Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[gilavina]

Vicki~ Congrats on the chicks! What a nice surprise! If you don't mind me asking....what gives them the spottie and chipmunky looks? What Marans varieties are in them again to make them the Silvers?

the silvers are a natural occurence out of certain strains of cuckoos. I believe, a lot of this is just things I've heard people say, but are the silver counterpart to a golden cuckoo. In the UK silvers were once pretty common, but fell out of favor and all but disappeared, believed to be extinct, but that gentleman I've been talking to and his wife got some cuckoos to go with some of theirs in the 70s and ended up with the silvers. So, I'll be interacting a lot with them regarding what they have learned and what they have had success with and etc. Should be interesting and a learning experience for sure.

 

[pinkchick]

I'm so egg-cited to put my Birchen eggies in the 'bator.....just have to wait until I absolutely have to open the door and retrieve chicks before I set them. It's going to be a long 21 days and an even longer waiting for them to grow up.


Donna~ Just got an email from the gal with the BLRW Roo.....she is going to try and meet up with me tomorrow. TRY is the operative word.

 

[gilavina]

the silvers are a natural occurence out of certain strains of cuckoos. I believe, a lot of this is just things I've heard people say, but are the silver counterpart to a golden cuckoo. In the UK silvers were once pretty common, but fell out of favor and all but disappeared, believed to be extinct, but that gentleman I've been talking to and his wife got some cuckoos to go with some of theirs in the 70s and ended up with the silvers. So, I'll be interacting a lot with them regarding what they have learned and what they have had success with and etc. Should be interesting and a learning experience for sure.

Oh...and I'm not exactly sure why they are patterned the way they are, I would think since it takes just the right mating to produce a silver, the chipmunk pattern is the hidden genetics surfacing to be dominant over the regular cuckoo pattern. I might also sound kind of stupid as well. I had a terrible night of sleep....I'm having a hard time getting across what I'm trying to say. yarg and yawn

 

[pinkchick]

Vicki~ Understood and thanks. Yes it will be fun to watch them grow with you. I'm glad they all made it safe and sound.

 

[gilavina]

I'm so egg-cited to put my Birchen eggies in the 'bator.....just have to wait until I absolutely have to open the door and retrieve chicks before I set them. It's going to be a long 21 days and an even longer waiting for them to grow up.


Donna~ Just got an email from the gal with the BLRW Roo.....she is going to try and meet up with me tomorrow. TRY is the operative word.

I bet! I sooooo can't wait to see what you get and can't wait to see what I get. But, being able to live vicariously through your eggie experience will help me get through the 21 days here when I finally start the incubation process. These new chickers will distract me for a while luckily! Oh and the girls I'm getting from Anna tomorrow will do nicely too!

 

[pinkchick]

I love chipmunky looking chickies.....don't know why...but I think they are just adorable as can be.

 

[pinkchick]

Tell Anna I said hi and that I am very sorry to hear of her predation issues and that she has to rehome her birds. That bites! Give her a big ol' Marans lovers hug from all of us!

 

[gilavina]

I love chipmunky looking chickies.....don't know why...but I think they are just adorable as can be.

I gotta agree! I think that's one of the reasons I like some of the bantam breed chicks since there are quite a few that come in the wild pattern.

 

[Debbi]

I can't get used to your new avatar! I'm like who is this!? hahaha I go by visual and know who is who based on that haha.

wild type does seem to be more dominant with most breeds, but I'm excited to see how they turn out and when I do matings to see what I get. I'll be double timing the photo journey on these bubs. I'm going to band all the darker patterned ones so I can track them as they develop.

I know, I always take a double look at it everytime I post something! Figured it was time for a change, especially since I sold the Partridge boy who used to be my avatar. The new guy is "Bossy" or "Mr. Boss Man". He's the daddy in the broody pen, and is such a good dad to them. He has really thrown me some nice chicks this time around too!

As for the wild type, the dominant aspect can be a great help, especially if they have a desired feature you need to throw forward. But then, you probably already know all this. Didn't you used to have Parti something or others?

 

[gilavina]

I know, I always take a double look at it everytime I post something! Figured it was time for a change, especially since I sold the Partridge boy who used to be my avatar. The new guy is "Bossy" or "Mr. Boss Man". He's the daddy in the broody pen, and is such a good dad to them. He has really thrown me some nice chicks this time around too!

As for the wild type, the dominant aspect can be a great help, especially if they have a desired feature you need to throw forward. But then, you probably already know all this. Didn't you used to have Parti something or others?

hahaha...I've had lots of breeds over the years and a few of those have been partridge...most recent was large fowl partridge wyandottes, but I sold my three girls after losing the roo to a predator. It took me forever to find the girls so I decided if I ever wanted to get back into them, I would later on.