Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[Cadeau]

Hello all..... another question for you. I have a blue marans pullet that so far appears to be a solid blue. I love her coloring.... she is however fairly clean legged. I understand this is not desirable, but I still considered breeding her. Then I noticed she grew an extra toenail on each foot. See picture..... is this a genetic thing that will pass on to her offspring or just a fluke thing??? If she goes then I will have just ONE blue copper pullet left..... I will need more lol. Thoughts please

Yikes - never saw that before!

 

[Cadeau]

Donna
I have babie pictures....

Hi from Canada...
3 weeks old

Here he is showing off those street sweepers!! His little blue sister looking on...


Oh Oh... Is it me or in the photo above ... do I already have copper??

Cute! Are these the groceries?

 

[DMRippy]

Yes!

 

[Christie Rhae]

Ok guys... I have cockerels coming out of my ears.
I don't want to overwhelm ya so here are just a few of the project blues... won't even think about the black coppers yet. These guys are 4 months old.

Here is Mr. S/s+ blue. (half silver half gold) Lets call this guy Number 1






And here is my other silver/gold blue guy. Number 2





A couple observations... number 2 has a shorter tail and seems to hold it lower than number 1. Number 2 has lighter hackles than number 1.

These boys are not afraid of me at all but when I walk in with a camera they get all weirded out. lol
Ok now... these project blue coppers came from the breeder breeding her "solid blues" to her black coppers. From the chicks I got I think it is apparent that her solid blues are actually ER/ER S/S. That one copy of the silver gene had to come from someplace and I don't think it was the black coppers. I also have a pullet from this pairing. She is showing no copper feathers.

I have one of these "solid blues". He has clean legs and is small and to be honest just doesn't even look like a marans body to me. But here he is. I cannot find any gold on him so pretty sure he is S/S. Is this bird of any use to me?


I also have one "solid blue" pullet. She is showing no copper feathers either. This is why I have deducted that the "solid blues" are not really solid blue but blue birchen.




So I need to know...what to do with these birds? I want to create black and blue birchen. Somebody help me figure out who to keep and how to breed them in the future?? Any input appreciated. Gillavina you out there??

 

[Arielle]

Hey Christie Rhae--- glad to see you!! Hope all is well with your husbands project! Nice looking birds- you have quite the challenge on your hands.

 

[gilavina]

Ok guys... I have cockerels coming out of my ears.
I don't want to overwhelm ya so here are just a few of the project blues... won't even think about the black coppers yet. These guys are 4 months old.

Here is Mr. S/s+ blue. (half silver half gold) Lets call this guy Number 1






And here is my other silver/gold blue guy. Number 2





A couple observations... number 2 has a shorter tail and seems to hold it lower than number 1. Number 2 has lighter hackles than number 1.

These boys are not afraid of me at all but when I walk in with a camera they get all weirded out. lol
Ok now... these project blue coppers came from the breeder breeding her "solid blues" to her black coppers. From the chicks I got I think it is apparent that her solid blues are actually ER/ER S/S. That one copy of the silver gene had to come from someplace and I don't think it was the black coppers. I also have a pullet from this pairing. She is showing no copper feathers.

I have one of these "solid blues". He has clean legs and is small and to be honest just doesn't even look like a marans body to me. But here he is. I cannot find any gold on him so pretty sure he is S/S. Is this bird of any use to me?


I also have one "solid blue" pullet. She is showing no copper feathers either. This is why I have deducted that the "solid blues" are not really solid blue but blue birchen.




So I need to know...what to do with these birds? I want to create black and blue birchen. Somebody help me figure out who to keep and how to breed them in the future?? Any input appreciated. Gillavina you out there??

If these were my birds, number one would go as you are dealing with silver/gold and copper leakage as well. The other two I would hold onto and see how they continue to grow although I do think your middle boy will end up with that copper/red leakage. That's the worst, I hate dealing with it. Some birchens when I first started were very slow to develop their size...as in remained smaller and then bulked up a bit a about a year old, but still smaller than most varieties. Its one of the problems in the birchens. If you have some females of good size you could do a round of test hatching with that last boy with no gold leakage and select only those with the most correct color, type and size and can work with it. If you saw what I started with in the blue birchens you'd wouldn't believe it. Its just careful matings and sometimes only keeping one from a whole test hatch, but that's how I got my start. If you have more questions, feel free to ask or PM me and I'll help ya when I can. The birchens are a tough one to get a good start in, esp where you are I'm guessing. If you can do hatching eggs and have any luck with them, there is a place you might be able to order some from.

