Just wondering about how my boy stacks up? He's about a year old. He got a little bit of frostbite this winter so his comb isn't as defined as it was but he's healed nicely. He recently had a squabble with another roo and lost some tail feathers. ...also in desperate need of a bath...so he's a bit bedraggled in appearance and has a bit of droppings on him from a hen...that is not a tan feather in his hackles. Not free ranging at the moment so I suppose the pics could have been better when he's in his element but I think I got enough for you guys to give an opinion if it's worth it to get some marans hens and see what he sires? I have the opportunity to get some from the same breeder through a friend. ..And he is wearing a crow-reduction collar as we live in a fishbowl setting
Hoping to move within the next year...can't wait to take it off! <3
The first thing that jumps out at me is his breast, he lacks the breast depth he needs for proper balance (the look of balance). This throws his bottom line off. His chest is also overcolored, but mated to dark hens with little color could balance that out. He also has quite a bit of shafting on his chest, but I struggle with all these things as well in my own birds. He does have a decent topline and good tail angle, however his tail and streamers are too long.
His color is lovely! That is his best quality, I think. His color and his tail angle alone would make him a keeper if he were mine. He needs to be mated to some big chunky and wide hens with deep breasts to balance out his more narrow and lean build. His comb isn't bad. I would like to see the posterior lobe of the comb to be lifted away from the back of the head a little more. His leg feathering and leg color look good. I can't tell much about his eye color, other than that it doesn't look dark.
Marans are a general purpose bird, so they should be big heavy, meaty birds. Their breast should be nice and deep and their carcass should be wide and full. They should have a brick shape to their body.
Did he hatch from a dark egg? If he did then that is a big plus and I would select for him big wide, heavy hens to pair him with. Select hens that are dark with little color in their hackles, and shorter tails if possible. His color is good, so that is a big plus since color comes mostly from the male. Chooks man has said, as well as Brenda Little on her website that it is more important for the male's color to be correct than the hen. And it is more important for the hens type (shape, size) to be correct than the male. Finding good females that complement your male can produce more balanced chicks.
The others may chime in where I fall short in my assessment, I hope I didn't miss anything.
Correct female Marans shape
Correct male Marans shape
