Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[Arielle]

Silly question??? If I have 4 BCM's roos and all of them have 1 or more faults, and 2 really great looking hens, will the faults continue if I breed them? I need to breed to better my cock BCM's. And can I breed enough to get the faults out?

See if this post from Snowbird helps you:

 

[3riverschick]

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2 strains is one thing. 3 strains is a triple hybrid and one has to watch one doesn't' run afoul of Darwin's rules of genetic variation. Been there, done that. The genetic variables increase exponentially from a bi-hybrid cross to a tri-hybrid cross. If you don't know what this means, find out before you do it.
Best,
Karen

 

[Arielle]

Quote: If you are using the same breed for the three strains, doesn't that immediately reduce the genetic variabiities compared to cross breeding different breeds. ANd increase the vigor at the same time?

 

[ChickenExtreme]

See if this post from Snowbird helps you:

Thanks

I have 2 hens from totally different stock, Only 2 of my roos are only from 1 stock

 

[Arielle]

Quote: Good luck--hope they make it!! Sounds like you have enough stock to build up when you get this hiccup under control.

 

[Christie Rhae]

For me the reward is in the journey... my journey continues. yay...lol
I have other birds to play with while I plug along and try to find better marans. It really is difficult to find someone who will send eggs or chicks here to Hawaii at all...let alone exceptional marans.
The pullets from this same batch of boys that I have are not laying crazy dark eggs. They are ok but not 7, 8 or 9s thats for sure. If their eggs were super dark that would be something redeeming.
I will keep looking.

 

[3riverschick]

If you are using the same breed for the three strains, doesn't that immediately reduce the genetic variabiities compared to cross breeding different breeds. No.

ANd increase the vigor at the same time? Yes.
Best,
Karen

 

[3riverschick]

I have 2 hens from totally different stock, Only 2 of my roos are only from 1 stock
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Please can you explain this a bit more clearly?
Thanks,
karen

 

[Arielle]

I have 2 hens from totally different stock, Only 2 of my roos are only from 1 stock
=============================================================

Please can you explain this a bit more clearly?
Thanks,
karen

Karen I read this as 2 hens from 2 lines and 2 roosters from 1 line. But is it one of the hen lines or not?

 

[3riverschick]

Karen I read this as 2 hens from 2 lines and 2 roosters from 1 line. But is it one of the hen lines or not?

ok,
if it was me, for best use of Darwinian laws of variation( presuming I was using 3 lines/strains, each unrelated to the other 2), I would breed the double hybrid pullets to the male from just one line. The Darwinian Law of variation forecasts get which will very closely resemble the sire. This is why the sire of such a breeding must be from only the most elite stock in all areas of consideration. One huge consideration of how close the resemblance will be is the "Balance in the abstract" which the breeder determines beforehand. Determination of excellent "balance in the abstract" requires in-depth study of the genetics, and nuances of the lines being used. What they throw, how they throw it, When I did this on dogs, I cross-matched each line for Type, Health, and Temperament. In poultry, I am thinking it would be health ( vitality/utility ), type( SOP/Utility ) and coloration( external characteristics).
So it would look like this, listed from left to right from strongest to weakest virtues.:
Line A: Health; Type; Coloration.
Line B: Coloration; Health; Type
Line C: Type; Coloration; Health.
None of the 3 categories repeats itself in the same placement twice. Line A could be where Line C is
and Line B where Line A is,... doesn't matter as long as none of the 3 categories repeats itself
in the same placement twice. All this determination should be done before the creation of the double hybrid pullet.
This is excellence in the abstract. The amount of study and research needed to do this is self-evident.
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However, if the breeding is done backwards (using 3 lines/strains, each completely unrelated to the other 2 ), with the pullets being from one Line (C) and the boy being a double hybrid from 2 unrelated lines(A/B), this "sameness to sire" does not hold true and the get from the breeding are forecast to be dissimilar in appearance to both sire and dam. This dissimilarity does not mean the get will pick up all the good points from each parent. It means they will be Intermediate in type from both sire and dam.
Best,
Karen