Are these any good? Blue Maran, Blue Copper Maran, Splash????

[seabreeze]

I'll just throw up these pics taken today (dark, windy, cloudy, rainy out). These birds are just 4 months old. They are quite big stature wise. Worth keeping/using or for dog food? Last pic, bird was startled, dropped his tail. They've only been here a couple of days and have to share the stall and yard with turkeys, bantys, cochins and a couple of Muscovys.

 

[wren]

I had black copper marans for a brief while. I don't know about blues, but these look like quality animals to me. Marans are big birds. Yours have deep heads with round eyes, there appears to no feathers on the middle toes, straight even combs, pink bottomed feet. I'd watch out for wing carriage that's too high but lots of marans do that. Looks pretty good but I don't know about the color.

 

[seabreeze]

Thanks for responding Wren. I'm waiting for the hammer to fall from the *ex-spurts* so I can figure out what to do with them.

 

[lotzahenz]

looking, but no hammer.

HenZ

 

[HarmonyOaks]

Thank you for sharing seabreeze. I do not think you have blue coppers. You may have a couple of blue birchen in there, but these are not varieties I have seen very much... Silver Birchens are more common. The one with the spangling on the breast, I think is a hybrid... there is a possibility that it is a mutated cuckoo, but the feathering to me looks like what would come if a silver laced wyandotte or spangled hamberg was thrown in the mix somewhere.

Genetically, if there is cuckoo marans in the lines, then you can see some odd mutations. The barring gene presents in some oddly cool ways. Remeber colors take time to develop, the two birchen appear to be cockerels...see how the birchen color is starting to come in on their wings.

 

[seabreeze]

Thanks. They didn't look like any of the photos I've seen of blue or blue coppers but the lady I got them from definitely stated she had purchased Blue and Blue Copper Maran eggs and these hatched out of a #4+ egg. She couldn't find who she bought the eggs from but I think I will email her and push a little harder for an answer. I mean it was only a few months ago! She sold all the hens because she is focusing on breeding lavender Orps.

I guess I will give them a few more months to grow up before making that permanent decision.

 

[gilavina]

Quote:
I agree with Harmony...they are blue birchens...the one with the more yellow type cast on it appears to have genes for both silver and gold in it. I would hold onto them for a while. The color on the birchens sometimes takes time to come in and they should start growing into themselves more as well. I have a few blue birchens and black birchens in the Marans and I have a couple of birds that are coming up to a year old and they are still getting more coloring. The middle picture you posted of the other bird, I'm not sure...it looks kinda mixed up. I bet if you were to hop over the the Marans thread and copy and paste the link to this thread there are some that would be happy to weigh in. Village Chicken is very good with genetics and has a clear way of explaining them.

 

[seabreeze]

Thanks Gilavina, I will try and find some time tomorrow to ask Village Chicken

I'm curious though if they are quality enough to use if their type is ever sorted out? Do they have the proper head shape, comb, ear lobes, wattles, eye shape/color, beaks, back, tail angle/set etc., I see they have plenty of feathering on their legs, broad breast, strong shanks etc., but are these more like hatchery quality or breeding quality?

Oh, where would I find more info on silver/gold birchens? I have some bantys that coloration and find it fascinating but haven't a clue as to it in the Marans.

thanks again

 

[Illia]

If I did not know I'm seeing photos of only a few boys, I'd say keep the first two. The rest have unwanted gold in their feathers, which I've honestly yet to not see in Blue Birchens, (hoping that's what they are supposed to be) and one of them has spangling, which is completely unwanted.

As for body - 2nd and 6th photo which I'm assuming are the same male are the only one(s) I'd keep.

He has a substantially low amount of points in the comb, which you need to keep down the common trait of too many points, he's got a very sturdy, deep body, a long back, a good neck, and a tail that isn't coming much along at all, which in my experience is a good thing. Marans should have a small tail and a normal 45 degrees. At this age if the tail is already at 45 degrees - Expect it to increase as he matures.

I'd completely forget about the spangled chested one if I were you, but the other two I'd hold onto and see how they mature. I never cull until about 6 months or older.


But still, the fact that they're clean legged gets you nowhere, and that gold coloration. . . . I'd like to see some Birchens someday without the gold.

 

[seabreeze]

Hi Illia,

Thanks. There are only three; dark blue, light blue and spangled one.

They do all carry pretty good feathering on their legs. I did take some closeups of the legs but they weren't the best, chickens were running by

(light blue on left, spangle on right)

(dark blue)