Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[gilavina]

Quote:
Gilavina, Very nice even copper color. Do you still have his mother. If you do you could breed him back to his mother and be own your way to producing some really nice colored Marans.

That's a good idea....just one problem.... I didn't have the breeding pens set up yet for single matings this spring, so there is a few girls that could be his momma. Would you suggest test mating him with each of them to see which might produce the best color?

 

[Bravo]

Quote:
Holy moly! I am in love with them both!!

Gorgeous! I'd like you to make me one, too! LOL

This gives me faith that there are some AMAZING males out there!


ETA: Did anyone else notice his lack of hackle striping? I think I saw a few flames in his saddle area but WOW! What a looker!

I wonder if the key to getting the right copper balance is to ditch the hackle flame. Just a thought

 

[snowbird]

Quote:
Gilavina, Very nice even copper color. Do you still have his mother. If you do you could breed him back to his mother and be own your way to producing some really nice colored Marans.

That's a good idea....just one problem.... I didn't have the breeding pens set up yet for single matings this spring, so there is a few girls that could be his momma. Would you suggest test mating him with each of them to see which might produce the best color?

Yes, I would single mate him with some of the best hens and wait until they are about one month old to decide which to breed the most from. If you know the father you could also single mate the pullet with the father. Will be a lot less culls if you single test mate some. After you single mate some you could take daughters from one of the best hens and pens mate them to him in a later mating. Good luck.

 

[gilavina]

Quote:
That's a good idea....just one problem.... I didn't have the breeding pens set up yet for single matings this spring, so there is a few girls that could be his momma. Would you suggest test mating him with each of them to see which might produce the best color?

Yes, I would single mate him with some of the best hens and wait until they are about one month old to decide which to breed the most from. If you know the father you could also single mate the pullet with the father. Will be a lot less culls if you single test mate some. After you single mate some you could take daughters from one of the best hens and pens mate them to him in a later mating. Good luck.

Thanks Don, I don't have the father anymore. That was part of the heartbreak of spring...losing 4 of my best cockerels in a row to a predator. So, I'll have to do the test mating with the girls and see what happens. I did keep another cockerel from a different bloodline that so far is a bit darker...as in doesn't have near the brilliance, but his color keeps improving. I think he is about a month and a half or so behind Gigantor. So, I am thrilled to have two boys to work with

 

[snowbird]

Quote:
Yes, I would single mate him with some of the best hens and wait until they are about one month old to decide which to breed the most from. If you know the father you could also single mate the pullet with the father. Will be a lot less culls if you single test mate some. After you single mate some you could take daughters from one of the best hens and pens mate them to him in a later mating. Good luck.

Thanks Don, I don't have the father anymore. That was part of the heartbreak of spring...losing 4 of my best cockerels in a row to a predator. So, I'll have to do the test mating with the girls and see what happens. I did keep another cockerel from a different bloodline that so far is a bit darker...as in doesn't have near the brilliance, but his color keeps improving. I think he is about a month and a half or so behind Gigantor. So, I am thrilled to have two boys to work with

From the looks of the sister I believe they are the same blood as the comb and several other things look a like. I would do a test with the pullet also to this males and mark all chicks. You could breed a bird from the pullet mating with one of the young birds you raise from the hens . That way you would have something real closely bred.

 

[gilavina]

Quote:
Holy moly! I am in love with them both!!

Gorgeous! I'd like you to make me one, too! LOL

This gives me faith that there are some AMAZING males out there!


ETA: Did anyone else notice his lack of hackle striping? I think I saw a few flames in his saddle area but WOW! What a looker!

I wonder if the key to getting the right copper balance is to ditch the hackle flame. Just a thought

Thanks Bravo! I'm kind of overwhelmed by all the positive feedback. I know I've not been able to take my eyes off him and am in love with him, but I didn't know if it was more personal attachment clouding my judgement or not haha (Would you believe I had quite a few people that saw him when he was a tyke ask me why I was holding onto him? He was kinda an ugly duckling when he was young as far as color goes, but his body and his carriage I just couldn't ever cull him. I'm thrilled I didn't)

I had never thought about the lack of hackle striping...he does have a little bit at the feathers at the base of his neck...but very few. Maybe someone that knows more about the genetic details will pop in and be able to answer that question about it being attached to copper balance?

 

[gilavina]

Quote:
Thanks Don, I don't have the father anymore. That was part of the heartbreak of spring...losing 4 of my best cockerels in a row to a predator. So, I'll have to do the test mating with the girls and see what happens. I did keep another cockerel from a different bloodline that so far is a bit darker...as in doesn't have near the brilliance, but his color keeps improving. I think he is about a month and a half or so behind Gigantor. So, I am thrilled to have two boys to work with

From the looks of the sister I believe they are the same blood as the comb and several other things look a like. I would do a test with the pullet also to this males and mark all chicks. You could breed a bird from the pullet mating with one of the young birds you raise from the hens . That way you would have something real closely bred.

do you mean the pic of the black girl I posted at the same time? They are from two totally different pens and their parents came from two different sets of hatching eggs....from two different breeders. Maybe they have some of the same lines in their background?

 

[Debbi]

Well Vicki, you should be proud of him. I truly believe he is the best example of a BCM roo I've seen yet!

I'll take five just like him, please..

 

[gilavina]

Quote:
Awwww you deserve a big hug for that!

or two

Your Roy and and Clyde is it? are no slouches either. I hope to see Gigantor fill out as well as those boys have.

I really hope that I will be able to hatch out a bunch of good stock this coming spring! I decided I wasn't going to do a fall set of hatches because of how many I hatched out this spring and because I have more breeding pens that must be built. We'll see how much I can get sorted as far as building things go.

 

[Ivywoods]

Vicki- VERY pretty rooster!

Okay, so many nice birds on here it's time for the FREAK SHOW!

I promised Pink a long time a go I would post some of my stupid combs. Here's one. First off, this guy froze all his points off during a bad storm last winter when I couldn't get him to go in the coop.

He spent the night out with with wind chill temps nearing 50 below. Not only does he not have any points, but the base of his comb is so thick and looks like someone pinched it all along the side like they were making a pie crust or something.

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I'm afraid he's going to be heading to freezer camp one of these days.