Marans Bloodlines*the strengths & weaknesses *pls share yours

[pasofinofarm]

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

I'd love an answer to that question too so please post on open forum.

 

[Krys109uk]

so please rooster on open forum

This forum is doing some wacky things with words today.....I hope it is just April fools joke.

have you found that the copper blues work better than using copper blacks?

I'm afraid the answer is very boring. No, my copper blue & copper blacks are related anyway I used copper blues to give extra options where colour is concerned.

 

[SweetMissDaisy]

Off Topic: *GROAN* ... when is this whole "rooster" nonsense going to stop in the forums. It's making deciphering po s t s a challenge, as it's not just "e g g" it seems to be replacing now...

 

[EweSheep]

Yeah, it gets tiring after a while. Sometimes irratating.

 

[cottagegarden]

19 minutes hopefully (0:

 

[pasofinofarm]

Well let me be the first to see... egg, post, april fools.

 

[pasofinofarm]

OK I think we are safe now... So you were saying Krys?

 

[Krys109uk]

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 rooster 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...

I doubt that anyone could say that every one of their chicks is perfect. I think if people expect that they might be expecting a bit much.

Chosing ones breeders is often compromise; getting the good points while trying to get rid of the bad. I don't think there are very many of my birds at all with which I couldn't find any fault . Even if is something like I'd prefer more copper in the hackle etc. This year I am marking the egg with the individual hen that laid it....that way I hope to take advantage of the hen's good points & good point apart from egg color.
For instance....when teting egg colour...... There was a hen whom I nearly didn't test, she is so runty & inadequate looking.....she's ugly poor thing. I was amazed when she laid amongst the very darkest of eggs. A really stunning egg. Clearly I don't want too many birds looking like her, but I do want her egg colour. It would be daft not to try to capture this egg colour in a better type bird. On the other hand from the silver wheaten project, the nicest of the pullets has the best colour & type, she also lays a lovely dark egg (darker than the others in that project). She had a calcium on egg issue for a couple of days but it went

but it would be too risky to use only her out of the few silver wheaten pullets. I have to use what I've got as I cannot make more; the ancesters were killed during moving house

.
Personally, I won't use a bird with very poor egg colour but now I am recording parents of each chick, I shall use some of the passable good colour eggs in order to hopefully gain some other traits.

It's all mix 'n' match & a good bit of hope. Don't you think?​

 

[pasofinofarm]

Krys said "She had a calcium on egg issue."


Is this a dark egg with a white haze over it?

And tell me more about what kind of set up you have that you are able to distingish individual eggs and from which hens they were laid.

TIA,
Melissa

 

[Solsken Farm]

Cottagegarden asked if I would repost something I wrote on another thread about my lines. So this is a cut and paste below.

I will post some pics of eggs I have gotten as well as some birds later.


I have 3 flocks currently.

Line 1-I have CBMs that are from breeders who got their birds from Bev Davis. I received very dark rooster and some a bit lighter (I'd say 5-8-only a few were 8s, lots were 6s). The pullets have a bit less copper than is optimal. Conformationally, they are looking fantastic. All feather shanked big birds. One breeder struggles with an issue where "blacks" pop up. I had 2 out of 7 roos have that issue, so they were sold. They are only about 4-5 months, so are not mature yet, and should begin laying soon. One cutie was in the nest box yesterday.

Line 2- CBMs from Jesse Bryant who states his line is Wade Jeane. Not sure if this is accurate or not. I had to heavily cull my birds. Comb quality needs to be improved. Too much red in the breast of the roos and a few of the hens. I got 50/50 with too much red on the roos. I could tell I would as they were reddish at day olds. Some of the tails are really nice, but some exhibited a touch more upright than I like. The rooster are very dark and I am thinking they might get darker. I get 8 or 9 rooster a day and only a handful have been less than a 5. Most are 6s and 7s.

Line 3- Davis/Grisham- Again, not directly from them but Mergmet. These hens have a touch of copper lacing (which may be a DQ). I only hatched one roo and he has a bit more copper on the breast than the proposed standard calls for as do the hens. I will be culling this roo and adding the girls to my Line 1, and watching them. (I have an extra roo that is very nice to put with them. I may also had a few of the culled pullets from Line 2. So I will be able to experiment with crossing lines with this group. My cockerel for this line should be ready for action in a month or so. rooster are average about a 5, maybe closer to a 4. Not super dark, but very consistent.

This is as much info as I can give. I hope it helps. I hope others will share their info too