Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[fowlman01]

Black Copper (first, Newnan, GA - 2011) and Wheatens (Crossroads, IN - 2011) are approved so far. Cuckoo is up for approval in 2013 so we're getting organized!

The location is going to be at the Shawnee show from what they have said to me.

Walt

 

[Lark Rise]

Congratulations!!!

I dunno what happened.... I am barely a beginner and need all the guidance and input I can get, from where ever I can get it.

Anyhow.....




I have another marans laying!! I have a small batch of marans that I hatched from shipped eggs at the end of December. This makes them only barely 5 months old and I did not expect the three girls to start laying yet but look what I found!!

Here are some pics of the girls... a wheaten and a black copper... ignore the nosy wheaten ameraucana in the back. lol



One of the black copper girls has tons of copper in her hackles..



I expect all three of these girls to just be for my laying pen but I am super excited to get more darker eggs!

 

[Christie Rhae]

And now I have a question.. in the standard I read...


Quote:
Is this guy too yellow in the hackles? Or is this color called copper? I am trying to get a mental image. To me it feels to yellow. Of course the sun is shining so looks a little lighter in the pic but it seems to me like it goes from copper to yellow. You can kinda see it without the sun around the front.




Because my littler guys that I am growing up do not seem to have any yellow. Unless this is something that shows up later.

 

[aceschix]

And now I have a question.. in the standard I read...


Quote:

Is this guy too yellow in the hackles? Or is this color called copper? I am trying to get a mental image. To me it feels to yellow. Of course the sun is shining so looks a little lighter in the pic but it seems to me like it goes from copper to yellow. You can kinda see it without the sun around the front.




Because my littler guys that I am growing up do not seem to have any yellow. Unless this is something that shows up later.

Christie please understand I am in no way insulting your birds. If you do not mind my asking, I am only trying to learn to better my flock. Does the last picture have what you all have been refering to as split wing?

 

[Christie Rhae]

I wondered the same thing after looking at this pic. These chicks are close to 3 months old and I think are starting to molt. I noticed a few kooky looking feathers here and there on them. I thought maybe they were getting ready to drop them? I have waaay too many boys so am looking for reasons to cull and taking notes.

 

[fowlman01]

I wondered the same thing after looking at this pic. These chicks are close to 3 months old and I think are starting to molt. I noticed a few kooky looking feathers here and there on them. I thought maybe they were getting ready to drop them? I have waaay too many boys so am looking for reasons to cull and taking notes.

There is no way to tell if it has a split wing by that pic. Open the wing and if the short middle feather (Axial) is missing and there is no open socket indicating that it fell out then you could say that it has a split wing. Sometimes split wings are not evident by just looking at the bird. Now you could say that it appers to have loose wing. If it is like that most of the time and it is not hot outside it is probably a loose wing which is a very serious fault.

Walt

 

[aceschix]

Quote: So going home to inspect with new eyes! So glad I asked. Thank you!

 

[Christie Rhae]

Went out and grabbed that little guy and took a pic of his wing opened. ( they love when I do that. ahahah) Could it be that his wing feathers are still growing in? I have marked him to watch for the loose wings.

 

[Christie Rhae]

Ok sorry for flooding the thread with pics this morning.

But here is the one with really weird feathers. It almost seems like some of his wing feathers are upside down. Are they about to fall out?








I have 9 BCM cockerels to choose from as my starter flock so I really looking for reasons to cull. I think what ever is going on with this guy, he is feathering in pretty slow and that alone is probably a reason to cull him.

 

[Ivywoods]

Hello Marans folks from the long-lost Ivywoods. It's been forever since I've visited the thread.... um... like 35,000 posts! Wow, you guys are a chatty bunch! I never left BYC, I just spend WAY too much time on some of the other threads, like the Kansas thread.

I still have my marans. I used two different roosters over the past year, and I have some chicks growing out right now. The pullets I got last year seem pretty nice, and overall, I think my birds are pretty good. I DON'T think I made any progress in the egg department, though. Gosh, I hardly EVER get an 8 and I'm not sure I've ever had a 9.

Just yesterday I took the rooster out of the pen. I had re-aquired him from someone I sold him to. He was beautiful in my opinion, but he became downright mean to the lady. I told her I would take him back. He was a perfect gentleman around me, and I loved his build and feathering. Well, after about 6 months "Rambo" as she named him, has become a nasty booger. He will be visiting freezer camp sometime soon.

As a result of this, I just put my black ameraucana rooster and one black hen in with my BCM hens. Any marans eggs I get out of there will be olive eggers, of course, and any blue eggs will of course be pure ameraucana.

I have one rooster that I have kept from my very fist batch of marans. He free ranges with my layers. I've never raised any chicks out of him. Fuzzy is such a sweetheart, good to his girls, and takes care of them. Unfortunately he has WAY too much copper in his chest and a funky tail that spreads out like he's always got a 35 mph tailwind.

I've thought about getting another rooster from someone that has SUPER dark eggs, but so far just haven't done it.

Hope all are well... BYC folks and all your feathered dependents!