Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[ruth]

Quote:
Ruth - - - is that a 5 point comb ? ? ? Is so CONGRATULATIONS - - it is one of the few 5 point combs I have seen. I like his coloring too.
Does he normally carry his tail so flat or was it just the pose at the moment ? ?

Yes, that would be the infamous 5 point comb but remember the entire comb only counts for a total of 5 points in a show, one for each point, and a deduction of only 1/2 point for each extra or missing point. I think it was Ione that once said, and I'm paraphrasing "he could have no comb at all and would only lose 5 points".

The tail angle on many of my birds is 45 degrees or less and since they have such long backs it can look even less depending on how they are standing. He was standing spooked because I walked in there and caught him cornered in the duck house. I've added another picture so you kind of see the tail up a little more. Now when they are strutting across the fields, that tail is up and they are stepping pretty. I will say that getting a decent picture of any of my birds is almost impossible - they are all semi-wild.

 

[chasehope]

Pinkchick...Are legs good? He is VERY gangly right now, but I love him!

 

[pinkchick]

I decided to stay home today.....YaY!!!

Shelley~

He will grow into them, I promise.

At this age they always look "gangly" as you say. Until they finish maturing and beefing up something always looks out of place on them...ie....leggy. I assume that if he takes after his pops he will really start to shape up alot with in about 3-4 mos. Gnarles his dad, is just over a year old and has really packed it away in the last few months, he's just a big beefy butterball. You wouldn't believe how much he has changed since you have seen him.

 

[chasehope]

I am happy with him regardless of how good he is. I got him another splash hen for him last night, he should be a happy man now! If only I was getting some eggs!

 

[pinkchick]

Quote:
I think he is going to mature into a very nice bird, but as you know I may be just a little bit biased...

Can't wait to see their eggs! Congrats on your egg from the Cuckoo's, was it what you were expecting?

 

[pinkchick]

Update on my chicks from Greenfire Farms......3 roos and the rest are girls. Yippee! Two of the boys already won't be cutting the mustard, one is way way overly red with straw colored hackles coming in and the other is very mossy with light hackle color, but the 3rd roo...

I have a very close eye on, he is my favorite. 2 of the girls are mossy and the rest are looking good, all of them are very good sized chicks like Bev's line should be, they are gaining on my 3.5 mos old pullet very quickly, hardly a noticeable size difference...ohhhh this makes me

BIG! Will try to get some photos of them soon and post.

 

[snowbird]

Quote:
Ruth - - - is that a 5 point comb ? ? ? Is so CONGRATULATIONS - - it is one of the few 5 point combs I have seen. I like his coloring too.
Does he normally carry his tail so flat or was it just the pose at the moment ? ?

Yes, that would be the infamous 5 point comb but remember the entire comb only counts for a total of 5 points in a show, one for each point, and a deduction of only 1/2 point for each extra or missing point. I think it was Ione that once said, and I'm paraphrasing "he could have no comb at all and would only lose 5 points".

The tail angle on many of my birds is 45 degrees or less and since they have such long backs it can look even less depending on how they are standing. He was standing spooked because I walked in there and caught him cornered in the duck house. I've added another picture so you kind of see the tail up a little more. Now when they are strutting across the fields, that tail is up and they are stepping pretty. I will say that getting a decent picture of any of my birds is almost impossible - they are all semi-wild.

Ruth, If you were ever to show your Marans please don't listen to someone that doesn't know anything about showing poultry. If you were to get five points off for comb defect it would virtually eliminate your bird from placing in a show where you had competition. Also the Judge does not have to place anyone first.

 

[snowbird]

Quote:
Ruth, this male is very nice looking and can not see anything at all wrong. How is the white in tail feathers does he have any?

 

[chasehope]

Pinkchick...

As far as the egg from my golden cuckoos... I am not sure what I think about it...I am hoping that I start getting more so that I have something to compare it to. It is lighter than I hoped for, but this is my VERY first marans egg, so I dont know what to expect. They are 2 year old birds, and have been laying for 6 months prior to me moving them, they have had a 2 week break due to the move, and now just one egg which was dissapointing. Is 2 weeks long enough for them to start having darker eggs, or will I really not know until they quit laying for the winter and start over in the spring? I do not plan to keep a light in their pen in hopes that they will stop laying and start over with nice dark eggs. The lady that I bought them from said that they laid dark eggs...I hope she was telling the truth!

 

[ruth]

Quote:
Ruth, this male is very nice looking and can not see anything at all wrong. How is the white in tail feathers does he have any?

Don, none that I saw but I didn't catch him and exam closely. Can do though. It's only the birds in the older flock (some of my flocks parents) that I bought from Jesse Bryant that seem to have squirrel tails and white fluff at base of tail or undercoat and there is diversity in the birds in that flock some even with yellowish legs - the rest with pinkish grey. I know he got Kelvin Jeane's original hens and then got roosters from men who got them from Wade and Kelvin but there's diversity in the older roos - then he bred them and added offspring and young roos to the mix. I've even heard that prior to July 2008 he "borrowed" some hens from Wade/Kelvin and that's where my first order of chicks came from. There's little to no diversity in them and they are the ones whose picture is posted on my website and in my BST threads. Only difference is one roo has too much red on breast. The hens all have nice coppper hackles - some of those in the older flock do not - they are mostly solid black with only a small amount of copper near head. So I've separated all birds, as of the other night, and put the best in a breeder pen. I've found that my first flock (Jesse's first chicks) breed true. I named the two roos Jesse & James and now I have a lot of identical young Jesse and James roos running around my farm. Only way I can tell the difference is that the parent stock, Jesse & James, are in breeder pens. Jesse produces a roo idential to himself, five point comb lots of red on chest. James produces roos identical to himself - six point comb and solid black breast (with only a few specks of red) and now I've started getting a five point roo with black chest (like the one I just posted).

When you first mentioned the white fluff and undercoat I had never heard of that before - but not unusual - I had never heard of APA or most of the standards before - but I won't go there - I'm now trying to learn. I remember the first time someone asked me what color my birds eyes were - I thought that was the weirdest question I had ever heard and I had to go look cause I had no idea - alright I was an idiot but I'm learning and now trying to at least produce quality birds for those that do want to show them. Anyway, I went to check my first flock and after catching and wrestling a roo and having feathers flying everywhere, I'm happy to report that his undercoat was a light black/dark grey and the ground was coated with it since he was screaming and squirming for his life.

I now have someone helping me with sorting and pairing birds and they are being very kind and helpful to do so since I still feel a bit like Prissy in Gone with the Wind and want to say "Lordy, lordy Miss Scarlett, I don't know nothing bout birthing no Marans."

Have a great day everyone.

I do want everyone to know that I have never meant to be offensive or insulting and it seems some of my posts have come off that way. For that I am truly sorry. I am trying to be very careful in anything I post these days.