Breed Standard?

[Shadrach]

More Marans. The grey hen is a Marans cross.

 

[BlueTheBrahma]

Not wishing to start a flame war but interested in original breeds I feel I should point out that there were no BCMs bred in Marans France. BCMs are an American breed copy as far as I've been able to trace. If one was to go to Marans in France years ago a asked the locals for a Black Copper Maran they would likely throw you out.
There were Marans and that was it.
Now, looking at the internet many places have adopted the Americanism of calling Marans, BCMs. A shame in my opinion.
Unfortunately this has happened to many breeds from Europe and Asia that have been imported to the USA by the hatcheries.
The French were rather proud of their Marans breed. We got lots of bonus points in the eyes of the breeders for going to Marans to view and collect what they considered to be proper examples of their breed.

Thank you, I didn’t know this. I knew that most Black Coppers were American but thought they originated in France as the black-red variety. Isn’t the US standard just as direct copy of the French standard though?

 

[NatJ]

Wrong shank color

legs... the wrong colour

What color are the legs supposed to be?

 

[Shadrach]

Thank you, I didn’t know this. I knew that most Black Coppers were American but thought they originated in France as the black-red variety. Isn’t the US standard just as direct copy of the French standard though?

I imagine that was the original intention but the drive to make profit rather than preserve the breed characteristics seems to have led to some suspect breeding practices and not particularly good examples of the original breed.
The one in the OPs post being an example, there are many more here on BYC.

 

[BlueTheBrahma]

What color are the legs supposed to be?

Pink-white with grey shading around the scutes (the big wide scales in the top of the toes and front of the leg).

 

[NatJ]

Pink-white with grey shading around the scutes (the big wide scales in the top of the toes and front of the leg).

What color do you see in the pictures? Because they look white to me.

I certainly do not see yellow or green or blue or black, all of which are common chicken leg colors (but wrong for Marans.)

.Are you talking about small differences in color, where I was looking for big differences?

 

[BlueTheBrahma]

I imagine that was the original intention but the drive to make profit rather than preserve the breed characteristics seems to have led to some suspect breeding practices and not particularly good examples of the original breed.
The one in the OPs post being an example, there are many more here on BYC.

Yes, I have the same issue but didn’t really express it as well as you when I was talking about the ‘French standard’ bird in the UK. It’s something I could have stressed on my comment about ‘poorly bred’ vs ‘impure’ too.

One thing I like about the English type is that the people who breed them often put the standard first, what I don’t like is that it isn’t the same standard as the original marans chooks.

I’m glad you brought it up actually because I don’t think any breed has suffered as poorly from this effect as the marans. Leghorns maybe are another example where drive for profit took away from the original traits of the breed.

 

[BlueTheBrahma]

What color do you see in the pictures? Because they look white to me.

I certainly do not see yellow or green or blue or black, all of which are common chicken leg colors (but wrong for Marans.)

.Are you talking about small differences in color, where I was looking for big differences?

I used those colour examples not based on this bird but just in general what I’ve seen in some marans. I think this one has yellow legs, but it might be the lighting.

 

[NatJ]

I used those colour examples not based on this bird but just in general what I’ve seen in some marans. I think this one has yellow legs, but it might be the lighting.

In the second picture of the first post, I was pretty sure the legs look white. They are partly in sun and partly in shadow, but when I zoom in they look white in both lighting conditions.

Maybe it's a difference in my computer monitor vs. yours?

It sounds like you and I both think white legs are correct, we just don't agree about what color legs are actually on the rooster in the photo.

That might be easy to settle.
@Chicken_lady1 does your rooster have white legs or yellow legs?

 

[Amer]

What color do you see in the pictures? Because they look white to me.

I certainly do not see yellow or green or blue or black, all of which are common chicken leg colors (but wrong for Marans.)

.Are you talking about small differences in color, where I was looking for big differences?

They look yellow and aren’t nearly grey enough.
Shanks and Toes -- Light to mid-slate, showing pink between the scales.

Bottoms of Feet -- Pinkish white

I’m not concerned about poorly bred Marans in the US. Poor examples of Marans being popular doesn’t change the fact that Marans are one of the most popular exhibition breeds and that there are tons of good ones out there.