Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[DMRippy]

Quote: When I dump water out it just SITS THERE! The ground is so hard and dry. There are 3 days in a row next week with only a 20% chance of rain.

That creek of ours is looking awful! Still got water but not much, just the deep spots. If it were not so hot I would go in the back and check that creek, if I can find it

that one is spring feed too, but it all drains into another spring and pours out to the front creek. Does that make sense?

 

[pinkchick]

Hens~ Thanks. He is the one that has better type and is beefier, but he is also the one that has the uneven serration in his comb. Also has too light of eyes. I hesitate taking both of these Splash boys to auction next weekend, I would love to keep one but it's hard deciding which one.

Donna~ I am trying to get to an all Splash pen....that is what I will do with my Splashes, if I can ever get there.



Thanks Hennessy!



SORRY FOR DOUBLE POSTS.....It's acting up again.

 

[pinkchick]

Vicki~ All 11 eggs made it to lockdown. Tomorrow is hatch day. (Sorry, edited because I'm confused)
Get those eggs candled girl!!!!!

 

[pinkchick]

Each of the colors blue, black, and splash have value in breeding for blues. Most of it is about knowing how to use them to get the desired results you want. Here I always keep blacks and splashes on hand in any blue breed I have to be able to control things like lacing and color tone. When you breed blues to blues for extended periods of time, things like lacing and other possible issues with the quality of the blue color can come up. Most of this can be controlled by careful selection, but it also has a lot to do with the individual birds you are using for mating. Not every blue bird will be created equal or give you the kind of blue you want. So, every so often, if I see lacing fading or I see that I've got birds of a tone of blue more consistently hatching out that are too light or too dark, I will use the black or splash for a batch of hatches to work on the color. There is so much more to how I use blacks and splashes here, but thats a simple version.

Agreed!

 

[gilavina]

Vicki~ All 11 eggs made it to lockdown. Tomorrow is hatch day. (Sorry, edited because I'm confused) Get those eggs candled girl!!!!!

FANTASTIC!!! I'll get them candled now that I have batteries for the candler! Its way too light out now, so tonight once I'm home and its dark out! I'll report what I find. So far I've found no stinkers in my periodic peek ins!

 

[gilavina]

Agreed!

This is my secret to the fantastic lacing I get! I think the blues with a nice crisp dark blue edge is so divine! That reminds me, I need to get some update pics of a few birds around here for you lady! There's some I'm really starting to watch drastically change!

 

[DMRippy]

Quote: I knew black would help with lacing, but how does splash?

 

[gilavina]

I knew black would help with lacing, but how does splash?

splash is more to control the darkness of blue you will get with crossing in blacks. If you have really dark blues a crossing onto a splash will often, tho not all the time, will lighten the blue some, but preserve the dark edge on the feathers.

 

[BarnGoddess01]

I have a question, but first a disclaimer..... I like splashes too. Questions, what do you do with your splashes? I know it is a quick way to get blues, but after you have the blues is it not better to breed blue to blue? I know that is best for BLRW.... does that not hold true for Marans or other breeds? I know they will give you a wide pallet of blues, but is that what we want in Marans? Does it matter? Just a question.... If the blues are accepted would it not be a med type blue like you would get from a blue to blue breeding? I am just trying to decide if I need to make it possible to get Splashes... I don't have it that way now.

Educate me please........

For me, it's about the yard candy. I love the look of splash birds. There was some discussion about this on the Marans Club board a while back and it is true, once you have the blue you like you will probably avoid using splash birds. My blue coppers, however, are too dark at this point so a splash MIGHT help my cause. Don't know. Brand new to breeding but have a head full of ideas. So I'm playing around. There's my 2 cents worth for ya!

 

[desertmarcy]

Bump: I cheated yesterday and posted pics of two birds--want to make sure this one doesn't get missed.

OK, I agree cockerel #10 will go. Here is another one I am wondering about. This one seems to me to be too brassy-colored instead of copper. What do you all think? The last pic, he is the one on the right. Thank you.
This is BCM cockerel #37: