Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

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I have about 30 Black copper, cuckoo, silver cuckoo, and golden cuckoo marans. I Love the breed. My flock are from Bev Davis and Jean Wade Bloodlines. Now my question is: some are feathered shanked, and some are not...Are the ones that aren't....it that bad? they are gorgeous, and I really mean it
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You say straw is to rejected entirely. Not true as I breed some of the Straw neck females with the Mahogany neck males to get a real nice Copper Hackle.
 
My Black Copper hens are all black...when under the sunlight, you can see tints of copper...another dumb question of mine. Is it normal for them to be all black?
 
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If you ever plan on showing them with the APA the shanks will have to be feathered. The English Marans do not have leg feathering.
 
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If I had to take a pick it would have to be #3 since the others are lacking on the foot feathering.

A man of few words--but straight to the point. Don, may I ask when you begin to cull your birds? You said you had 87 roos. What would you consider the key ages to cull or is it just when one of them shows their faults? How long will you grow out before culling?
And if you had to cull on only two faults--what would they be?
 
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No it is not wanted but you can breed them to a male that has some copper flames on the breast and you will get more of the correct color.
 
Ruth - I understand where you're coming from, but I'm by NO means an expert, and never said I was. The day I think I know it all, I should probably stop breeding. Any time I offer an opinion, it's simply that; I sure enjoy looking at others' birds, and I don't mind offering my personal opinion if someone asks, but folks, again - it's just my opinion. I'm not a judge, and I have never shown. I want to be clear on that. We're all learning, and I think the more opinions we get, the better! I'm sure I'm not the only one that's noticed that when we offer opinions, it often brings up more questions...that is exactly where I'd hoped this thread would go, for those of us breeding for exhibition and to standards. We all need to know all the nuances of the breed, and I think we all have something to bring to the table when looking (or OGLING, as I've been doing) at someone else's birds. So, let's not call it "judging" - lets' just call it...giving a personal opinion, shall we?

I'm sorry I've been out most the afternoon and evening...I'll most definitely check in early tomorrow and give opinions on those asking for feedback. I the same vein - if you'd like to just post pics of your fav boy or girl and are NOT looking for an opinion, please say so. I'd hate to see anyone's feeling get hurt when they're not asking for feedback if they get comments back that they're not expecting.

Cool?
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I remember reading in the old Marans thread some tips for sexing chicks. Sadly, I can't remember who posted them or find the page again!

One tip was comb size - and some Marans roos do show themselves quite early this way. However, I've also has some that don't show much color or size in the comb until 5 or 6 weeks.

The other was foot color. Chicks with dark feet, including black toes = pullets. Chicks with some lighter color on the toes = roos.

I read this right after my last set of chicks. There were only six in this group, but it correctly IDed the 2 roos and 4 pullets. I'd be interested to see if it works for any of you!
 
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If I had to take a pick it would have to be #3 since the others are lacking on the foot feathering.

A man of few words--but straight to the point. Don, may I ask when you begin to cull your birds? You said you had 87 roos. What would you consider the key ages to cull or is it just when one of them shows their faults? How long will you grow out before culling?
And if you had to cull on only two faults--what would they be?

My first cull is to look for side sprigs and cull at about one month and after that I cull as I see a fault. I don't cull for feather color until after the first molt at 4-5 months. The first thing I would cull for white in wing and tail and next is overall type. I like a larger birds that overall width and length. I cull for things that others do not. One is I will not keep a chick that start to feather with brown overall. I can't afford to feed these as I just do not like them.
 

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