Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[desertmarcy]

Hi Marcy!

Can you? Or is it possible to post photos of each bird individually??? This will help folks tremendously who will be giving you advise.



Hi, I was posting pics of birds that had problems that I needed advice on, it is hotter than blazes here right now, very difficult and too many birds to take individual pics. Not all the birds look that bad! A couple people did say the mossy look does not go away, so I know to cull those. What about the ones with the white tipped feathers? Cull? I was hoping someone would go down the numbered list of questions and answer each number; I didn't think those questions required a bird photo to go with, and the ones that did, I posted photo.

I just wonder how much time it took for most of you who have been working with this breed for a while to get your birds like you want them. Do you all have a lot of culls still? Weird colors coming out? Mossy look, solid black pullets, that sort of thing? I am wondering if it is the bloodline I started with that is giving me fits, or if this breed is still so much a work in progress that this is expected right now. Because my understanding is, that all the birds in the U.S. today originated with Wade Jeane, so they should all trace back to those birds in some way. If I have that totally wrong, please correct me.

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Marans are virtually BRAND BRAND new in North America. I think LOADS of culling to to be expected for many years - and then some. I'm not sure anyone has the birds "where they want them" yet, in truth. Even the birds doing well at the shows (and qualifiying the Marans in the Standard) are less than perfect. As a breeder of Marans, you have to pick your battles. I believe the key is not trying to work with too many things all at once. Pick a couple of things that are important to you and start there. Then hack away at it - over the years!

 

[desertmarcy]

I want to add, when I hatched my first Black Copper Marans (from purchased hatching eggs), none of the hens came out with these color problems (excess white, mossy). Their main problem, except for one, was being solid black. So seeing all these problems in their offspring really threw me for a loop--guess I was not expecting it. I guess single mating would help me a lot--if I had the space to do it and keep birds separate. *Sigh* Maybe next year.

 

[chicken-whisperer]

Marans are virtually BRAND BRAND new in North America. I think LOADS of culling to to be expected for many years - and then some. I'm not sure anyone has the birds "where they want them" yet, in truth. Even the birds doing well at the shows (and qualifiying the Marans in the Standard) are less than perfect. As a breeder of Marans, you have to pick your battles. I believe the key is not trying to work with too many things all at once. Pick a couple of things that are important to you and start there. Then hack away at it - over the years!

Well said. I have been culling mossy hens for the years and still get a couple out of fifty hatchlings. My roos don't come that way they don't even have any color but black on their chests.

 

[Petvet12]

I finally get a chance to post pics of my new Blue Copper Marans.

My 5 yr old is holding them for me.



They are exhausted, enjoying the heat from the light.

 

[hannakat]

Here's a photo of some of mine. I'm not raising them for breeding though...just want dark eggs. I do have roosters to cull, at some point, so it will be interesting to hear what others do with this. I was hoping for more of desermarcy's questions being answered since I have similar questions.

I do realize that it probably gets old, answering the same questions all the time, since that happens continually on the meal worm thread too.

 

[chicknadventure]

I have a genetics question, hope this is ok to ask here...

I have what I think is a cuckoo maran, but the breeder does not have cuckoo's. She does have black copper's. Is it possible to get a cuckoo from 2 BCM's?

 

[BarnGoddess01]

I have a genetics question, hope this is ok to ask here...

I have what I think is a cuckoo maran, but the breeder does not have cuckoo's. She does have black copper's. Is it possible to get a cuckoo from 2 BCM's?

I believe barring/cuckoo is dominant and, therefore, shouldn't be hiding. Would be interesting to see pictures of the parents and the suspect off-spring.

(edited to add: NOT an expert, just a reader)

 

[chicknadventure]

I believe barring/cuckoo is dominant and, therefore, shouldn't be hiding. Would be interesting to see pictures of the parents and the suspect off-spring.

(edited to add: NOT an expert, just a reader)

I got "her" from a breeder with about 20 breeding pairs of different chickens, and there was a brooder box that had like 100 chickens of different breeds. I was SUPPOSED to get 2 barred rock hens, but my one that is definitely a BR has such a red comb now, I am thinking he is a rooster, and the other, the barring is less structured and is not red in the comb area or face. the other also has red behind his ears. So it's not like I can compare them to each other That is why I was asking, b/c the lady didn't seem too knowledgable about some genetics and I figured you all would know for sure if it was even possible.

ETA: she wouldn't know who the parents are either, I think she had one rooster with several girls.

