Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[snowbird]

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Yes, the clean shank and toe is a DQ. Now that the Marans standard has been approved by the APA clean leg fowl will be DQ.

When judging, the only clean legged Marans I run into seem to be just the cuckoo. I know it happens in other colors, but it is strange that I only see it in cuckoo's. I judged some very nice BC Marans yesterday. Very well colored males and one really nice female. I am sure they belonged to someone on BYC.

Walt

Walt, I think the clean leg Cuckoo might be because all the Hatchery Cuckoo are basically clean shank and toe.

 

[stoopid]

Ouch. My head hurts.

 

[snowbird]

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The incorrect BC description that Dickerson is complaining about in Poultry Press was taken directly from their web site, so I'm not sure I would trust everything you see there.

Walt

Stoopid, Fowlman01 is on the Standards committe for the APA and would be a good person to ask any of your Marans questions.

 

[stoopid]

Good to know. Am I also correct that APA doesn't have BCM listed on the website yet?

 

[marquisella]

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Yikes. I'm sorry to say, that boy looks half Cochin to me.

Don and I disagree on this point, though; I feel that the buyer has EQUAL if not MORE responsibility to ask questions & do their research before buying. If you're looking for a specimen that's bred to the SOP, this boy is probably as far from it as you can get - again, I'm very sorry to say that, but it is what it is. The GOOD thing is that you've come to the right place to learn, if that's what you're after! There are many folks on this thread who can give you helpful feedback and advice - just ask!

Wynette, Yes, I believe the buyer has some responsibility also. Look at the people asking how their fowl look and we can see they had no idea what a Marans should look like. I have always thought the seller had a responsibilty to explain what they were selling good or bad. If the Marans people keep selling this mixed junk you will see people paying these big prices for eating eggs getting out of the Marans. I fail to see how a new chicken person is supposed to know what questions they should be asking. Honesty is always the best policy.

How many times do we all say " we have to breed 100's of chicks to get 1 or 2 decent birds"?

No one gets perfect birds every time. When someone buys a dozen eggs, what are the odds they are going to get "very good or SQ birds" out of them?

We all know, that in any breeding program, some "uglies" pop up...but most of the time, we don't talk about them. (except for that ugli comb thread a while back)

Marans were made from many different breeds, and probably cochins are in there way back, and who knows if Penes weren't also added when the breed was "brought back from the brink of extinction"?

I don't think that because vulture hocks & side sprigs come up occasionally, that necessarily means that someone in the US mixed them in.The more that a breeder breeds, line breeds, the more things like that will appear.

If they do come up, don't use that bird and look at who it might have come from & try to eliiminate it. Thats what breeders do. All I'm trying to say here, is that we all at times get things we don't like & that aren't up to standard. I think a lot of us do try to educate people and thats good. I try not to have a "knee-jerk" reaction when I see problems, but try to see how they can be worked out.

I have had a lot of people that are new to chickens, come to me for Marans. They are more known that I think we realize. With todays computers & internet, almost anytime I google anything about chickens, the Marans breed come up.

 

[Wynette]

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(and - I stand corrected on my comment about newbs not being interested in Marans as a "first" breed.)

 

[snowbird]

Just to ad that side sprigs show up in most breeds, but carnation combs come from Penne. Single mating will make life so much easier.

 

[fowlman01]

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The BCM is so new that it is not in the newest version of the SOP. (2010) It will be in the next one and the description has been published in the APA newsletter, but you have to be an APA member to get the newsletter. The so called error only related to the breast color of the BC female, so the rest 'should" be correct on that Marans website. There are two Marans clubs, but I'm not sure that they both have the BC description. One of the clubs prefers to go with the French Standard. IMO there is very little difference between the two Standards. (APA vs French)

Walt

 

[fowlman01]

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I handled my first Pennes yesterday and other than egg color I am at a loss of why someone would put those into a Marans. But there are plenty of people on this site mixing Marans and EE's. So buyer beware!

Walt

 

[stoopid]

I joined APA back in like July, I haven't gotten any confirmation, and when I e-mailed them a few weeks ago, still no answer... I don't know the situation there, so I'm trying to be patient. And my mailman is not the brightest bulb...constantly getting everybody elses mail...