Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[galen]

Thanks so much, I went back and read 20 pages and found nothing. I don't have that kind of time to read the whole thing. People like me just don't know what y'all are talking about when referencing. What I am beginning to see is you may have a really nice flock or a few birds that have good features but they may have chicks with many faults. Thus you need to cull a lot. I don't want to be a breeder, I would be perfectly happy with "nice" birds.

 

[stoopid]

That's what got me started. Now I go to every show within a 6-hr drive. And I have way too many birds. OOps.

 

[gilavina]

That's what got me started. Now I go to every show within a 6-hr drive. And I have way too many birds. OOps.

ADDICT!

Dont worry, takes one to know one

 

[stoopid]

Yep, just wanted some nice eggs.

 

[BarnGoddess01]

For what ever it is worth.....I am THANKFUL for everyone that is working with this breed of birds and their dedication to them. I am ever grateful for the pioneers that brought this breed here and the huge efforts and and progress they have made to enable me to work with something even better whan what they stareted out with. Heck if it wasn't for their efforts we would have way more irons to breed out of the proverbial fire.

x 2!!!

Heck, x 10!!!!

There is something to learn from ALL of them.

 

[BarnGoddess01]

OK, it's official. I am losing my mind.

Oh, heck, really???? Only just now losing your mind???? I lost mine YEARS ago! Been happy ever since!!

 

[stoopid]

OK, a long time ago. Just admitting it now.

 

[desertmarcy]

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!

Yes, that helps a lot, just what I need. As far as them being flighty, yes definitely not enough attention, and I am getting spoiled by my Russian Spangled Orloffs--the growing birds get as little attention as the Marans, but they would mob me when I'd go in the pen to feed, I could hardly walk, they are so bold and curious, whereas the Marans would scatter.

 

[Hens and Roos]

Oh, heck, really???? Only just now losing your mind???? I lost mine YEARS ago! Been happy ever since!!

I lose my on a daily basis!!! The fun part is trying to remember where I left it

 

[desertmarcy]

Well guys, I'm back for now, I really need a distraction from my life! What better way than to talk chickens??


Donna ~ I may be way wrong here, but I believe the middle toe feathering is a DQ. The SOP calls for outer toe feathering only, so anything else would be incorrect. All you lucky folks with the SOP books, chime in here!!

Marcy~ This breed is not something you are going to fix overnight; and I don't care if you hatch 500 chicks at a whack! You will have to learn to pick and choose your battles here, ie, what bugs you the most outside of being a DQ. Funky combs, cull them! Clean shanks, cull them! Mossy like the ones you show probably won't get any better, cull them to the laying flock as they will probably lay the darkest eggs! Yellow legs past 4 weeks, cull. Anything not looking like it will be of good size and type, cull. If I were you, I would not worry much about the white feathers you are seeing at that age! White feathers can be defeated in a few generations too, if you are dealing with otherwise nice birds! White feathers in some lines will come and go, according to molting. Black hens can be overcome by using a more "colorful" roo in the breeding. You know, the ones with the slight copper on the breast area, and rich copper color in the hackles/saddles. Please! Watch the combs very carefully for sprigs and carnations!!!! If you get into this problem, you will have a real hassle on your hands, and should cull ALL with the problems! Looking at your pics, I like the bunch you have shown with the white feathering the most! I have yet to have a mossy problem here, everything here is over melanized. Some of the mossy girls also look to have "Crow heads" which is not desireable. If you hatched 100 chicks, you should cull hard and consider yourself lucky to get 10 - 20 good ones to keep and experiment with. You can't clean it all up in a year or so, it's just not going to happen. Stay with the line/lines you have, don't introduce more stuff in there that may have other problems, and keep trying. I've not seen anyone yet that has had total success with this breed, it's all still a crap shoot! Good luck, and just try to remember to ENJOY your chickens!!!!

Debbi, thank you for all your advice! I have kept chickens for years, but this year is my first serious attempt at breeding, and I still have a lot to learn to get that good eye to evaluate a bird. I think the cock I have is a good match for those overmelanized hens as he does have some copper coloring on his breast, but it is not excessive. So--out with the mossy ones, keep the ones that are showing the white on the breast for now and watch them. Thank you for the reminder about the crow head. Is that what I see on the little blue (male?) with the gold that I had in the last pic? The head looks pretty narrow to me, but the chick is young still. The comb issue I am well aware of. So there is a local guy who claims to have bought chicks directly from Bev Davis and is selling off some extra cockerels--I was toying with the idea of getting one, but you think just stick with and work with what I have? I'm worried about the egg color in these, as the most I've gotten has been a "4"--not sure how long it will take to improve that without adding genes from some birds that are already laying really dark.