 

[Hens and Roos]

I am seriously in need of help in determining which birds of my black copper Marans to cull. I hatched out a lot--I have about 125 black and 30 blue copper chicks on the ground!! OMG what was I thinking. Well, I know what I was thinking--that the birds I have need improvement, so I thought I'd hatch a lot so I'd have a lot to choose from. 4 out of 5 of my hens are solid black, improvement #1 needed. The 5th has only a little copper on hackles. The egg color needs improvement, big #2. Cock is pretty nice--I'd like to see his tail set lower and he has a thumbprint comb. And I'd like to see his hackle feathers more mahogany, not so brassy. So these are the things I wanted to work on, but really! I do not have the money to feed all these birds to the age where I can see what is what and the space for them--can't free range here, too many bobcats and hawks. Right now I have the ones that look male in one pen, females in another pen, and an outside brooder that has the younger ones, but it is too crowded and I am getting a lot of picking. So--here are a few questions, please experts out there, I need to thin numbers down soon.

1. Other than culling at hatch for obvious problems, how old (ideally and realistically) should I raise the birds before deciding? I understand they change quite a bit.
2. I have some mossy pullets. Are these a definite cull or sell as dark egg layer now, or will this go away/change?


3. Several of the pullets have white tipped feathers, especially on their breast. Cull or sell as above, or will this go away/change?


4. How long to wait to see if their foot color changes to gray/slate? Most of my chicks were hatching with yellow/pale feet/legs, but I see that most change to what they should be. (I see one of the mossy pullets in the first pic does not have solid slate feet).
5. How long before I know the pullets will stay solid black? How long does it take for the copper color to come in if it is going to? It seems like the ones that have some copper are also mossy.
6. What about those feathers on the middle toe? A lot of my chicks had this, and I didn't cull since I had what I thought were more important issues to deal with. If I culled for that alone, I'd be able to cut down numbers very fast. Some of them have just a few, others more.
7. And what about the color on this blue copper (don't know if it is a pullet or cockerel yet):

8. And lastly, is it usual to have so many culls with this breed? I know they are a work in progress, but I didn't expect quite this much of a job. Frankly, it is very discouraging, plus they naturally are much more flighty and "don't touch me" attitude than other breeds I have, which I don't like. Plus I didn't have any problems with picking with my other chicks until the Marans went out there (to the outside brooder). Insight on this? Please, give it to me straight what to do and what to look for, I am sure I am missing some things that I should be on the lookout for.

I was hoping to raise the extra cockerels to good size for butcher since we did that last year and they were very good. I think I butchered at 5 months, but not sure now. What age do you all recommend? I am sorry this is so long, but I have some issues here that need worked out yesterday.

Okay, I am going to attempt to answer some of your questions based on what I have seen with what I am raising or what I remember reading....

1. It can take a good 7+ months for the chickens to finish developing, so how long to keep them would depend on the amount of space you have, now with this being said you can always be culling as you go as you see things you don't like in them as they get older and bigger.

2. I am not sure about the mossiness in the pullets as I didn't see this with the ones I had. Hopefully someone with better understanding will have some more ideas for you.

3. From what I have read, some of the white feathers may molt out but it depends on how old they are and if they still have to molt to adult feathers. If you have others without white or look better to you for what you are working towards than you could sell off as laying hens and make a bit of money towards feed costs.

4. not sure on this one

5. this I think varies greatly from bird to bird and some birds might stay solid color but could be hiding copper gene and might not show until future generations. The copper also can vary when it starts showing too- I have one hen that show only a very light copper coloring and she is almost 1 year old. My 1 blue cockeral is around six months old and he started showing copper around 3-4 months.

6. It seems like there is different opinions on the middle toe feathering- some recommend culling for it and others talk about the chicks lossing the middle toe feathering as they molt and get older. Again probably would take time, space to grow them out and then test mating to see if the next generation shows middle toe feathering.

7. If you are talking about the one at the back of the picture- I would guess it is a cockeral and is showing gold leakage- kind of a neat looking guy

8. the Marans are a very new breed as others have mentioned and it order to get good end results it will take lots of culling to get there. I think that with the more chicks hatched out at one time, the harder it is to give alot of individual attention to and they do get alittle flighty just like any of breeds can. From what I have observed with the groups I have hatched and raised is each group is different and the chicks within that group all have their own personalities- some are more friendly and others are shy.

Hope this helps and good luck with your chicks!