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

[tfpets]

Quote:
I have a pic of my hens eggs from before the Firestorms here, not sure what the eggs are on the color scale though? I have a terra cotta tray I will try to put some in and get a pic of for comparison cause I have a few of her eggs in the fridge. Everyone is tired here, with the poor air quality, but it is picking up! My Cuckoo Marans offspring are too young to lay just yet, and I am more into pets than being able to improve the lineage (for now.) I wouldnt try to pass off my chickens as something or some quality they arent though? I am so interested in the true Marans and just love the darker the eggshell the better though - I may find myself becoming more of a purist yet!

Thank you for letting me keep ahold of the notion that my favorite rooster, the kingly Mr. Cuckoo, is a Marans, which is what I was told he was when I purchased him, and to the best of my knowledge; he is a Cuckoo Marans!

Well, on a color scale, my hens eggs are getting lighter by the day, and they havent ever been as dark as the Black Copper eggs I bought/hatched. I hope my teens, when they begin laying, are true "marans" or I will be sad!

 

[littlepeddler]

Anne seems I have a hard time getting the eggs to hatch in a incubator. But it could be my incubator. I'm trying a hen to see if that will work better for me as far as hatching. maybe those dark shell make it harder.

 

[Katy]

Quote:
What kind of incubator are you using? I've got a couple of Genesis 1588s that I hatch mine in and have good hatches. I don't treat them any different than my other eggs.

 

[amazondoc]

I have no first hand knowledge of Marans hatching, but I have read on a couple of the Marans lists that some people have greater success with the eggs by lowering humidity. It seems that the dark layer may retard evaporation, so if you use the "normal" humidity levels the eggs may stay too wet.

Hopefully somebody with lots of hatching experience will chime in!

 

[Oblio13]

We have an R-Com 20. We keep the humidity at 45% for incubation, then raise it to as high as we can get it for hatching, which is usually between 50% and 60%. A high percentage of our eggs seem to develop well, but we always have a few that pip and then die. I think it's because we can't get the humidity high enough.

 

[MaransGuy]

I use a 1588 as well and do not really have an issue. I do run my humidity lower than normal, however, as I think the eggs do not seem to dry down like other breeds and the chicks can grow too large and not have enough muscle tone to hatch properly. I don't have a hygrometer in my incubator any more but I just watch the air cells and go by that. I found that, for me, focussing on nothing but a digital readout did not work. When I changed my focus to that of the air cells it worked out much better. When dealing with shipped eggs it is always a gamble. I have been on both sides of poor hatches on shipped eggs and I always feel horrible about it. When buying eggs through the mail you should always be prepared to have a low hatch rate and feel lucky to have a good one. Shipping can really mess up those eggs. I had tried twice with shipped BLRW eggs from a breeder only one state away. My best hatch was 5 eggs out of 18 and my worst was 3 out of 18. I then happened to be in their area and stopped by to pick up 13 and drove them home. I had 8 out of 13 hatch. To get good hatches, no matter what breed you are working with, I think you really need to keep trying diferent things and think about the big picture. Incuabtion involves a lot more that just temp and humidity. Fresh air, nutrition, egg storage technique and the vigor of the line you are hatching from all play important parts. Unfortunately, some of the "purest" lines can also be the weakest due to inbreeding.

Richard

 

[littlepeddler]

Its a cheap incubator and I am glad you have good hatches katy. I'll keep working on it

 

[Katy]

I should add the fact that I have much better hatches with my own marans eggs. The shipped eggs are always a gamble, no matter the breed of chicken or color of egg. I've had both good and bad hatches with shipped eggs.

 

[Arklady]

I studied the Marans Breed for 6 years and hatched out Marans for 3 years. I waited because I wanted to be sure I could support and handle birds that cost so much $55 doz. I ordered 4 dozen from a npip breeder and hatched out 26 birds All died except for 11 exceptional birds those birds are my foundation flock. Those roos and hens I have gotten the REST of my Marans flock out of. I sell the started birds for 13.50 each and eggs for 30$ a doz. I have chicks I sell for 4.85 each. Those prices I charge because my flock is going through a ton of changes on a regular basis. With my mixing of the birds quite a lot. I have one exceptional roo that I placed with some nearly black hens and one true black Marans hen and have hatched his eggs and I am hoping for the colors to just explode on me and they are. I do not have any pictures right now because I don't have help in that area. But I enjoy my Marans immensely. The correct pronunciation of the word Marans is Ma rans, if your French it would sound like Mair awns with the s silent.

