Marans bloodlines and genetics questions???? Please help.

[Citron_d'uccle]

I posted this in the Marans thread but got no replies.

I have been considering introducing some "new blood" into my Marans breeding program, however I am skeptical of the quality of stock that is offered by some breeders. My birds come mostly from Bev Davis' line of TRUE French Marans. I also have a few Wade Jeane C1 and C2 line Black Copper Marans.

I am concerned about the quality of my flock if I introduced new bloodlines. I want to be sure that I will be improving the genetics of my flock. I have found pullets and cockerels of the following Marans bloodlines.
Wade Jeane C1 and C2
Channing Grisham C1 and C2
Staffordshire
Fitch Ripley
Fugate

I know that the birds I have that are from Bev Davis' line are very well bred birds. The birds from Wade Jeane have had certain attributes, both good and 'undesirable' traits. We have eliminated the source of the bad genetics, however.Also, which varieties of Marans lay the darkest egg? So far I notice that the Cuckoo and Black Copper Marans from Bev Davis' line lay VERY dark eggs.

 

[pinkchick]

Citron_d'uccle :

I posted this in the Marans thread but got no replies.

I have been considering introducing some "new blood" into my Marans breeding program, however I am skeptical of the quality of stock that is offered by some breeders. My birds come mostly from Bev Davis' line of TRUE French Marans. I also have a few Wade Jeane C1 and C2 line Black Copper Marans.

I am concerned about the quality of my flock if I introduced new bloodlines. I want to be sure that I will be improving the genetics of my flock. I have found pullets and cockerels of the following Marans bloodlines.
Wade Jeane C1 and C2
Channing Grisham C1 and C2
Staffordshire
Fitch Ripley
Fugate

I know that the birds I have that are from Bev Davis' line are very well bred birds. The birds from Wade Jeane have had certain attributes, both good and 'undesirable' traits. We have eliminated the source of the bad genetics, however.Also, which varieties of Marans lay the darkest egg? So far I notice that the Cuckoo and Black Copper Marans from Bev Davis' line lay VERY dark eggs.

Hi! I saw your post in the Marans thread and have been giving thought as to an answer. You may find that some Marans people are giving this question long hard thought before replying.


Personally, I would stick with only adding more Davis line birds, but this is just my opinion.

However, there is nothing wrong with mixing bloodlines. The problems you may run into is decreased egg color and other genetic issues that may pop up. For example... carnation combs, Wheatens being produced from Black Coppers just to name a couple.

What do you mean by this...

We have eliminated the source of the bad genetics, however

As for which varieties of Marans lay the darkest eggs.......the Black Coppers are laying the darkest eggs, IMO. Wheatens lay some nice eggs too and I believe alot of Blue Coppers are also laying just as nice as the Black and the Wheatens. But seriously it is the luck of the draw and each individual bird and variety has their diifferences.

Hope this helped a little and I am postive that more folks will stop by to give you their opinions and advise as well.

 

[Citron_d'uccle]

Thanks for the reply! We had some birds that were producing off-color offspring is what I was referring to in my post.