Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[gilavina]

Quote:
this thread might also be helpful too...kinda have to scroll through to find all of them, but hopefully helpful nonetheless.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=184&p=1

Great info from both of you! Thank-You both very much!

Hahaha...how very nice of you to thank me twice? hahaha

just givin ya a hard time

 

[flgardengirl]

One more black copper girl
#57 (4th Best)

Black Tailed Buff Marans

#58 Female (wish this pic came out not so blury- darn, and I couldn't get her pretty face either

)

#59 Male

Salmon Marans
Pretty Boy
#60

Guess What? I think that's it LOL. Unless I find more pics on dd's (dear daughter's) camera. I bet hers is just full of the call ducks and BOYS LOL. I did see her take pics of the sebastapool geese though.

 

[flgardengirl]

Quote:
Thank you that does help alot. Those judges have a tough job. Some of the tents I went to were still roped off with signs saying, 'judging in progress'
(not the Marans tent but others mostly cochin and silkie bantams from what I could see) and it was about 2 pm and the judging had supposedly started at 9am. I noticed in some breeds there were just tons of birds entered especially silkies, different bantams, OEG etc. I had to leave before they were all even judged because it was a 6 hr drive back home and dh had to work the next day. There was only one LeFleche in the whole place so he won in his breed LOL.

 

[Debbi]

Well thanks for all the pics!! Hope you had a great time!

did you get to see them judge the Marans at all? Did they take them out of the cage for the most part, or just look at them through the cage? I so need to get to an APA show to see how it's run! Just really irks me that all the cage cards read: Maran

 

[Illia]

THANKS for the photos! Loved looking at em all and judging them in my head.

It's like judging the 10 black copper culls I received a week ago.

Golly, did you know there are some Marans out there with VULTURE HOCKS? Yeah, I didn't believe it myself either until I received one. . .

And to add, these were his feet.

I also came across a Marans with a purple comb, wattles, face, and soles. He truly had dark pigmentation, like a Silkie would have. Everything else about him was typical Marans though. So weird but fascinating.

 

[Debbi]

OMG! Were these rescues?? Are those fused toes? I've heard about them but never seen them.

 

[flgardengirl]

Illia, that poor boy! Is that actually webbing between his toes (as in webbed feet)?

Debbie: No the Marans were all judged when I got there.

 

[gilavina]

Quote:
Thank you that does help alot. Those judges have a tough job. Some of the tents I went to were still roped off with signs saying, 'judging in progress'
(not the Marans tent but others mostly cochin and silkie bantams from what I could see) and it was about 2 pm and the judging had supposedly started at 9am. I noticed in some breeds there were just tons of birds entered especially silkies, different bantams, OEG etc. I had to leave before they were all even judged because it was a 6 hr drive back home and dh had to work the next day. There was only one LeFleche in the whole place so he won in his breed LOL.

Yeah...some of those breeds have huge entries and certainly isn't a job I envy. I had a guy tell me one time at a show when I was younger that generally the more marks on the card, the more the judge had to deliberate, which is a good thing. I always felt bad for those birds that got no placement and no markings at all. LOL Judging indeed is an all day thing...most shows will have more than one judge to get through. Makes me wonder how they did it at a show up in Ohio in '98' that had something like 13,000 entries. Must have had a small army of judges.

It is really hard to wait to find out what's going on when a judge has a row roped off, especially if your birds are in that row. It doesn't get any better when you are clerking for the judge...not really talking to anyone and just sort of standing back with a clipboard...then when they made their decisions on a group of birds you go in and take notes on placements and etc for the show secretary. It is an absolutely fantastic position to learn from tho. Not only the meanings of the markings and etc, but watching each judge's style and watching them while they are handling the birds. Gives you a whole new perspective on what to look for.

 

[Illia]

Nope, they're not rescues, they're culls from another breeder. Most of the birds from that line (blue zipties) had that deformity. I don't know if it was the breeder's raising and environment to blame or the genetics, but yes, you're seeing fused webbing and toes. In fact, the toenails are fused together into one mass. Even the legs had so much feathering, there was an inch extra of skin lining the legs, from hock to toe.

 

[gilavina]

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If I were to have to take a guess I'd say that it's a genetics related issue if it is showing up in one line of birds. I do know that biotin deficiency can cause webbed or fused toes as well, but I don't have an answer for the extra skin on the legs. Are you planning to breed with them?