Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[gilavina]

I'm glad you said something, because I saw it too, and I don't even have Birchens. Shouldn't they be colored like a Black or Blue Copper except having silver hackles/saddles instead of copper?? He looks like he has something else in the mix there, some breed with heavy lacing.

you are correct, the birchen should look in every respect exactly like a blue or black copper, just with silver hackles, wing bow, and saddles on the male and a silver collar on the hens.

 

[unkadan]

thanks for the comments, I wasn't aware there was an SOP for Birchen Marans,


here is picture of a roo (the one in the background) that is marked exactly as this one,,,,and yes I have seen the pics of many Birchen that show no baring

http://www.featherauction.com/detail.asp?id=1792&n=Black-Birchen-Marans-Rooster--8-months-old

I'm new at the chicken genetics but think there must be some strange things pop up when this boy came from a Blue Birchen /BCM

Like I said he will get time to develop and finish these early moults before I make any decisions

 

[Debbi]

thanks for the comments, I wasn't aware there was an SOP for Birchen Marans,


here is picture of a roo (the one in the background) that is marked exactly as this one,,,,and yes I have seen the pics of many Birchen that show no baring

http://www.featherauction.com/detail.asp?id=1792&n=Black-Birchen-Marans-Rooster--8-months-old

I'm new at the chicken genetics but think there must be some strange things pop up when this boy came from a Blue Birchen /BCM

Like I said he will get time to develop and finish these early moults before I make any decisions

Yeah, the one in the background is also incorrectly colored. The one in the front, although his color shows both gold and silver which is also not correct, at least he has the color pattern that a Birchen should adhere to. Don't buy all the fancy hype and go by big name breeders only! Do your homework and read a copy of the proposed SOP for Birchens. They have not been approved by the APA yet as far as I know, but on the Marans Club link, there should be a "proposed SOP", something for folks to aims toward in their breedings until that variety can be approved.

 

[Debbi]

Hey Pink! I see you lurking in the corner there, maybe you can comment here??

 

[pinkchick]

If anyone can translate that to Southern English I would appreciate it

They are different..... one is sex linked (reg barring and cuckoo.... I knew that was) so the autsomal barring is a problem with a pattern like lacing? so they are culls for sure? right? I was doing that anyway..... I didn't like that look at all. Would that make it a cull for any breed? not just Marans?

Yes they would be culls for the Marans. Some breeds are supposes to be patterned like that such as the Campine (I think...must double check).

As I understand it.....autosomal barring can only happen when both Db and Pg secondary pattern genes are on the primary locus, ER.


Some other useless info...........
Db= dark brown or brown based, Db turns black to brown.......which could explain why some Marans have the brownish tinged undercolor that Don always talks about..
Also, Db on ER chicks can restrict the brown to the head region and leaves the body black (which turns brownish undercolor upon maturity) so when we see a little chick that looks like this...............


it's probably safe to assume they carry Db and Pg.......because the above chick turned into this................................................ and now this bird, almost mature, is almost completely black with a brownish undercolor.




On another tangent...........here is another chick I hatched from the same batch of eggs as chick above (and just FYI these chicks are not from my flocks, they are from eggs I got for the New Years Day hatch along) and this chick hatched with very little red in the head...almost un-noticeable at hatch. Sorry for the fuzzy photo.




Here is that chick as it matured.....with an added bonus of Ml with the Db and Pg. Ml pushes the black to the ends of the feathers creating a spangled look.
Ml is a gene that Marans are suppose to carry. Go figure.

 

[pinkchick]

Morning Ms. Debbi~

I was getting to this post but must wait for dial up to finish loading it.
Also, thinking about that other Birchen Marans with the lacing.

 

[pinkchick]

do you happen to have another birchen roo? Or have the capability of breeding for one? The pullet looks alright with the color and pattern, but the boy is off. He's not a splash, as he has very defined lacing that isn't typical for birchens. You could perhaps test mate him, but, to be honest, I'm not sure what you would get. Never seen a marans birchen or otherwise look quite like that.

IMO, this is a perfect example of a bird that carries the genes Pg combined with Ml and possibly Co to produce this lacing effect. The lacing on the breast of this bird is almost identical to that of a BLRW, again...this is just my opinion.

 

[pinkchick]

Debbi~ I looked at that link but am unsure of what I am suppose to be looking for. I have my opinions about the originating place (not the seller of the birds.... but the place in Florida where they came from)
....but will keep those opinions to myself.

 

[pinkchick]

Three week old Marans chicks... would love your opinions on gender!


Blue French Copper (who we of course named Nettie...) with some amazing leg feathering; I'm thinking cockerel:





A French Black Copper I've named Sprigs. Sprigs has pretty sparse leg feathering, and a fairly small comb. I hope pullet! (Sprigs is on the right; he/she was quite surprised by the camera and stood up very tall.) Bad pictures.




French Black Copper with great leg feathering and a smallish comb. I am calling this one Brioche.




And finally, my little Splash Cuckoo who almost didn't make it, who is the biggest ham of all...

Cute chicks! and yes your blue chick is a male.

 

[pinkchick]

Dang, I hope I get this right. I sent some photos and I'm not sure where they went so I'll try again. I am new to Marans and am trying to understand what I'm seeing in my chicks that I hatched 15 weeks ago. I am concerned about eye color. Some of them look too light to me. They are not yellow as they appear in these photos- just light.

I am also assuming these pullets have too much color, what do you think?

Does this one look okay to you?


How do these cockerels look to you at their young age?


Thank you all so much!
Ann

I like them all and don't worry about the eye color yet as they will change to their permanant color when they are around 5-6 mos. of age.