French Cuckoo Marans Which roo to keep?

[justhatchin]

I am having trouble deciding which roo to keep out of 4. These were bought- 6 in the lot at a sale in Meade Ks. this spring. They should be about 20 weeks. There are 2 hens one feather footed and one not also 2 of the roos are feather footed. When I got them home I realized some of the roos had less tail feathers than others -picking? - this is still visable in the pics. Is it just a matter of preferance?

darker feathered roo

lighter roo no tail or feet feathers

lighter roo tail feathers-no feet feathers

feathered hen

hen not feathered- roo lighter feathered

 

[bargain]

Cuckoo Marans are not supposed to have feathered feet.....I suspect somewhere along the line these were mixed with some kind of Black Copper Marans or other Marans to give the feathering on the feet.....

I'm attaching references to the type for cuckoo marans.http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/CGK/Marans/BRKMarans.html

The lighter rooster is what you are looking for but since you have feathered feet, I would say that yours are not truly cuckoo marans according to the standards...

Thanks and hope you are not upset by the news!
Nancy

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

There are two varieties of marans, French and English. The French are feather legged the English not. There is no "standard" for the marans in the USA at this time since they haven't been approved into the APA, there is only a proposed standard. The French standard of course calls for feather legs. If you are wanting to show them go with the feathers.

Steve

 

[justhatchin]

Thanks for the responses. I'm not going to be upset by any ones opinon as I just wondered what to look for what to breed in or out of the marans. I don't have time to study the genetics so I'm asking. Is it right for me to assume that they all will carrie the gene to have feathers?
So if I was smart I would keep the feathered male. Then I would stilll have a hen with clean leggs.. So what is up with the lack of tail feathers?

 

[flgardengirl]

I personally would keep the feathered legged one. I like the French Standard but it is a personal preference. You could keep both and have one feathered line and one non feathered. Leg feathering gene is dominant, I believe.
I have golden cuckoo roo that was really slow to get tail feathers. It turned out his feathers were being plucked by one of his hatchmates. It is usually the bird with the nicest feathers (i.e. none missing) that is doing the plucking lol.

 

[blackdotte]

As the Standard for Marans in the US will be based on the French Standard I would keep the cockerel that most fits the Standard.
That would be the last one, as he is the only one that has both shank feathering & the correct colour.
Shank feathering is dominant over non feathered shanks.
David

 

[mithious]

I am having trouble deciding which roo to keep out of 4. These were bought- 6 in the lot at a sale in Meade Ks. this spring. They should be about 20 weeks. There are 2 hens one feather footed and one not also 2 of the roos are feather footed. When I got them home I realized some of the roos had less tail feathers than others -picking? - this is still visable in the pics. Is it just a matter of preferance?

darker feathered roo

lighter roo no tail or feet feathers

lighter roo tail feathers-no feet feathers

feathered hen

hen not feathered- roo lighter feathered

I know this is an old post, but I hope you didn't get rid of the feather legged marans, here is a link why that is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marans They are quite rare in the USA!