Marans Owners -- anything "bad" about this breed?

[drom]

Quote:
The Marans Club of France site doesn't mention the "Dark Cuckoo" . They just list the Golden and the Silver Cuckoos.
And then Black, Brown-Red (coppered black), Birchen, Wheaten, Black-Tailed Buff, White, Columbian. Plus 4 varieties that are not approved yet.

http://marans-club.club.fr/accueila.htm#LA MARANS

And the American Marans Club which is associated with the French club has the same link to the French Club page under Varieties

http://americanmaransclub.com/

There are some nice pictures at the American club site of birds from breeders over here. There is one picture of a "Yellow Cuckoo". Not sure what the story is with that color. He is one cool looking bird.

 

[ninjapoodles]

Quote:
I actually think that "Coppered Black" (copperED) is the most elegant, as far as descriptive terminology for that particular color variety goes. Because the birds really are, firstly, black. And then they have copper "points". (Sorry, I don't know what the proper chicken term for "points" would be.)

 

[drom]

Quote:
I actually think that "Coppered Black" (copperED) is the most elegant, as far as descriptive terminology for that particular color variety goes. Because the birds really are, firstly, black. And then they have copper "points". (Sorry, I don't know what the proper chicken term for "points" would be.)

The Marans Club of France agrees with you.
Here's what they say about the Coppered Black:

The "Brown-red", main variety of the breed for already a numerous years, interests the major part of the present farmers of the "Marans". Indeed, it turns out that more than 80% of the farmers of the Marans Club of France select the Brown-red variety. It is an edifying number which widely demonstrates the constant interest of the amateurs of the breed for this color.
The success of this variety in the opinion of the farmers hangs on several reasons. First, we must recognize that a nice Brown-red Marans flock has style. Furthermore, we can find the best founder laying the most extra reddish-brown eggs above all in this variety as well as in the Birchen variety (silver-black) or Black-red variety (golden-salmon) ones which are at least the most regular for the quality conservation. Moreover, the great number of existing stocks makes the maintenance of a satisfactory level consanguinity easier.


Consanguinity? Hmmm. The translation is, well....interesting. But it sounds like;

They are the most popular
They lay the darkest eggs
and they've got style



I'm so excited! Hopefully, I will have a few hatching this month!

 

[Chickndaddy]

Someone is the US was working with a Columbian Marans if I remember correctly. The breeder managed to get one hen and was working from there. Wonder how that turned out for him?

Personally I think all that Marans are gorgeous but especially the Birchin and Black Copper.

 

[karanleaf]

I just received my order of Cuckoo Marans on Tuesday
here is a pic they are cute little fuzzies

And they sure can eat... wow....
I can't wait to see how many hens we end up with.....
I want chocolate eggs

 

[drom]

Quote:
So, several people on this site have said you can sometime sex the cuckoos when they are chicks because the little cockerels are lighter in color than the pullets. (?)

 

[drom]

Quote:
On the French web site it said the Columbian variety are extremely rare.

I kind of like the Wheatens too. Both the hens and the roos look really pretty in the pictures I've seen. But it seems like everyone's favorites are the Cuckoos and the Copper Black.

 

[Crunchie]

Quote:
So, several people on this site have said you can sometime sex the cuckoos when they are chicks because the little cockerels are lighter in color than the pullets. (?)

This is correct. Sometimes you have a little roo who is a bit darker than the others and surprises you, but it's pretty easy to tell once you know what you're looking for. The dark chicks that look almost black, with a distinct yellow spot on top of their heads, are the girls. The silvery ones, the boys. I have some pics of both, if I can dig them up (or a thread I posted them to--I know there is one somewhere) I'll post them for you so you can see what I'm talking about. Then you can go name all your new fuzzbuts according to their gender!

Congrats on the new chicks, by the way.

ETA: Here's a link to a thread I posted a couple of pics in that might help you identify who's who in your new little flock: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=67294

 

[siz8003]

well my brats have not layed yet and they are 20 weeks

 

[karanleaf]

Thanks Crunchy, I am hoping I find more girls than boys as we will only keep 2 of the roos..
Noah can sell the others at 4H fair.. Yes they sure are cute little fuzzies

and messy too.
Noah doesn't know we have them yet,so when he gets home in a couple of weeks he will be surprised...

Little fuzzy chicks and a Found RIR hen I brought home yesterday

Oh and I got his dog a hair cut too....

I'm a sneaky Grandma