looking for others who raise Golden Cuckoo Marans

[chasehope]

I understand that they are a project, and I didnt buy them thinking that they were perfect. It is discouraging when people are so critical yet they cant suggest what to do to change them except cull them!!! I am considering buying a black copper/Golden Cuckoo cross Rooster that is near me and give him a couple of hens and see what happens. I have 8 hens to work with, so I have a little bit of room to play. Any thoughts?

 

[pinkchick]

Shelley~

Do what you are comfortable with, it won't hurt anything for you to give it a try. You'll never know unless you do. If you get that roo and you do some crossing, what is it going to hurt? It's nothing that can't be rectified by simply not doing it anymore and if you have excess chicks to get rid of during the process, just let people know they are your project birds and what you were trying to acheive when you crossed their parents. Don't get discouraged.

 

[chasehope]

I think that I will give it a try...my husband is going to think that I have gone nuts if I have to keep everything that hatches for a while...oh well!!! Now I just need to get an incubator....Maybe its a good thing that they are not laying yet! I havent seen any of their eggs, but I was told that they lay dark eggs for a golden Cuckoo...we will see...I am not going to get discouraged, I know what is wrong with them. Now I need some suggestions as to how to go about fixing it! How hard is it to fix the combs on the roosters?

 

[Debbi]

chasehope ,

I wish you the best of luck in developing your Goldens! I had wanted some too, but unfortuneatly, don't have the time, money, or space to grow out 100 birds or so to only keep a few. Don't feel like you are being picked on. People that you feel are being "critical" are trying to help point out known flaws, that is part of the mentoring system. No one would get very far with any breeding program if all they heard was, "oh, what a pretty roo/hen!" They are all pretty, but there are also faults that need to be improved upon. Once you are shown those faults, at least you will have a direction to then guide your breeding practices by. As for helpful suggestions, well, all in the Marans world are all pretty much in the same boat. Time and experimentation will eventually bring the best of the breed/variety forward, and closer to the SOP. If I were you, I would try not to see the critiques as a personal attack, and take them for the value that they offer. Experiment, have fun, and hope you get to your goal!

 

[pinkchick]

How hard is it to fix the combs on the roosters?

I wish there was a definitive answer for this question. Combs take work just like the rest of the bird. There's not an exact science to breeding for better combs, IMO. It has taken me 4 generations of Welsummers to get a cockerel with a nice comb and I think it happened by accident. LoL! Seriously though, I picked the roo with the best comb and I picked the hens with the best combs and went from there. I wish I could be more help with on this one.​

 

[Lotsapaints]

Quote:

X2

 

[chasehope]

I am not sure that I have the space or money to grow out hundreds of birds either, but I will try. I guess I will have hundreds of free range marans at my house next year!!! Good thing we have lots of pastures and Livestock Guardian Dogs!

I DO appreciate everyones help with the critiquing of these birds. I am sorry if I was being sensitive! I am new to chickens and I guess that I dont know which way to go with them. I am hoping that the egg color is as good as the seller said they are, and I am going to try a couple of things to work on the color, and combs...

 

[blackred]

Quote:
I am sorry that you took my observations as being "so critical" and you are discouraged. If you are going to work with something that is less than perfect you had better prepare yourself for lots of set backs. Being able to handle the setbacks and critical eye from others with your birds is the difference between being a dedicated breeder or not.

Back to your birds. When dealing with a off variety sometimes there aren't better places to go to get better birds , you have to deal with what you got. I think you have something to work with here (or else I wouldn't have commented at all). You are just going to have to do as I said, hatch and raise a lot. I have been working on getting the white out of the tails of my males for 5 years now, it is still a battle. The white only shows up in the males tails. I have been breeding to females with the darkest barring and males that have the best ( most distinct) barring on their tails. If it is a smokey grey type barring I do not use them. But once again, in the beginning you have to use what you have.
The black I saw was in the wings and the tail.

I would also suggest that you pick out your 2 best hens and breed to them. Try to narrow the gene pool. The more you can pin point the hen that laid the golden egg the better.

One last thing- I am only observing the color issues. You also need to work on the type first.

Bob

 

[Debbi]

I knew I had read something about the combo of different colors to get to the Golden Cuckoo. How accurate is this combo? Once you get to the third generation, do they breed true to color?? At least with the use of the BCM, the egg color should be improved. Has anyone tried this combo? Is the roo pictured the "true" and preferred coloring?

http://maransofamericaclub.com/Golden-Cuckoos.php

 

[Lotsapaints]

I would like more distinct barring in the tail but to me that is the color but if you scroll down on this page http://frenchmaransclubaustralia.yolasite.com/notes-on-breeding.php you have the type and color