Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[snowbird]

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that is what the person I got him from told me, I have a hard time seeing blue in him

i guess I am so use to DD's Blue Andalusian's color and was in that line of thinking. Any feedback is welcome, he is a project right now, I am waiting for another group of eggs to hatch- he has 2 Blue Marans hens with him now but they both show a side sprig on each side of their comb so I am testing him with them to see if he is a carrier for side sprig or carnation comb.



Hens, I'm not sure that will help you decide if he carries the gene. If the girls are expressing sprigs or a carnation, that means they already carry both genes for it. They alone will pass it on, and then you would suspect him of passing it on. I may be wrong on this with the sprigs, but it sure works that way for the carnation! I'm sure Don or Walt can help you more with this.

Debbi, With the sprig it has to be in both male and female genes.

I am not convenced that it has to be in both to get the Carnation comb though. I believe it only takes one to get the carnation.

 

[Debbi]

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Hi Kristen,

I would say usually, yes. But I've had them go both ways here...on the funny farm!

 

[dkcrumly]

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Hi Kristen,

I would say usually, yes. But I've had them go both ways here...on the funny farm!

Well I have two BC Marans chicks that are now 3 weeks old and one has alot of tail feathers and the other not so much. So, I'm just hoping that one of them will be female! At what age should I post photos to have you guys help me sex them?

kristen

 

[Debbi]

Quote:


Hens, I'm not sure that will help you decide if he carries the gene. If the girls are expressing sprigs or a carnation, that means they already carry both genes for it. They alone will pass it on, and then you would suspect him of passing it on. I may be wrong on this with the sprigs, but it sure works that way for the carnation! I'm sure Don or Walt can help you more with this.

Debbi, With the sprig it has to be in both male and female genes.

I am not convenced that it has to be in both to get the Carnation comb though. I believe it only takes one to get the carnation.

Don,

Just from what I've experienced here with the carnation, it takes two sets for them to express it. Since all 4 of the older pullets have a carnation comb and they all came from a brother/sister mating, they got one set from each parent. Now with this younger pullet, she hatched out 3 weeks later than the others, so I'm thinking by then, the old roo's sperm was out of the mix, and this may be a Clyde baby. She does not, so far, have the carnation. So, she would only have the one gene from the mom's side. If her babies end up with a carnation when breeding her back to Clyed, that would tell me that he also carries one gene for it. See what I mean? I've only got one bird here with a sprig, and he's not been involved with any hatchings.

 

[Debbi]

Quote:
Hi Kristen,

I would say usually, yes. But I've had them go both ways here...on the funny farm!

Well I have two BC Marans chicks that are now 3 weeks old and one has alot of tail feathers and the other not so much. So, I'm just hoping that one of them will be female! At what age should I post photos to have you guys help me sex them?

kristen

You can post them now and we will try to help out.

You can look at other things too that may help. Combs and wattles, thin or thicker legs, stance/posture, etc.

 

[Debbi]

Oh my! Half the day is gone already! Got to go build a coop, see ya all later!

 

[snowbird]

Quote:
Debbi, With the sprig it has to be in both male and female genes.

I am not convenced that it has to be in both to get the Carnation comb though. I believe it only takes one to get the carnation.

Don,

Just from what I've experienced here with the carnation, it takes two sets for them to express it. Since all 4 of the older pullets have a carnation comb and they all came from a brother/sister mating, they got one set from each parent. Now with this younger pullet, she hatched out 3 weeks later than the others, so I'm thinking by then, the old roo's sperm was out of the mix, and this may be a Clyde baby. She does not, so far, have the carnation. So, she would only have the one gene from the mom's side. If her babies end up with a carnation when breeding her back to Clyed, that would tell me that he also carries one gene for it. See what I mean? I've only got one bird here with a sprig, and he's not been involved with any hatchings.

If the pullet has the mother with Carnation Comb, I would not keep her for breeding regardless if she produces a Carnation comb or not. You already know she is from a hen that has a carnation comb. From everything I have been told by Penne people usually the crosses with Marans you will get mostly the males with Carnation and a very few female. The reason you got so many is possibly because you had a double dose going on.

 

[Hens and Roos]

Quote:
that is what the person I got him from told me, I have a hard time seeing blue in him

i guess I am so use to DD's Blue Andalusian's color and was in that line of thinking. Any feedback is welcome, he is a project right now, I am waiting for another group of eggs to hatch- he has 2 Blue Marans hens with him now but they both show a side sprig on each side of their comb so I am testing him with them to see if he is a carrier for side sprig or carnation comb.

I'm pretty certain he is a blue cuckoo indeed. I'm working on them right now, and have not seen one that has that much patterning yet. Granted I only hatched out half a dozen blues...and am keeping the three girls to run in with my best cuckoo boy for next season.

Do you have any other pics you could get of him...like from the side profile and etc? I'd like to see him

Okay we went outside and tried to get some more pictures, Hilarious(named from the sound of his crow) is a very laid back guy, hopefully these will help you see him better. He does appear to have some gold leakage, the girls are more standoffish so only able to get 1 quick shot but if you look at the back of her comb you can see the sprig on the side-she has a second one on the other side.

Okay here are the pictures:

 

[Hens and Roos]

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I love the looks of your male cuckoo. So do you have other hens besides the one that died? In other words are you selling any eggs?
I am looking for some nice silver/black cuckoos (eggs) with feathered leg genes and no gold leakage. The offspring don't have to be all feathered but some genes in that direction would be good. Blue cuckoo would be okay too as long as there is no gold leakage.

At this point he is just the start of a project, if his offspring don't show problems then I will have to find some better girls to put with him

 

[gilavina]

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I'm pretty certain he is a blue cuckoo indeed. I'm working on them right now, and have not seen one that has that much patterning yet. Granted I only hatched out half a dozen blues...and am keeping the three girls to run in with my best cuckoo boy for next season.

Do you have any other pics you could get of him...like from the side profile and etc? I'd like to see him

Okay we went outside and tried to get some more pictures, Hilarious(named from the sound of his crow) is a very laid back guy, hopefully these will help you see him better. He does appear to have some gold leakage, the girls are more standoffish so only able to get 1 quick shot but if you look at the back of her comb you can see the sprig on the side-she has a second one on the other side.

Okay here are the pictures:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/45425_girl_marans_1_8-27-2011-crop.jpg

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/45425_hilarious_side_shot_8-27-2011-crop.jpg

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/45425_hilarious-blue_cockoo_marans_8-27-2011-crop.jpg

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/45425_hilarious_leg_feathering_8-27-2011.jpg

He's reminding me of a boy I have growing out from my first hatch. I haven't posted pics of him as he is the mix of a cuckoo cockerel onto a birchen girl...but I do love him lots. Maybe when I get home from work I'll be able to get a pic of him for you.