Marans experts...I need your help...

[SoCalChicky]

I bought fertile eggs a year ago from a BYC member with good stock. Might not be to show standards but I'm not needing that for my purposes anyway. I hatched a BCM roo and 5 hens. My roo was killed by something that jumped our high fence in broad daylight. anyway I saved all fertile eggs I had and hatched them to get some more roos. Problem was I also have a Australorp. I had 4-5 Marans eggs hatch out of 18 and I can't tell if my 3 roos are pure-bred. The contenders are... (yes I will keep all 3 if all are PB)

#1. 18 weeks







#2 Also 18 weeks





And #3 is only 13 weeks. He has me worried b/c his comb doesn't have barbs? is that what it's called? Love his coloration though





Thoughts??

 

[ve]

Only #3 looks Marans. First two even have Pea combs.

 

[ramirezframing]

Yup only number 3 looks to marans at the moment. The other two, as said above, have what looks like a modified pea comb and I wouldn't say their dad was an australorp either, since that breed also has a single comb like a marans.

 

[jtdoux]

I agree. Also how do the feathers on his feet look if any?

 

[3riverschick]

Honestly so cal chicky,
None of these three birds are breeding quality. They all lack breed type in the body even at this early age.
For stud cock you want the very best available. Fortunately you are in a great area to find such boys. What strain
is your Marans from? Did the breeder tell you? Find out and then come back here and lets see if we can find a
complementary strain from which to get you a new boy.
Best,
Karen in western PA
( SD North County is my 'ol stompin' grounds)
Here try here. They are in Ramona.
http://www.javahillfarm.com/JHF/Home.html
They may be getting ready to thin their cockerels and you can get one.
If your hens have the same body type as those cockerels, you need to start
over with new stock if you want Standard of Perfection birds. Javahill is a
great starting point with proven winners in quality competition.
It costs as much to feed "grade" birds as it does to feed winners.

 

[3riverschick]

Here are some pictures of stunning Marans breed type. These are Ernie Haire's birds. He is from Arp, TX.
http://marans2xl.com/index.html Ernie is renowned for the quality of his Marans in several colors,
winning consistently in top competition http://marans2xl.com/awards.html :
http://www.poultryshowcentral.com/tx-marans.html


Best Continental at Shawnee, OK Black Copper Marans
hen with stunning breed type! This is the shape you
want in a quality Marans hen.



Best Continental, Over-all Reserve Champion at State
Fair of Texas This is a high quality Black Copper
Marans cock. This is the quality of bird you want for
a stud cock.

Either 2XL or Javahill would give you a high quality start.
I am sure there are many other winning Marans breeders.
These are two really good examples. Glenis at Javahill is
Western Regional Director for the Marans Chicken Club USA.
Best Regards,
Karen

 

[SoCalChicky]

thanks all! so sorry, It took a while to hear back from anyone on here so I went to the breeder who sold me the eggs and got her opinion. Since this post I gave away #1 and #2. #3 is turning out to be a gorgeous boy and is really timid, so as of now I'm keeping him. Picking up a Splash roo at the Serama show tomorrow in Ramona from the same breeder I got #3's parents from.

 

[SoCalChicky]

Honestly so cal chicky,
None of these three birds are breeding quality. They all lack breed type in the body even at this early age.
For stud cock you want the very best available. Fortunately you are in a great area to find such boys. What strain
is your Marans from? Did the breeder tell you? Find out and then come back here and lets see if we can find a
complementary strain from which to get you a new boy.
Best,
Karen in western PA
( SD North County is my 'ol stompin' grounds)
Here try here. They are in Ramona.
http://www.javahillfarm.com/JHF/Home.html
They may be getting ready to thin their cockerels and you can get one.
If your hens have the same body type as those cockerels, you need to start
over with new stock if you want Standard of Perfection birds. Javahill is a
great starting point with proven winners in quality competition.
It costs as much to feed "grade" birds as it does to feed winners.

thanks!! I got fertile eggs from Dana in Ramona! She's on here...she's from Indigo Ridge Farms. I am getting a Splash roo from her tomorrow from a different strain than my BCM is apparently from.

 

[SoCalChicky]

Yup only number 3 looks to marans at the moment. The other two, as said above, have what looks like a modified pea comb and I wouldn't say their dad was an australorp either, since that breed also has a single comb like a marans.

thank you!! see that's why I was confused! Only pea comb hen I have is a SLW. The pics I gave u were kinda deceiving...they didn't have a pea comb...it just looked like that until u saw it from a different angle. But it was like nothing I have ever seen before, maybe just deformaties??...oh well #1 and #2 are long gone to Ramona anyway!

 

[SoCalChicky]

I agree. Also how do the feathers on his feet look if any?

#3 has light feathering on his shanks only, none on his feet