Blue Marans - need help selecting breeders - lots of photos!

[TinyBirds]

Here's the boy I'm planning to use (Bev Davis line - purchased hatching-eggs from BYC member madelynbelle). Does he have any obvious faults or things I should work to improve? I love his heavy leg feathering.

Here are some hens below. I also got some hatching-eggs from peachicks line of blue marans, but I'm not sure which birds are from which line since I didn't mark them.

the marans are on the right in this photo below (Miss Fluffy-Cheeks just had to get into the shot - cutie pie!)

and there is one light-blue hen that has a few dark marks on her left side (shown below). Should I exclude her, or wait and see if it moults out? She has better/heavier leg feathering than some of the other hens. Her comb seems a bit floppy, but lots of my laying hens of other breeds seem to be that way too, so maybe that's normal?

Thanks for any advice!!
Jenny

 

[Debbi]

TinyBirds,

What a lovely boy your splash roo is! The only thing with him that I would work on is his comb. They are supposed to have 5 points in the comb. The heavy leg feathering is not desireable in this breed. Seems to me, if I remember what I read, that the heavier the feathering of the shanks, the lighter color in the egg. However, to correct hens with little or no shank feathering, he may be the ticket to cure that problem. Hatch only the darkest eggs to maintain/improve egg color. Looks like you're off to a good start with your Marans! You do know about the other Marans thread on here, don't you?

 

[Organics North]

Yep comb. Foot feathering?
Handsome fella! (I'll take him...

)
I like your hens too..
Is that red brown on the chest or just the light?

Here are some of mine:

(Not the blue Ameraucana cockerel runt in the middle....)


My biggest problem seems to be copper on the neck..
I am elated that not all do..

Good luck!!!
ON

 

[TinyBirds]

Thanks Debbi! Is it very hard to fix the comb problem? It looks like he has a lot more than 5 points!! (too bad the most points doesn't win in this case!) He is much better than my other rooster (size/vigor), so I don't have anything better to work with.
Thanks!
Jenny

 

[Debbi]

I'm just starting with Marans myself, so have nothing to offer as far as advise on how hard to rectify the comb problem is. I would breed the best combed hens (also 5 points) to him, then work with the best roos from that. There are so many faults in the breed at this time, that it is hard to really pick just one. If the one fault is all you have though, that should be what you concentrate on. I would assume that it would take at least several generations, if not more, to rectify the comb problem. Otherwise, he is quite lovely in my opinion, as are your girls!

 

[TinyBirds]

Quote:
Thanks!! Yours are pretty too! I love that you have a blue Ameraucana in your photos too!! We match!

 

[crj]

I'm not doing anything special with my marans at the moment. I would like to know what you think about breeding a FBCM to Black Maran (not sure if they are black or black copper )and Blue Marans. These two types of hens are not laying yet. The FBCM hens are. I hatched out 4 so far. Here is the Rooster and some hens. Pictures aren't the greatest.

The top two pictures are the black and blue marans. The third and forth picture are FBCM hens. I noticed all the girls except the Blues have a green tint to there feathers. Is this normal? I heard having red around the black feathers means they are muddy. This they do not have. Love to hear your thought on these.

BTW, both of you have beautiful birds. I like miss fuzzy cheeks........ lol.

 

[Organics North]

Your Blue looks nice too! (To these novice Marans owners eyes)
Breeding to the Black copper roo...will bring copper back into the blue.... I wished I could give you one of my Blue cockerels that has just a little copper on the neck.. My goal is to get the copper out of the blues... So personally I would not do it, if you want to develop the blues that is... (That black copper roo looks nice though!) I have one BC pullet he would be great over!

Here is one of my blue cockerels, with copper on his neck..

(Too many points on his comb too) For me I am going for getting rid of the copper first before working on other things..
ON

 

[blackdotte]

Seems to me, if I remember what I read, that the heavier the feathering of the shanks, the lighter color in the egg

Old wives tale!!!

My biggest problem seems to be copper on the neck..

Blues should be a Silver based bird, yours are gold based.
If you can find a Silver based male, use him & his pullets will be silver. Cull the cockerels as they will carry both silver & gold.

BSs should not be used with Blues, unless you are after Blue Coppers.​

 

[Organics North]

Quote:
Blues should be a Silver based bird, yours are gold based.
If you can find a Silver based male, use him & his pullets will be silver. Cull the cockerels as they will carry both silver & gold.

BSs should not be used with Blues, unless you are after Blue Coppers.

Thanks..Still waiting on one last cockerel's pin feathers on the neck to open up.. See if he is gold base too or silver based...

If not:
I guess I am in the market for a nice silver based cockerel..

ON