Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[seabreeze]

I thought so!! My BCM hens are from him and all my current chicks hatched out are their offspring, some I will be bringing to the meet.

 

[AyeUpChuck]

Quote:
HA! Good to know as I was going to get some from you! Don't suppose you need a BCM roo??!???!?

 

[Bravo]

These are my first generation of my home-bred birds that were my test hatches last fall. I am hoping for some feedback on my boy.

Thanks for any feedback. I am striving to adhere to the breed standard so any constructive criticism is very helpful.

Jaques just turned 6 mos old. His eye color isn't there all the way yet and he has an extra point in his comb. The copper in his hackles is a little light but definitely an improvement on his father. He doesn't have any white on him though.

And this is his sister...she's 3 weeks older. I have 2 pullets the same age and they are almost identical and lay very pretty eggs.

Photographed in natural light:

 

[tball chicky]

Can someone here tell me any differences I can look for to distinguish between Cuckoo Marans cockerel and pullet @ ~6weeks? I have 2 of them and they both seemed to be growing at about the same rate...then they started changing. Here is what I saw last week:

Laverne: tail was much shorter than the Shirley's, was smaller in size, started growing comb but very small wattles.

Shirley: tall was considerably longer than Laverne's, started growing much faster, not much comb & no wattles.

Now this:

Laverne: tail is starting to stand more upright & has grown to almost same length as Shirley's, is still smaller in size, comb is smaller than Shirley's but more red, wattles are still relatively small.

Shirley: tail grows straight out not up, is bigger than Laverne, comb has grown a lot & is now bigger than Laverne's, wattles are bigger than Laverne's as well.

So at first, I thought that Laverne was going to be a rooster & Shirley a hen. Now, I am just confused (and irritated because DH "lost" my camera).

I know I need to post pictures, but I thought if I described them maybe it would get me somewhere. Also, their markings/coloring are almost the same - neither one is darker or lighter than the other.

 

[Tala]

People were wondering what I'm up to. Nothin much really. Hatched out some chicks earlier this spring, had a mixed selection with my BCM roo and my EE roo both in with all the girls. Divided their pen in half so I can hatch out some pure BCMs in a few weeks. Here's my newish roo for them. He looks a little funky coz he kept stretching his neck out like he was about to crow when I was taking his picture. He's a tenacious one, keeps challenging me, though he doesn't seem out for blood just likes to ruffle my feathers. After I hatch out a few, he'll probably be looking at the stew pot for annoying me constantly. It's not like roosters are hard co come by (somebody should let him know that!) My mutt EE roo is a perfect gentleman

BCM roo

Teh Chickies:

The girls are getting a bit older I suppose, their eggs are getting lighter colored. One of the three lays the darkest though. Recent egg collection (Barred Rock, Cuckoo Marans, White Leghorn, and BCMs)

tball chicky: the cuckoos can be color sexed just like barred rocks, boys are whiter, girls are blacker
These were mine last spring 3ish weeks old. Girl in the center

Girl in the back left:

 

[Illia]

Quote:
I was personally shocked/surprised. I entered that photo last year.

Better late than never?

He's a beauty! Wonder what a Tolbunt Shamo would look like??

There actually are spangled Gamefowl out there. . .

Different from Tolbunt, but the same concept.



Bravo - I like him, but there's something I don't like. About his posture, or maybe his back, or his legs, I can't quite put my finger on it.

 

[vanessamarie]

 

[VillageChicken]

Yes Don, I would be interested to see what the brown and the white chick down indicates.

 

[Debbi]

Quote:
Good morning all..

VC, I don't know about the brown down on the chicks, but a lot of white, should I say, excessive white on one of my chicks, grew into an over-melanized BCM pullet! Correct eye and leg color, non-feathered shanks, and very little copper. She lays a nice colored egg though.

Here she is a day or so old.
The one up front

Here she is at about 14 days

And here she is at about 7 1/2 months

 

[Debbi]

Quote:
Better late than never?

He's a beauty! Wonder what a Tolbunt Shamo would look like??

There actually are spangled Gamefowl out there. . .

http://www.feathersite.com/Poultry/Games/Asil/AsilSpangCkl.JPEG

Different from Tolbunt, but the same concept.



Bravo - I like him, but there's something I don't like. About his posture, or maybe his back, or his legs, I can't quite put my finger on it.

Wow! I love that color on the Asil!! Thanks for posting that!