ABA Standard for Marans

[Sonoran Silkies]

I just received my ABA Quarterly. It contains the "ABA recognised Bantam Standard for Marans."

I hadn't realized that this is and has been a recognised breed--but of sufficiently low interest (at least until recently) that it was moved to the inactive list some time ago, and therefore not printed in the Standard (to save on printing costs).

 

[Krys109uk]

What does the bantam standard say? Are they describing the British type or the French type?

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

I don't know enough about the differences to really know the answer to that, but they do list England as the origin, so I expect it is the British type. Doesn't describe feathered feet. Recognised varieties are black, cuckoo, golden cuckoo and silver cuckoo. These are the bantam version, not the large fowl

 

[blackdotte]

It is a word for word transcription of the British Standard, and as such is not acceptable under European Law. The word Marans is now a 'controlled name' and can not be applied to birds not bred to a Standard not approved by the SCAF (Société Centrale d'Aviculture de France) in the same way the name Champagne is protected.
David

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Does it help that they called the breed maran, not marans?

Also, the standard is not new, but rather is reprinted as was accepted before it was inactiviated due to lack of participation (exhibition). I believe that inactivated means (and maybe someone with more ABA experience or knowledge can help here) that it can still be exhibited as a recognised breed, but that it is considered so rare that printing the standard in the book was cost ineffective.

So one can say that what was done was the equivalent of digging into the depths of the wine cellar and pulling out a bottle of sparkley from somewhere not in France that is labeled "champaign" dating from before the name was protected.

 

[Byrdj]

I didn't think there were any bantam Marans in the US.

 

[blackdotte]

The British ran an appeals case in the European Court of Law, firstly for the name British Marans, & then Maran, they lost both appeals.
David

 

[Krys109uk]

This is all interesting stuff...
When I was in the British Marans Club (really nice people), quite a few members were against the French type. Presumably many had spent years building their lines based on the British standard. I expect they also feared the competition in the egg classes.
I expect this law will have upset a few people.
While I feel it correct to go with the standards of country of origin it seems a bit daft saying that there cannot be any other type using this name. Rather over controlling. The standards for many breeds vary from country to country. So the EU are going to dictate how we breed our chickens? Well I'm sure they can try.
Quite frankly the French aren't so very great at following their own standards. I brought the first copper blue Marans, (& various other colours), into Britain from France. Most of the breeders were contacted with the help of the Serge Deprez & the breeders were all members of the Marans Club de France . The copper blues were rather rare, there were only a few breeders in France. When we did get them they were really rather light in build, not particularly typey & carrying other colour genes. When we found whites, from a top exhibition breeder in Normandy. The egg colour was pathetic & some had clearly been made on ER & had dark legs.
Oh well rant over.

 

[millebantam]

I'm currently involved in my own personal attmpt at producing bantam Black Coppers. I am however, a realist, and know going into this that it will be a 5 year program at least. I have set aside a few pens and have already produced a first generation that shows promise. I'm trying to make the French version with feathered legs. I'm starting with a stunted, but nice looking BCM roo and a combination of 2 distinctly different varieties of bantams. I'm not disclosing my "recipe" at this time because I'm not an expert geneticist, and don't want to deal with all the flack that will be dished out by the naysayers.

I'm well aware that there are many obstacles in the way, but I'm not concerned with how long this will take, or the setbacks that will imminently occur. Although the goal of undertaking a project such as this is the finished product, I intend to focus on, and enjoy the journey as much as the final destination. I'll post some pics of my progress from time to time in the future, when I start to see some birds that begin to look like what I'm shooting for.

 

[blackdotte]

Krys109uk, interestingly the Blue Brown-Red ( Blue Copper) is not yet recognised in France. The MCF also stated that due to the introduction of other breeds the eff colour of the Whites in France is very poor. The White is in fact facing extinction in France.
David