Marans Hen or Roo

[dhilling]

3.5 to 4 months. I have about 10 and most are blue with 3 BCM. Some of the pullet are all light blue without darker blue. are they good to keep for breeding? one blue cockerel is very tall with lots of feathered feet. his neck is more blonde then copper.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Feathered feet are good. Blonde is not.

It will be a process learning what you wish to breed for or not. Sometimes you might like one feature like a good comb but not the light hackles. Deciding which is easier to keep and breed out the part you don't like or breed in the part you are hoping for might take some learning as well as figuring out who passes which feature to the offspring. For example, pullets will get their egg SHADE from their sire. The birds still change so much after this point not only in color but also personality. Some will lay much later than others.

When you get closer to selecting if you are going to make any culls... probably best to start a new thread and post pics of your competitors. For me things like what kind of flock member they are counts.

And to truly be selective you will want to start by culling those with obvious things like I mentioned... eye color, comb sprigs, split wing, and so on.

If a bird doesn't make the cut for breeding but I like them and they get to stay... I simply don't hatch their eggs if I can tell them apart. Or I put them in another paddock where I can easily identify which egg not to hatch from or where I'm not hatching.

But if you aren't selecting for the things like sprigs or split wing... too me no reason to worry about selecting for color either... just do what makes you happy.

They really are pretty and I didn't mean to make you think less than about them. I assure you I've got no room to judge! And I don't care how good any bird conforms to the SOP, attitude is more important... which can change several times between now and one year old. In other words, I try not to be too hasty.

 

[Brahma Chicken5000]

I have a couple 4 month old Blue/Black marans. 2 I can def. tell they are roo, but others are the same size with longer tails and bigger comb. Looking @ the photos are they hen or roo? the last photo has an adult Hen with 2 4 month blues.

All are pullets.