Cuckoo Maran Rooster x (breed here) offspring?

[Lensters]

Use a regular pencil to mark the eggs, the graphite doesn't affect them, just stays on the surface.

I've been meaning to call the egg genetics expert and see if he will comment on this thread. I have a Welsummer X Cuckoo Marans and it lays eggs that look like a typical Welsummer, maybe even a little lighter in color.

 

[RAREROO]

Yep, just use a regular pencil, that's want I use.

 

[australorp_breeder]

Then I'll just use a regular pencil. I'm a little bummed out... Today I called this feedstore because I wanted to get a Maran, and they said that they had them, but just not the color I wanted. I wanted Cuckoo, and they had Black Copper...or Copper Black, whichever way you say it. Anyways, I went there to buy one anyways, and -

1) Both Marans there didn't have a tail. Literally, their tail feathers were gone and only little pins of feathers about two centimeters were there.

2) I thought that Marans lay chocolate-colored eggs? The Maran that I bought lays brown eggs like my Australorps, but only a little darker.

 

[blackdotte]

The Marans (not Maran) that you bought was obviously a cull.

 

[Lensters]

Quote:
You don't even want to get me started on Marans and egg color. I lost hundreds of dollars buying "Dark Marans Eggs" from EBay, EggBid, and here and the best I got where 4s on the official chart! I complained about all of the unscrupulous sellers on the Marans Club's mailing list and a nice lady sold me some 5s and a 6 from her cull pen. If you want a real Marans that lays dark eggs you will have to pay big, huge bucks and get some from Dick, David or Bev and then they still might not breed true. There are some Wheaton and Birchen genes still hiding in some of the birds. If you really want dark eggs I would suggest Welsummers. None of my Marans hatching eggs approach the darkness of my Welsummer eggs. We will see where I get with my Marans flock. I will only hatch out eggs that are 5s or darker so maybe in a couple of years I'll have real nice dark egg layers. Until then all of the Marans I sell will come with a disclaimer a sample of the shell they came out of and if they are a laying hen a sample of a shell from an egg that they have laid.

 

[australorp_breeder]

Lensters, I think you deserve to put this:

and maybe

too, lol! Wow, I totally should've asked here before I bought one, but...live and learn I guess. Thanks for telling me. And I think that's a good idea that you also show the people the shells too that way they'll know what to expect. Do you think you would get turned down sales though for people who were expecting dark eggs?

And thank you blackdotte, so you just call them regardless with an 's' at the end? So the breed is Marans, not Maran?

 

[RAREROO]

Yep, and again that goes back to not breeding to the standard, it was just a little while ago that the Marans Craze was going an everyone just started breeding what ever laid instead of selecting for the darkest eggs, now there are Marans that lay eggs as light as most any brown egg layer, I traded a guy some chicks for a dozen Marans eggs and they were kinda dark, but I've seen darker, I've got a trio out of those eggs now and they haven't started laying yet and I don't know how dark they will be, but if you want good dark eggs, you've got to get them from a good breeder like they said.

And yes with the spelling , you can have 1 Marans or 2 Marans, use a " s " regardless.

 

[Lensters]

Quote:
I'm sure I'll lose a lot of sales, but I'd rather stay poor and have my integrity than sell my integrity for the price of a few expensive birds. Hopefully some of the people who are disappointed in the Marans' eggs color will buy Welsummers because I have some that lay really nice, dark eggs. With the Marans craze I think that I'll still sell whatever I offer even, though they aren't up to expectations. I offered a couple of my culls on the bottom of one of my craigslist ads a couple of weeks ago and I had 11 people lined up to buy them even though they are subpar.

 

[australorp_breeder]

I've been meaning to ask, what does 'cull' mean? And I'm not sure which incubator I should buy. I'm trying to decide between two, both from Cackle Hatchery. I normally order from Murray McMurray Hatchery, but they don't have any small incubators.

1) Thermal Air Hovabator ($61.00):

Still air thermal incubator. Holds approx 70 chicken eggs. Automatic turner not included.

2) Hovabator Incubator and Automatic Egg Turner ($104.95):

(Same thing as the first one, but with the auto egg turner)

Do you think it's really necessary that I get the one with the automatic egg turner? Would it really be that hard to turn eggs every day? I would buy the cheaper one without the turner and buy the turner seperate but then I'd be paying more then the whole package.

lol I love how we go from genetics to eggs.

 

[RAREROO]

Quote:
Please learn from my mistake, DO NOT waste your money and eggs on a STILL AIR HOVABATOR, I have had terrible experiences with them, they do not hold temp and humidity well, it would be better to invest in something with a fan to circulate the air, as for the turner, if you have time to turn the eggs by hand every day, that's what I'd say to do, that's what I've always done. If you are interested, email me and I'll give you some contact info to my friend in TX who custom builds incubators to almost any size you need, with or without turners.

As for culling, it means getting rid of the birds that are not fit to be in a breeding program, they may make good layers for a laying flock, but for ones with bad flaws, they should be butchered so others don't use them either.