Blue Copper and Splash Copper Marans Discussion

[freddyyoung]

He's fairly young, about 9 months id say and okay will do tomorrow

 

[Ihilani Coffee]

He's fairly young, about 9 months id say and okay will do tomorrow

The closer to "chicken level" the side, front, and rear photos are the better to see him...meaning taken kneeling or with the bird on a table or something your height. The angles taking photos of birds on the ground while the photographer is standing make it difficult to see the bird well. Top photo is best taken straight down on the bird from above.

It looks like he has some good shank feathering. The washed-out copper on his hackles is all too common with the blue copper Marans. I have seen many cock/erels just like this bird: good copper on the wing bows, washed out hackles, and very little copper on the saddle area. It appears he has a molting or plucked tail or possibly a wry tail. Better photos will help. Closeups are good, as we will be able to see things like skin color of the feet/shanks and eye color, etc.

Ah...when I enlarge the photo it appears he has quite a bit of white in his tail also.

 

[BeachBumBiddies]

Ok..so maybe this is a dumb question but some of my Marans have feathered feet & some do not. Does that mean the ones with feathered feet are French Standard & the ones without are not or ?? They were all "supposed" to be French standard. Also, if I want feathered feet (French standard), do i just breed feathered feet to feathered feet? Sorry, don't know a whole bunch about this breed yet...tia

 

[Ihilani Coffee]

Ok..so maybe this is a dumb question but some of my Marans have feathered feet & some do not. Does that mean the ones with feathered feet are French Standard & the ones without are not or ?? They were all "supposed" to be French standard. Also, if I want feathered feet (French standard), do i just breed feathered feet to feathered feet? Sorry, don't know a whole bunch about this breed yet...tia

The SOP for the APA (American Poultry Assoc.) for Marans calls for feathered shanks and outer toe. If you are interested in breeding birds to the Standard, that's what you are looking for. All this talk of British vs. French is moot if you're in the USA. American Standard calls for feathered shanks and outer toe. Period. Advertising French (whatever color) Marans is kind of misleading unless you have imported birds from France.

 

[DMRippy]

Ok..so maybe this is a dumb question but some of my Marans have feathered feet & some do not. Does that mean the ones with feathered feet are French Standard & the ones without are not or ?? They were all "supposed" to be French standard. Also, if I want feathered feet (French standard), do i just breed feathered feet to feathered feet? Sorry, don't know a whole bunch about this breed yet...tia

Even birds with feathered shanks will produce some chicks that have clean shanks. They carry the genes to make feathered shanks but don't express them. I prefer to use birds with feathered shanks but I know they carry it so I don't worry too much about how much they have at this point. Bigger issues to fix like opening the tails. Clean shanks would be a DQ if you were showing but breeding is different. Always balance your breeding birds to counter any short comings they have like clean shanks with heavily feathered shanks and a WIDE open tail to a pinched tail.

 

[ellymayRans]

I'm loving reading through this thread and seeing everyone's beautiful birds. This will be my first year breeding Marans and I was hoping that I could pick everyone's brain for information. I apologize in advance for the poor pictures, but unfortunately I can only send pictures to myself as a small file. I currently have one Blue Copper Maran Rooster, who I hatched from a bunch of shipped eggs I ordered off ebay, but I think I actually lucked out. This boy, "Pretty Boy", is BIG. He is my second largest rooster, right behind my Silver Laced Sussex (12+ lbs) and, not ever having had him on the scale, I'd guess that he weighs at least 7-8lbs. His foot feathering is pretty pathetic since he's free ranged and spends all day "hoofing" it around through the mud and tall grass taking care of his girls. He's been an amazing rooster, which is good, because as a chick/teenager I was ready to wring his neck! My other two Marans are both Black Copper Hens, from Meyer Hatchery. Again, I know... From what I understand, I think Hen 2 is the better hen based on her wider stance and body shape. However, she has no copper in her hackles. This is Hen 1, who does have copper, but is a narrower, leaner bird. She's also the better and darker layer of the two. I'm not sure her eyes look so hooded in these pictures, because I've never noticed that in person, but I had just pulled her off her broody nest so it may have been a little bit of stink-eye. This is Hen 2, who I think is the better hen. Maybe? Unfortunately, she's also not as willing to have her picture taken... Below are the eggs they lay with some Wyandotte and Leghorn Eggs. Hen 1 is the darkest egg and Hen 2 is the other dark egg. The rooster himself came from a very dark egg, at least 2-3 shades darker than either of these eggs. So what do you think of these three? Is my rooster any good? Is it worth it to breed him to these hens now for spring babies, or should I just put the project on hold until the BkCMs and SCMs I have coming in April arrive and hit POL?

Is it just the pics or am I seeing barring? The first roo pic is where I notice it most.

 

[ColeMule]

This is my hen Amber. She has a weird comb and not a lot of copper? Is she normal

 

[Ihilani Coffee]

This is my hen Amber. She has a weird comb and not a lot of copper? Is she normal

Her comb is indeed strange. If she has earmuffs (hard to tell from this angle) she is probably an olive egger. Is it possible her comb points froze off at some point or have you had her since she was a chick? It seems more difficult to get good copper coloring on the blues. While a light blue, she does have lacing on the edges of the feathers which is a good thing. Hard to tell much more from this photo except maybe she has a pinched tail.

 

[pinkchick]

To pay tribute to DMRippy's breeding prowess.....here are some eggs that I am currently getting from some of the girls that I hatched out from her eggs. Well done Donna! They are sooooo pretty I cannot stop staring at them. And yes, they are going into the incubator. Thank you for sharing with me Donna! I am so excited to start rebuilding flocks with these girls. Will post a photo of the eggs from the other girls soon. It's official, 3 of them are now laying. . . finally after 11 months. It was worth the wait!

 

[jbreeden00]

This is fred, he is a good roo. Not mean at all but i dont really try to pet him like i do my girls. I plan to breed him with my ameracauna for olive eggers.