 

[BackyardCoop]

Could I interrupt for a question?

Anyone had a black copper maran and french cuckoo maran mix?
I have a BCM roo and kept a male and female cuckoo to breed.... However the BCM roo has decided that the cuckoo hen belongs to him, and him only.

Not sure how this will work out. I hate to separate them, he is SO sweet to her. He protects her and calls her for food. Should I keep them from breeding or
will they be okay if I just let them "do their thing"? lol I know they aren't old enough to breed yet. He still has a "teenage" crow. But God bless them,
they just know they melt my heart. My Cuckoo roo might have to go if they end up fighting for her.

 

[Arielle]

Could I interrupt for a question?

Anyone had a black copper maran and french cuckoo maran mix?
I have a BCM roo and kept a male and female cuckoo to breed.... However the BCM roo has decided that the cuckoo hen belongs to him, and him only.

Not sure how this will work out. I hate to separate them, he is SO sweet to her. He protects her and calls her for food. Should I keep them from breeding or
will they be okay if I just let them "do their thing"? lol I know they aren't old enough to breed yet. He still has a "teenage" crow. But God bless them,
they just know they melt my heart. My Cuckoo roo might have to go if they end up fighting for her.

Are you planning to collect eggs for incubating?

If not, I let my extraFBCM boys run with the flock and they have their own little flock of girls. I'll pull them for breeding when I need them for a FBCM hen.

THis question came up a few pages ago--not a recommended cross.

Perhaps someone remembers differently.

 

[Christie Rhae]

If these were my birds, number one would go as you are dealing with silver/gold and copper leakage as well. The other two I would hold onto and see how they continue to grow although I do think your middle boy will end up with that copper/red leakage. That's the worst, I hate dealing with it. Some birchens when I first started were very slow to develop their size...as in remained smaller and then bulked up a bit a about a year old, but still smaller than most varieties. Its one of the problems in the birchens. If you have some females of good size you could do a round of test hatching with that last boy with no gold leakage and select only those with the most correct color, type and size and can work with it. If you saw what I started with in the blue birchens you'd wouldn't believe it. Its just careful matings and sometimes only keeping one from a whole test hatch, but that's how I got my start. If you have more questions, feel free to ask or PM me and I'll help ya when I can. The birchens are a tough one to get a good start in, esp where you are I'm guessing. If you can do hatching eggs and have any luck with them, there is a place you might be able to order some from.

Silver/gold and copper leakage? I assumed that the copper was because the bird has one silver gene and one gold gene.
If I bred one of those to a hen who was silver might I get chicks without the gold gene and then no copper leakage? Or is the copper leakage something separate from gold/silver genes?

Should I just focus on that little silver blue cockerel? I do have a nice chunky looking blue pullet I could use. I love projects and enjoy the process as much as the result so not looking for a quick fix. I am learning so much with these project ideas.

Thank you!

 

[gilavina]

Silver/gold and copper leakage? I assumed that the copper was because the bird has one silver gene and one gold gene.
If I bred one of those to a hen who was silver might I get chicks without the gold gene and then no copper leakage? Or is the copper leakage something separate from gold/silver genes?

Should I just focus on that little silver blue cockerel? I do have a nice chunky looking blue pullet I could use. I love projects and enjoy the process as much as the result so not looking for a quick fix. I am learning so much with these project ideas.

Thank you!

see on that first boy where he has the red matte type feathers in the wing bow and on the breast? Thats sure not gold, I think if you had absolutely nothing else to work with, you could test mate with him, but think he will give you many more headaches than you'd want to even think about. The second one, if he doesn't start developing more copper than he has you could try to test mate him and see what you get. I've found with the birchens and leakage, there is no guarantee with anything. And when you think you are doing great, it can crop up again, so I just pick the best of the best, even if that means I only keep one or two birds in a season.
The third boy is more the color you want, so working to get that color onto some offspring will help put you in a good direction, and then you will have to work on the body type, but that's much easier than the leakage when you are first starting out.