Breeding Birchen marans

[Brahmamama10]

So, I have a blue birchen maran rooster and hen. I’ve been hatching their eggs and so far all of them are black and showing copper colors. I have the two completely separated, so I am just hatching her eggs. Is it possible they aren’t full birchen marans? I’m so confused! Going to show mom and dad, and then their babies.

 

[SpotTheCat]

@RoostersAreAwesome @NatJ @Amer

 

[LadiesAndJane]

Mama looks like mixed colored, maybe birchen and copper mixed.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

How long have they been separated? It is at all possible that you mixed up the eggs or that another rooster got into the pen?

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

Mama looks like mixed colored, maybe birchen and copper mixed.

The mother has a silver gene. Since a hen can only have one silver gene OR one gold gene, it’s impossible that she’s passing on gold to her offspring.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

The mother has a silver gene. Since a hen can only have one silver gene OR one gold gene, it’s impossible that she’s passing on gold to her offspring.

So is the gold coming from the father then? He looks all birchen in appearance anyway.

 

[LadiesAndJane]

I am curious about this as well as I have had birchen marans.

 

[RoostersAreAwesome]

So is the gold coming from the father then? He looks all birchen in appearance anyway.

It’s possible he’s a gold/silver split, though he really doesn’t look like one.

 

[NatJ]

I have the two completely separated, so I am just hatching her eggs.

How long were they separated before you started collecting eggs to hatch?

If the hen had mated with a different rooster before you separated them, the rooster in your photo might not actually be the father of the chicks you hatched. Hens store sperm, so they can lay fertile eggs every day without having to mate every day.

It's comon to separate a breeding pair from other males for 3-4 weeks before starting to collect eggs, if you want to be sure of that rooster being the father of the chicks.

 

[Brahmamama10]

How long were they separated before you started collecting eggs to hatch?

If the hen had mated with a different rooster before you separated them, the rooster in your photo might not actually be the father of the chicks you hatched. Hens store sperm, so they can lay fertile eggs every day without having to mate every day.

It's comon to separate a breeding pair from other males for 3-4 weeks before starting to collect eggs, if you want to be sure of that rooster being the father of the chicks.

He’s my only rooster so I only collect her dark eggs, the other hens I have are leghorns so I’m definitely just hatching the maran eggs. I’ve been hatching her eggs for about 3 months