sport marans:

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Psittizen Shikkin

Psittizen Shikkin

Songster
11 Years
Jun 14, 2008
227
1
109
Oroville, California
Hi, I have the opportunity to purchase a trio of BCM with a normal roo and two sport hens. I am a total blank canvas when it comes to genetics and was wondering if these hens were worth anything as far as breeding. Shouldn't the sports just be culled. I've been told they lay a dark egg but are light and colored more like a welsummer. I'd hate to waste my time and don't want to just breed indiscriminately. What would you do? Should I take a pass on them and wait for better stock? I'm very tempted just to be able to get the eggs from them. lol
 
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I guess I should try the search feature before posting dumb questions eh?
lol.png
 
Ray Valentine does have sport marans some time ago. It means its a "throwback" genetics of colors that crops up. We do have "Sport Faverolles" too as Dick Boulanger said its just a throw back and sometimes its a neat new color that comes up.

I am not sure if Ray still have those Sport Marans but someone corrected him on that color which it was like a Partridge roo color.

Sometimes you need to contact some real Maran breeders and send pic of your birds to see what color they really are. Sometimes they may be just poorly colored.
 
Howdy,
I believe a sport would be a bird that doesn't display the proper coloration for the variety. So, if you only want them for eggs and the Rooster for a pet then it's great and you'll be giving them a home. But if you want to breed, you might want to wait. It's hard enough to breed and get what you want from stock that meets the standard.

That's just my opinion of course, some might disagree with that.

Oh, and when a breeder tells you the birds lay dark eggs I would ask them what color on the scale and at what point is that in the laying season. Just so you understand what the breeder means and your expectation of what you will be getting is set up correctly.


FYI-Cute Moluccan!
 
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I would think of a sport as a totally "off" color, like a white bird out of a colored line, or getting copper color out of what is supposedly pure, or silver birchen out of a copper black line. Sports are generally just recessive genes being expressed, not a new mutation. There is a wide variation of acceptable coloration in copper black hens. Some lines don't show their copper until they are even almost two years old, and some are born with so much the do look sort of like wellsummers without the yellow legs.
here is a photo of a pullet from my darkest hen, crossed on my brownest roo. I would say she took after the father's side, and thank god I have another "too dark" roo to cross her on and hopefully find middle ground again. I don't consider her a sport and wouldn't dream of culling her at this stage.
wellishpullet.jpg
 
I have Only BCM and when my hens hatched their first clutch I got three white chicks. Some told me that they were Splash Marans, but since I don't have blues or any other kind, I was told that they are a Sport, a genetically different breed than the Splash. They are in fact the precursor to the highly desired white Marans. Since mine came from two different hens I am considering breeding them together to see if I can start a line of pure white Marans. Do any of you have the white Marans?
 

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