Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[Wynette]

Here's an intresting post regarding shank color made by Village Chicken (who is a bit of a genetics guru) awhile back:

There are two ways a leg is colored. The skin on the outside, and then the deeper skin tissue can also be colored.
White and Yellow are on the outside. White is dominant and can hide Yellow genes.
Any white shanked siblings of chicks with yellow legs can carry yellow into your next generation.
In order for a chick to show yellow legs, BOTH parents had to carry the yellow. In that pairing, one in four will be yellow, two will carry, and one will be pure white.

The dermal melanin under the skin gives a bluish color.
White + dermal melanin gives us slate or blue legs
Yellow+ dermal melanin gives greenish or Willow legs.

There is a gene that inhibits dermal melanin in birds that would otherwise have dark legs. (our light shanked BCM). It is a sex-linked gene. Males have two, hens only one. That is why BCM hens can have darker shanks than their male counterparts. Two copies of the ID gene is like barring, or blue, it lightens more than one copy.

Clown - I totally agree with you, but it could be that these things are simply not important to the folks you're referring to. Some folks breed "mostly" for egg color; nothing wrong with that, but it would be nice if they'd be honest about the issues in their flocks, to be sure. I'm with you - I always let folks know what I'm working on, and what I have seen in my flock(s).

 

[Ron Presley]

Hi all.

Cottage Hill Farm is still very much alive and well. So am I, despite the rumors of my demise.

Ron Presley

 

[aceschix]

Hi all.

Cottage Hill Farm is still very much alive and well. So am I, despite the rumors of my demise.

Ron Presley

Very happy to hear that! Nice to see you here.

 

[snowbird]

Hi all.

Cottage Hill Farm is still very much alive and well. So am I, despite the rumors of my demise.

Ron Presley

Ron, Thanks for checking in on the thread.

 

[snowbird]

I see some are having a problem with the Yellow Leg in the Marans agains, out of the thousands of chicks I hatched out never had one yellow leg Marans. These yellow legs are coming from all the project breedings going on around,

If you have yellow leg show up the only way to eliminate it is test mate everything and mark as you go. Band all fowl and toe mark all chicks and this means toe punch or toe slit. If you can not do a toe punch how in the world are you going to cull the yellow leg producers. If you only have a few marans woud be easier to cull all and start over with some birds from a trusted breeder.

What really gripes me is someone will buy a dozen eggs and hatch some chicks and can not wait to start selling eggs and chicks from hatch mate adults, these are mostly from brother-sister breedings.

Maybe I should of been a preacher come to think of it. I am out.

 

[puglady]

I'm so glad you are as well

! The quote was taken from the site in your profile picture, hpbaa.com, and refers to the breeding flock being wiped out with the exception of very few birds. Is Cottage Hill still working with Marans and offering these as breeding stock or is the hpbaa site correct in stating that this stock was given away? I believe the previous poster wanted to go directly to the "source" for their stock and was having trouble finding Marans directly offered by Cottage Farms.

 

[CountryFriedChicken]

Does anyone here know the actual website for Cottage Hill? I've looked all over and it keeps sending me to people whose marans come from CH stock.

You are probably referring to the HPBAA website. They list only their member's breeders. There are a few other breeders that are not listed. (some may not want to be listed with that site). But some people may mix CH lines with others so you will have to ask if they keep that line pure.

 

[laughingclown]

I see some are having a problem with the Yellow Leg in the Marans agains, out of the thousands of chicks I hatched out never had one yellow leg Marans. These yellow legs are coming from all the project breedings going on around,

If you have yellow leg show up the only way to eliminate it is test mate everything and mark as you go. Band all fowl and toe mark all chicks and this means toe punch or toe slit. If you can not do a toe punch how in the world are you going to cull the yellow leg producers. If you only have a few marans woud be easier to cull all and start over with some birds from a trusted breeder.

What really gripes me is someone will buy a dozen eggs and hatch some chicks and can not wait to start selling eggs and chicks from hatch mate adults, these are mostly from brother-sister breedings.

Maybe I should of been a preacher come to think of it. I am out.

Listen Don, I had some yellow legs. Im a little peeved. However, not everyone can have a magical flock like you nor have the space or resources like you do to be able to breed a ton of birds as you. As most people have posted on here before. There will never be a perfect bird or line. If someone likes to raise birds and hatch them then go for it. What it boils down to are 2 points. 1. First a person needs to decide if they want to breed quality. If so then we know the difficulty and take the time and try and do it right. 2. This applies to anything wether quality or a barnyard mutt, and in my opinion the most important. Be honest about your birds. If you are going for sop and have faults tell people. If your breeding barnyard run of the mill, tell them. If you breed worthless stock and someone buys them to breed. They are only partially to blame. Im just saying quit dogging people from wanting to earn a little money to support their hobby and love for chickens. As long as they disclose the issues with thier birds I dont have a problem with it.

 

[snowbird]

LC, apparently you have not looked around very much at eggs for sale. One question for you, have you ever seen a ad where the faults and DQs were listed.. It is great someone wants to spend big money for dark Egg layers and does not care about the SOp.

No argument from me as I will be kicked out of here. the only thing I will say is worry about your setup and not mine.

 

[laughingclown]

LC, apparently you have not looked around very much at eggs for sale. One question for you, have you ever seen a ad where the faults and DQs were listed.. It is great someone wants to spend big money for dark Egg layers and does not care about the SOp.

No argument from me as I will be kicked out of here. the only thing I will say is worry about your setup and not mine.

Ok, I see your points Don. And I really respect your knowledge base. I learned a lot from you and I freely admit that. I also admire your zeal towards chickens and making them better. Now to address your post. When placing ads, yes most of the time you will not see the faults listed on them. I think a lot of those issues take place during the customer/breeder conversation making it more personal. At least thats the way I do it. If I place an ad on craigslist its general. Then I make a point to personally talk to the customer about my flock or the individual bird. Take the pullet with no tail I got rid of the other day. I listed it as a barnyard bird and that it needed a home. I also told the person that the tail may not grow in. They were happy with her and I was happy. Also you know the majority of bird sales are by word of mouth. So honesty helps my business. My birds are mediocre at best. I have people that bought other birds off me that are waiting on my Marans, If I sell any. And the weird part is they are not looking for anything special. As for the set up, I was simply addressing that its easier for some due to resources than others. I know you care and are passionate. Just bringing up a point that sometimes you come off very very harsh, wether you mean to or not. Again I enjoy your feed back and mean no disrespect.