To address issues, Trendy? When I bought mine I bought from one of the 7 founder flocks of America hatched out from imported French Marans eggs. They came from a gal in Texas. You think Marans prices are nutso... have you checked out silkies for 40$ and up?

American Marans Club is trying, though not very hard, to get Americans to raise their birds according to the French Standard. (Well the French did create them after all). Nothing wrong with that, but I tend to read the French Marans site often.

Feed hogs. honestly I don't think they eat more than the others but then I give my birds plenty so... I do not however keep food in front of them 24/7 that breeds a fat chicken and noo.... they have enough fat thank you.

My Marans have been having a ton of Silvers come out of them, but I have also had Golden cuckoos popping out and this year I hatched out a buff colored pullet or two and I am not sure what direction those are going.

French say Brown red we say Black Copper because it sounds flashy and sells sells sells.... hype and money. Cha- ching!

I have looked at DOZENS of Black Copper chickens and they are FAR FAR from being according to the standard. They can have midnight black eggs and they still would not be French standard. And to get that French standard --- you WOULD lose egg color. P-e-r-i-o-d no ands ifs or buts... that is why I chose to work on Bird color and then egg color. So if you ordered eggs from me you would get eggs that are not so pretty but are great genetic. The biggest problem in the black copper is the SQUIRREL TAIL which is a huge disqualification. If there was a show and Marans were on the list they probably would pass because the American judges don't know what it is. It is a problem in America and needs to be addressed and how ever pretty your birds look those birds should be Put down and not used for breeding. The French do not like just destroying every bird they would use those for UTILITY flocks, though most would go into the market place, where they belong as a food subject. But the standard is set and they would never show such an genetically incorrect bird.

FeatherSite has terrible pictures of Marans, and other breed images, and show non show quality birds. But one of the breeders there does have nice looking Blue Marans but I am not interested in Blue, I think the hype there is not worth the dollars of 15$ a chick. Sorry. bleah. But feather site does provide what a Marans or other breed is but does not offer any information out there what so ever on bad conformation or genetic disqualifications such as the feathering on the middle toe.

Hatchery Marans I would not own a hatchery Marans if you paid me because they are only selling the name not a good quality Marans. I spent two years investigating bird lines and going from one site or another till I found someone who had the Line I thought would serve me best. If you don't know whose line the birds ORIGINATED from then you need to find out. Some lines are INCOMPATIBLE with others.

If all you want is pretty eggs then hatchery Marans are for you. But if you think *THINK* you might become a serious breeder of Marans, DON'T buy hatchery Marans.

I love my Marans I am so glad I tossed out the 220$ to get them. My foundation flock is 3 this year and I am on my SECOND breeding cycle with some exciting results.

Current status of my flock, I am on the look out for anyone who may have FITCH LINE MARANS. I am also looking for birds that DO NOT CARRY the SQUIRREL TAIL disqualification.

Feel free to contact me with prices on your eggs at [email protected]

Thanks for reading this huge long post lol...

Arklady
breeder of French Cuckoo Marans

 

[tfpets]

Okay, lets say there are those of us that are only just now "dabbling" in the Marans. Their appeal, which includes such a rich history, the beauty of the variety of birds, the glory of those pretty eggs, etc, has led us to invest or purchase "inferior" birds, say we dont know what lines they're from, or someone slipped us a hatchery bird, in our ignorance. We would still like to know the best practice to determine how close to standard our birds are, you know, since we already have them?
It's hard to decide if you're going to branch into a serious breeding program if you're not allowed a learning curve? It is a serious consideration to want to have birds of distinctive lineage, and carry on a committed breeding program. You probably wont find that amongst the genereal population of small backyard flock owners, but it's not a shame for them to own or be proud of their Marans birds, in my opinion.
I just dont think it would be right, again in our ignorance, to present them as "show quality" to others, but how many flock owners have techinically "substandard" breeds of birds and love and care for them? If they're not presenting as breeders and sellers of pure stock, or experts in the birds, I think they should be encouraged. Support and education of truly interested people will benefit the breed.