Marans Bloodlines*the strengths & weaknesses *pls share yours

[cottagegarden]

We have fallen in love with these great birds and their story is being written everyday, a story that reaches out before we knew about them and now sees on the horizon APA acceptance sometime in the future. Marans are in development and are delicate balancing act of working on conformation and egg color, sometimes at the cost of each other. We know there are things to work thru-
fertility issues, recessive genes, inbred lines, coloration, type...
What is your story? What have you learned?

Below are just a few BYC members and their foundation lines. These lines have their good points and needing work points, and the truth is, some of the Marans are farther than others but they still need work. These people, who might have similar birds to you, could be working on solutions and could help you find more or complimentary birds to yours.
I have written something incorrect, you want off or on, pls let me know.
Lets do it, lets be honest, let's come together on this!!


Bayhorsebonne-Wade Jeane/Ron Presley(and probably other great lines)
onthespot
drom
thesimplelife
adeledamate

Jesse Bryant-Black Copper King-Wade Jeane/Kevin Jeane/Channing Grisham
ruth
kinnip
southernhen
bargain
ninjapoodles
newnanchic
grannyJunebug
peepfreek
pumpkinpup

Will Morrow(Whitmore Farm)-Wade Jeane BlkC/Mari Krebs Blue Copper
peachick
danrut101

Bev Davis
Mergmet
Oblio13
m@m@2four
92caddy
katy
maransguy

lilEmilysChkenpen-Wade Jeane/Bev Davis
txfresh-Wade Jeane
steelshot-Bl CM Davis/BCM Presley
malapinefarm- Mergmet(from Bev Davis)
tgcole Black Copper Marans from Wade Jeane
Gold Cuckoos from Paso Fino Farms and Don Putvin
Wheaten Marans from Wade Jeane line

Bleenstar Black Copper Marans- BayhorseBonne
Black Copper Marans- Ron Presley
Golden Cuckoo Marans- BayHorseBonne
Wheaten Marans- BayhorseBonne
Wheaten Marans- Wade Jeane

 

[monarc23]

Feather Shanked Black Copper Marans

OnTheSpots 12 (one was scrambled sadly) in the bator- she bought her stock from Bayhorsebonne- lovely e*ggs I cannot wait to see those babies I've heard wonderful things about them!

Ninjapoodles- from Jessse Bryant I was told by cottagegarden--because I forgot haha! I have two from her, youngsters, a month old if I'm not mistaken. May be getting more from her in the future and you betcha that wouldnt be a problem with me

E*gg color is amazing

Funny Farms (not a byc member maybe one day she will be lol) Jeanie- I got a trio from her, cockerel and two pullets, they are over a month old to two months old. Coppering just started showing up the other day on all three esp the cockerel though.

Wonderful temperment! I can't attest for the e*ggs because I had these birds shipped in just a bit ago. Also from Wade Jeanes lines and others.

I HIGHLY RECCOMEND ALL THREE of these breeders!!!

Black Copper Marans Clean Shanks

Valentines lined pullet- she is a slow grower, same age as my Ninjapoodles chicks and is just now starting to catch up, I perfer the feather shanked BCs, so I'm unsure if I will keep her, but I'll grow her up some before I do that just incase she's got something I may be interested in keeping her for.


*My Goals*
I hope to breed to the standard that's been set forth as much as I possibly can, while also juggling the e*gg color above 5 perferably above 6 if possible and ofcourse darker is always better

. I still have MUCH to learn in the mean while.

 

[Krys109uk]

I have made my own lines .....does that count?

 

[sandspoultry]

Quote:
But you had to start with someone else's line to create your own. Who's birds did you start with?
Sharon

 

[cottagegarden]

Quote:
We have such a shallow gene pool in the US it really helps to tell others where the line is from
so they can make good choices for improvements and additions.
But by all means...what did you work thru with your line, the good the bad, your hopes for the future..

 

[lilly]

I am getting BC e g gs this week from Ron Presley lines, I have heard alot of good about that line

 

[EweSheep]

I heard not so good comments about Valentine lines even this guy is very nice and prompt on my email questions. The egg colors are not the greatest.

Presley, Jeanne Wade, Bayhorsebonnie, and Channing lines supposely the BEST of Marans, to my opinion.

