Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[Leeann56]

Thanks, at least I know what he is. Much appreciated

 

[Jmay402]

Are either of these marans? Was told so but i know if the one is a BCM the color is not to standard. The other Im not sure either CM or BR. Feet are not yellow. They are a light pinkish white.

If the white / black is a cuckoo maran, it's probably a male. I was told the males always have lots of white like yours and the hens will be mostly black with just a few white spots. So far that is holding true to the ones i have. Yours looks like my rooster.

 

[KerriAnn00]

Hello! I am new to chicken keeping, BYC, and this thread I just recently got show quality black and blue Coppers from a breeder near me, so am trying to read up and learn how to keep the resulting lines of decent quality. Here is a link to my 4-6 week olds. Any gender advice/corrections or critiques are welcome!

https://flic.kr/s/aHskCE9bA1

 

[forgetful]

Hello! I am new to chicken keeping, BYC, and this thread

I just recently got show quality black and blue Coppers from a breeder near me, so am trying to read up and learn how to keep the resulting lines of decent quality. Here is a link to my 4-6 week olds. Any gender advice/corrections or critiques are welcome!

https://flic.kr/s/aHskCE9bA1

I'm not sure girl 1 will be suitable for breeding. Lots of mossiness at this age generally won't molt out. Boy 1 looks to be overly mossy as well. Boy 2 looks to be a pullet. Boy 4 may be female as well. A few have very heavy leg feathering that will pair well with the sparser feathering on others. You only want feathers on the shank and outer toes. I see a few with feathering on the middle toes. Blue girl 1 has heavy leg feathering and feathered middle toes, but paired with a sparse male you may get good offspring. The feathering isn't something to place utmost importance on over other traits, but isn't something to ignore.

 

[KerriAnn00]

Gotcha! Pardon the ignorance, what is mossiness and how is it impact full? Can it be bred out? I have found very few other quality breeders in my area (perhaps I am not looking in the right places?) so may be stuck with interbreeding this batch I have. Understood on the feathers; I actually prefer the cleaner look but want to use the SOP so will try and match them well. Exciting on the extra pullets lol.

Another question, I was told if they are showing any copper at 4-6 weeks, they are most likely cockrels. Is this just rule of thumb, or definite?

 

[snowbird]

Gotcha! Pardon the ignorance, what is mossiness and how is it impact full? Can it be bred out? I have found very few other quality breeders in my area (perhaps I am not looking in the right places?) so may be stuck with interbreeding this batch I have. Understood on the feathers; I actually prefer the cleaner look but want to use the SOP so will try and match them well. Exciting on the extra pullets lol.

Another question, I was told if they are showing any copper at 4-6 weeks, they are most likely cockrels. Is this just rule of thumb, or definite?

In my experience the Copper Hackle is not an indicator that the first to copper up are males. No correlation.

 

[forgetful]

Mossiness is the copper/brown coloring all over the chest of girl 1. It is expressed as small flecks of color where they shouldn't be. The majority of her chest has excess copper color and mossiness. Occasionally chicks will show some mossiness in their wings and it can molt out. but when it is as severe as girl 1 it will stay with her as an adult. I have not personally had any success breeding it out and would avoid it if I could. I have had females at that age with copper hackles so I would not use it as an indicator.

With the ~7 chicks you have, it would be more worthwhile to pick a very good breeding pair or trio out of the bunch rather than have a larger breeding group that includes undesirable traits. It will save you time and money raising unsatisfactory chicks that will be culled out anyways in favor of better chicks.

 

[snowbird]

Quote:
The three pictures with shafting and Mossiness should not be used as BC Marans breeders. They show tainted genetics and will never produce APA SOP type colored Marans, Sorry.

 

[KerriAnn00]

Ugh, I hate how dumb I sound. But I guess we all have to start somewhere, right?

Shafting? Same or similar to mossiness?

And going with a breeding trio might be a good goal, and something to keep in mind as they get older. I can keep the others with my backyard mutts in a different pen to try for olive egger chicks (I have an EE roo) and have a Marans only pen for the SQ birds. Would that work?

Thanks everyone, all the feedback helps firm up plans for building pens, even if they are only a month old lol.

 

[snowbird]

Ugh, I hate how dumb I sound. But I guess we all have to start somewhere, right?

Shafting? Same or similar to mossiness?

And going with a breeding trio might be a good goal, and something to keep in mind as they get older. I can keep the others with my backyard mutts in a different pen to try for olive egger chicks (I have an EE roo) and have a Marans only pen for the SQ birds. Would that work?

Thanks everyone, all the feedback helps firm up plans for building pens, even if they are only a month old lol.

First since you appear to be serious about raising Marans Question, Where did you get your Marans from at day one , will lead you through this if you will bear with me.

The shafting is where the Quill of the feather is the wrong color. Take a look at the breast on a couple of the pictures. This is one Fault I would not try and correct as it is much cheaper to purchase better Marans and start over. The extra breast color is not Mossiness it is just improper breeding somewhere. A lot of BC Marans have been mixed with Wheaten Marans over the years and has tainted a lot of BC Marans.