Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[Maranman93]

Hi all I am hoping for some help in identifying my chooks, when i purchased them I was told they were wheaten and Longhorn marans. I am pretty sure I have some wheatens looking at pictures from the internet, but not sure about the other marans.

The first picture has a wheaten cock and a very light wheaten hen. The second picture is Two dark wheaten hens some will try and breed these to create a black tailed buff eventually. The third picture is light off colored wheaten as well. The wheaten Marans variety carries more than one color variety at hatch a good wheaten color a light washed out wheaten color and a dark almost partridge color these are pictures of the grown out batch of each.

 

[Maranman93]

I have never heard of a Longhorn Marans. I think someone is pulling your leg. Ok let's look at the colors.
Top left hand pic. the light bird is a Wheaten. I can't tell from this pic how correct her coloring is It looks pretty good. The dark bird is a Black Copper Marans
Right hand pic at the top : Those are 2 Black Tailed Buff Marans. They may have an extra dose of autosomal red. It would have been easier to see in the chick down which may have had a darker than usual "hue" to parts of it
2nd row of pic: The bird with the white neck and dark body is a Red Shouldered Silver Duckwing Marans. Some will call it a Silver Duckwing but it isn't because it has an extra dose of autosomal red which is causing the dark red in his shoulder patch. ( I used to own one). If you use this RSSD as a sire , you will pollute your flock with autosomal red and make it very difficult to breed any other color true. Autosomal Red is a sticky gene and hard to remove from a flock once it is introduced. The RSSD is not a regular Marans color. It is a unlooked for and unwantd result of trying to breed Gold and Silver Salmon Marans. It is discarded by wise breeders because it will pollute with autosomal red. It has no use in a breeding program where one is breeding birds to the Standard. If you got the RSSD as a chick, it would have been very difficult t tell it wasn't going to be a Silver Duckwing. That only shows up after the feathers grow in and we can see that extra dark shoulder patch.
The 2 light birds in that pic aren't really any color. They look like a mix of Wheaten and some other color modifiers. Honestly, they look like a product of a Back-Tailed Buff Marans mixed with a White Marans. Again, this would have been difficult to see in the chick down and only for sure once the feathers were in. Looks to me like someone has been experimenting with color breeding and sold you the results. But they are still Marans and should lay those dark eggs for you and taste delicious.
I just wouldn't breed any of them except maybe the Black Copper to another Black Copper or the Back-Tailed Buffs to another Back-Tailed Buff. Or Wheaten to another Wheaten cock from outside your flock. Do not cross the Black Copper with the Back-Tailed Buffs. That will just give you a genetic color mess. Plus you will be crossing alleles which will make it doubly hard to winnow out anything useful. Esp. , do not cross the Wheaten with the Black Copper. This has already been done in the breed's history and caused no end of trouble trying to winnow the Wheaten back out of the Black Copper.
Best Regards,
Karen
Former Director of Archives Marans of America Club

Very well put i think the dark cock will be a wheaten based on the neck color is to light. The Black Copper Marans should be a dark wine red.

 

[cdonze43]

Question, in picking up some blue and black coppers from someone tomorrow. They are 2-3 wks old. Anything in particular i should look for when picking them?

 

[forgetful]

General health. Are eyes clear, nostrils free from discharge, any sneezing. Are any huddled with eyes shut. Any sores? Check that they have all wings, legs, eyes, etc. Someone actually pawned off an injured bird to me in a large group. It had its wing torn completely off. I should have known better to look but didn't think it would actually happen. I've learned my lesson.

After that, check for feathered legs, the correct number of toes, skin color. There shouldn't be any copper whatsoever. Single combs and not pea or rose combs. Other than that theres not much else. They're very young and you'll have to watch them grow

 

[One Chick Two]

Question, in picking up some blue and black coppers from someone tomorrow. They are 2-3 wks old. Anything in particular i should look for when picking them?

General good health. I like wide birds with a nice, wide head, good, wide stance...juveniles that are not knock kneed.

(These photos are all from chicks from different lines of shipped hatching eggs.)

Look carefully at combs for comb sprigs, Coronation comb, double crettons in comb, etc. Problems would be small at that age, but you can see them. Pullets will have very tiny combs.




No mossy feathers. Use a bright LCD flashlight on wingtips especially.



Look carefully at toes... look for stubs on middle toe, or in between toes, and especially look for missing toes/ double toes, or truncated toes. (This chick has stubs and is partially missing a toe.)



Avoid white laced feathers. Although the bird may not have develop white feathers themselves at adulthood, best not to take a chance as no one knows for sure what it means. This cockerel did develop white in hackle/ saddle, tail feathers, and underfluff.



Look on combs/wattles and on top of feet between toes, and under feet for yellow skin. Shank feathers should extend all the way down outside toe.If you see any yellow in any of them, avoid the whole group- yellow cannot be bred out.


No white/ light shanks. Should be medium slate.

Look at type and topline for a long, sloping back going downward toward tail. Avoid those who have early high tails. I like to see some open clamshell "V" in the tail, not closed together.

Good luck!

 

[tnmommy]

Hi!
I'm acquiring my first Marans pullets tomorrow. They are 5 to 6 months old. Just getting Marans for the beautiful eggs at the moment. They will be hanging out with my Easter Eggers, an Orpington/Australorp hen and an Isbar cockerel. These ladies are Blue Copper Marans. In November, I will hopefully be getting some Birchen Marans hens that are culls from a friend who breeds them.

Looking forward to those beautiful eggs!

 

[mikeybrownie]

Do wheaten marans lay very dark eggs?

 

[ChickChuck22]

Yes, Wheaten Marans do lay dark brown eggs. The eggs often have a reddiness to them

 

[Cockatrice6420]

Yes, Wheaten Marans do lay dark brown eggs. The eggs often have a reddiness to them

Good to know. I love my marans and would love to expand my variety in the future.

 

[mikeybrownie]

Yes, Wheaten Marans do lay dark brown eggs. The eggs often have a reddiness to them

I'm getting some Bev Davis line wheatens today!!!