones. Do you have any idea of the parentage of your chicks?

I also recently learned that sometimes hens from black copper lines can appear solid black or blue. For whatever reason, even though they are black or blue coppers, sometimes the hens don't express the copper, but copper will show up in the next generation especially in the cockerels. So for this reason, I'm still figuring out what I've got, too! I have a solid blue hen, but... is she *really* a solid blue marans, or not? I'm hoping to find out from breeding her.

 

[KerriAnn00]

So I thought they were solids, but I just talked to the breeder and found out they are indeed copper. Which makes me a bit sad, because I prefer the solid look, but ce la vie I suppose. I was also told the fact that they show copper this early means they are most likely males (which supports your later on showing copper comment.)

So, now that I know this, I will go deposit myself into the correct thread. Thank you for all the help, I learned so much in a couple of posts!

 

[SoCalChicky]

Hey! Hoping to make this thread current again! I breed blue and splash for conformation and aM on the hunt for a Black Roo to Improve egg color

 

[Wandercreek]

Oh good! I was hoping this thread would come back to life. I'm just starting to work with Marans and I'm hoping someone here can help me decide if this splash hen has the correct qualities to go into the breeding pen. If someone could explain her strengths and weaknesses to me I'd really appreciate it.

 

[kcrandall]

Oh good! I was hoping this thread would come back to life. I'm just starting to work with Marans and I'm hoping someone here can help me decide if this splash hen has the correct qualities to go into the breeding pen. If someone could explain her strengths and weaknesses to me I'd really appreciate it.

Wandercreek, I like your Splash Hen very much - I would use her in my breeding program. My opinion of your Splash Hen: Comb - Good size, decent shape (appears to have a wrinkle mid-comb). Comb is inherited from the hen. Wattles - Good size and shape Beak - Good strong beak, nice horn color Head - Good strong head Eyes - Good orange eyes (this is what we want). Eyes are inherited from the Rooster so choose a Rooster with vibrant orange-reddish eyes. Body - very good size and mass, nice full breast. Body type is inherited from the hen. Type - Very good type Back - Nice long back - back should tilt slightly from front to tail when viewed from the side. Tail - Very good, nice v shape from behind and tail comes to a thin point when viewed from the side - this is what we want. Tail is inherited from the hen. Legs - Good medium sized legs - neither too long or too short Shank Color - Good medium slate color Shank / Feet Feathering - Nice feathering, neither too much or too sparse, she's just right Color - She has nice color for the Splash Variety Is she from a Solid Black/Blue/Splash Marans Line or a Copper Black/Blue/Splash Marans Line? The reason I ask is because if she has Copper in her genetics and you breed to a Solid BBS Line then you will get copper leakage - an unwanted trait in a Solid BBS Line. Do you already have a Marans Rooster? If so, what variety is he? The following is the BBS Breeding Inheritance: Black x Splash = 100% Blue Blue x Splash = 50% Blue and 50% Splash Splash x Splash = 100% Splash. Black x Black = 100% Black Black x Blue = 50% Black and 50% Blue Blue x Blue = 50% Blue, 25% Black and 25% Splash Keith

 

[Wandercreek]

Wandercreek,

I like your Splash Hen very much - I would use her in my breeding program. My opinion of your Splash Hen:

Comb - Good size, decent shape (appears to have a wrinkle mid-comb). Comb is inherited from the hen.
Wattles - Good size and shape
Beak - Good strong beak, nice horn color
Head - Good strong head
Eyes - Good orange eyes (this is what we want). Eyes are inherited from the Rooster so choose a Rooster with vibrant orange-reddish eyes.
Body - very good size and mass, nice full breast. Body type is inherited from the hen.
Type - Very good type
Back - Nice long back - back should tilt slightly from front to tail when viewed from the side.
Tail - Very good, nice v shape from behind and tail comes to a thin point when viewed from the side - this is what we want. Tail is inherited from the hen.
Legs - Good medium sized legs - neither too long or too short
Shank Color - Good medium slate color
Shank / Feet Feathering - Nice feathering, neither too much or too sparse, she's just right
Color - She has nice color for the Splash Variety

Is she from a Solid Black/Blue/Splash Marans Line or a Copper Black/Blue/Splash Marans Line? The reason I ask is because if she has Copper in her genetics and you breed to a Solid BBS Line then you will get copper leakage - an unwanted trait in a Solid BBS Line.

Do you already have a Marans Rooster? If so, what variety is he? The following is the BBS Breeding Inheritance:

Black x Splash = 100% Blue
Blue x Splash = 50% Blue and 50% Splash
Splash x Splash = 100% Splash.
Black x Black = 100% Black
Black x Blue = 50% Black and 50% Blue
Blue x Blue = 50% Blue, 25% Black and 25% Splash

Keith

Thanks so much for taking the time to explain all this. I had no idea what to look for. This helps tremendously. I especially appreciate that you indicated which parent each trait comes from.

She is about 6-7 months old in these pictures. Her eggs started out super dark but have mellowed down to a 5.

As for having any copper, I *assume* she doesn't because she came from an order of Blue Birchen Marans from Greenfire Farms. From the recent reading I've been doing, I think this means she would have silver rather than copper? Is this a correct assumption?

I'd like to start working on Blue Birchens, as well as Olive Eggers. It sounds like I can use her for both projects, yes? That's her sister next to her in the last photo. I'm hoping she'll be worthy of the breeding program too. She isn't terribly keen on having her picture taken, but I'm going to try to get some of her today.

I do not have an adult roo at this time. I have 16 more GFF Blue Birchens in the brooder. I also have 8 BCM's on order due to arrive in a couple of weeks. Fingers crossed that I'll get a couple of nice roos out of both groups.