I used to have Black Marans about four years ago but my pullet didnt lay a very dark egg what I was hoping for. She laid about a 4 and she didnt fit in the breeding program so I sold her. I got her from an old BYCer, Beeeeman but I have NO idea where he got his lines from. Perhaps someone knows of Beeeman's lines which he does or used to raise Cuckoo and Black Marans. The pullet had beautiful statue and feather color and leg featherings to die for (for whatever reason I don't know but two breeders were really ape over her legs LOL which it was not thin but not thick like Cochins but ample body, as they say).

This is a very interesting topic!

 

[Krys109uk]

Everyone has to have got their original birds from somewhere.....Bev, & all the other people you mention got their original birds from somewhere.

I remember not long ago (2005) Bev would be talking about having birds from this or that line. My birds are not from any of the lines mentioned on this forum but from people to whom I was referred by friends & who do not sell to the general public.

Presumably the people you mention consider that they have made their own lines. That said, I've made my own lines. The only person from whom I got foundation stock that any of you might have heard was Iona McCormick from whom I got my initial cuckoos (dark cuckoos).....but my cuckoos are no longer like the original birds they would not be recognisable. I no longer have any dark cuckoos only gold cuckoos & silver cuckoos which I made using the cuckoos & copper blues.

My birds aren't 'there' yet....as in I'm not satisfied with them as yet.... but I believe I have all the components...... Really I'm not sure that anyone could easily claim that their lines are 'there' either. But at least I know what to expect from my birds.

 

[klf73]

Quote:
have you found that the copper blues work better than using copper blacks?
I was researching this and it seemed easier to create my own golden cuckoo than to try to add feather shanks to other's lines....
don't mean to threadjack, feel free to pm me

 

[pasofinofarm]

Like Krys I have my own lines at this point... I had a surviving trio of GC from a hatch from e ggs from Fitzgerald, a few chicks from someone with birds that had come from someone that got them from Bev Davis I added an adult pair I bought at a local poultry swap, no idea the origins of those but they were VERY nice and are what has done my birds the most good. Krys has let me know that my birds may not even be technicaly GC.... as they may not be er/er (did I get that right Krys?)...

Anyway, I don't think my issues are too much bigger than anyone else's so I will share them here. I spent the first couple of years stablizing feather color and body type. I had some rather scrawny birds to start with and squirrel tails were an issue in the original birds that the trio came from and was the main reason for culls from that hatch. Combs with more than five points will also get a roo the heave ho. The originals also were just not hardy the way a Marans should be and would not thrive free ranging. So I ranged all my birds for the first two years and of course only bred the survivors. We ranged about 40 cockerels last year and lost about 10 to predation. We chose the best roo from those and ate the rest. He is awesome in my opinion. Hatched from a very dark egg, great body, great feed converter, smart, gentle, a flock manager. He is also wonderfuly built and has EXCELLENT feather color. But here is what we saw in the others... 2 plain cuckoo, 2 really white tails, lots of over white cockerels. Varriations in chick down color but predictable for adult feather color.

We kept the best dozen hens out of 25... here is what we didn't keep, layers of really light eggs, completely round eggs (one hen) plain cuckoo and one very weird hen that we called ugly chicken and it fit her.

We also have a quatro of Wade Jean black coppers. Very dark eggs, nice birds... the roo could have a better comb. If the eggs are anywhere near as dark as what these hatched from I will be happy as a clam.

Funnily enough I just got an e-mail from someone who got eggs from me here who said she had NEVER seen Marans eggs as light as my GC... I went through a 230 page thread about Marans today and saw pic after pic after pic of eggs MUCH lighter than any my birds have ever produced and eggs without stippling and nothing to say Marans to me... and I found post after post from folks here with picuters of my eggs... Posted without complaint... so even though I am tempted to say that egg color is a problem when stacked up against some pictures I have seen I really don't think mine is any worse than average and my birds have been laying since October... I would love to see pics of lighest eggs from 'good birds' added to this thread... and pictures of 'worst' birds that still made the breeding pens.

I take and post pics of my flocks as a whole. I know some of my birds are imperfect but I don't want anyone to think that every chick will be perfect...

OK I'm rambling... back to you!