Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[pinkchick]

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by organicsnorth


She practically called you by name Pinkchick ha ha... (I knew you would find it... You have that blue radar thing going on)

LOL! You got me all figured out!

BTW: Thanks for your kind words about my last little blue....she is a doll, already has that very relaxed hang loose attitude that I have come to expect from the Marans. I wish that she had a little heavier feathering on her shanks but I will be happy with what she does have, she has a line of what I call single feathers from the top of the shank to the outer toe, but not physically on the outer toe. I am very happy with her eye color so far.....doesn't look like she is going to break my heart like the last few that were just culled from that pen.
Ohh and just for you .....her name is Charmin Whipple!

 

[Beekercat]

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You guys are horrible. I must now have ALL these colors!

 

[geebs]

If charmin whipple doesn't lay a dark egg... She can find a home in my pen... really.. That is one nice looking pullet.

Love the name....(you have me figured out too... I was busted cybersqueezing again!!!)

 

[Wynette]

Feather mites - I thought those were the ones that lived INSIDE the feather shaft, and ate the cuticle...if that's the case, I've been told that you cannot get rid of them once you have them, since they live IN the feather shaft. I'll have to go do some more research on this.

Also, regarding Penedesenca - I used to have them, and they were single combed...how do we get carnation combed birds from breeding a single and a single?

Question for Bev - regarding the wheaten/white recessive gene in the Jeane line - if you had TWO wheatens from this line of Black Coppers and bred them together, would you not get black coppers? (if they were expresed as wheaten, that would mean they are black copper recessive...is this correct? Thus, when bred together, that's what you'd get?) NOT that I have any, and not that I'd breed them togethe - just trying to understand the recessive gene/dominant gene a little better.

 

[pinkchick]

Beeker~

Glad to help!!!

I would hate to think that folks weren't aware of the other color varieties, I'm proud to be an enabler!

 

[geebs]

Wynette That is just plain icky about the mites.. Bla bla bla

The Penedesenca I had only had the crown comb....It really goes forward easily and is hard to cull for... My guess is that you may have had a cross... Most of the US birds at this point are crossed with marans therefore diluting the genepool for the Pene's as well as the marans. So sad... You can see the crosses in the lack of dark eye and lack of white earlobes and lack of crown comb or too much substance. They should be built and act like a small leghorn. Most of the Penes we are seeing look more like marans than the birds they are supposed to look like.

 

[Wynette]

What do we think about this boy? ALL feedback welcomed - he's a mix of lines - I like his shape, he's got nicely feathered shanks (could be a bit heavier, but they're decent), his comb isn't perfect, but it's not horrible - he's only 20 weeks so he's got a bunch more growing to do:

 

[Wynette]

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I never crossed my penes, fyi.

Just had them as layers - never had a cock.

ETA: Oh, Pink - I see what you mean. That my Penes may have been crosses. Hmmm....as I look at pics online, all I find are single combs. Interesting!

 

[BevDavis]

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Hello Bev Thank you for joining this thread, you are greatly admired. Also, thank you for my BCM's I love them. Now...

If I should by chance hatch out a wheaten chick (and I have from another breeder) is it considered a Wheaten, a BCM or just a cull?

Hi

No one has hatched a wheaten chick from my line so far or any other color apart from solid black females. This is because the birds carry a melanotic gene, even though the bird is black, it is still a black copper and will throw black copper chicks when bred to the correct male.

I have never seen a wheaten chick from a black copper as far as I know but am told they look alright. They may carry some genes that you don't want and you will have to breed them out.

Bev

 

[pinkchick]

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Borrowed from the CHHB....again, as you can tell one of my favorite reference guides.

Feather Mite- Feather mites live on and eat plumage, ruining feathers by chewing stripes across them or by damaging the feather base.
(The handbook says that these mites are not common in N. America

)
The Quill Mite- The Quill mite inhibits a feather quill, resulting in partial or total loss of the feather. Evidence of its presence is the the powdery residue it leaves in the quill stump. Since these mites hide inside feathers, the only known way to control them is to dispose of affected birds and thoroughly clean their housing. Quill mites occur in the eastern states, but are quite rare.