Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[Wynette]

Mathace "Lisa", What irritates me about this mess, I can not remember at anytime when we were critiqueing all the BC males you posted is you saying they were BC and Blue copper crosses. All of this should be up front as it does have an affect on the offspring. Plus also there is a right way to make the cross and a wrong way to make it.

If anyone wants we can go over how to make the cross and what some of the drawbacks in the BC offspring.

Lisa, my friend you know from all the emails back and forth that I just say what I believe and what experience has taught me.

Don, you know, given that there seem to be many folks doing this, and if you do know of a good way to make such crosses work for the better, this might be worthy of its own thread!

ETA: You know, I just realized that probably sounds like I'm trying to say "take it off this thread" and that's not what I meant at all, so please don't take it that way! It'f perfectly fine to discuss here, of course!

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Quote:
Don, I would LOVE to hear what you have say on making the cross work better (or worse, as the case may be,) whether it is here or in Columbus. I'm quite curious at this point.

 

[snowbird]

Don, I would LOVE to hear what you have say on making the cross work better (or worse, as the case may be,) whether it is here or in Columbus. I'm quite curious at this point.

Barb, What I have to relay to you is very simple when I explain, we will talk at Columbus.

 

[heath_elisha]

Been following along with this conversation- my question would be- (not that it really matters for me/my breeding purposes) but if this is such a common practice- how could someone new coming into BC know whether they were looking at stock that came from black to black breeding? Based on quality of bird? Color of the black? .......

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Been following along with this conversation- my question would be- (not that it really matters for me/my breeding purposes) but if this is such a common practice- how could someone new coming into BC know whether they were looking at stock that came from black to black breeding? Based on quality of bird? Color of the black? .......

The sad truth is, you probably wouldn't. However, the folks I have been working with have all been very forthcoming and have let me know what I'm getting into from the start (even when I didn't know what questions to ask) and I have done the same for anyone coming to me. But as you can see from this thread, not all the folks working with Marans even know what is important so if you are serious about Marans, spend some time educating yourself before you buy.

ETA: I really haven't been doing this for long but I have been doing a lot of "looking" - at good birds and not so good - and I am much more confident already when evaluating birds. Once you see a truly quality black, you won't be prepared to settle for anything less if black is your thing.

 

[math ace]

Mathace "Lisa", What irritates me about this mess, I can not remember at anytime when we were critiqueing all the BC males you posted is you saying they were BC and Blue copper crosses. All of this should be up front as it does have an affect on the offspring. Plus also there is a right way to make the cross and a wrong way to make it.

If anyone wants we can go over how to make the cross and what some of the drawbacks in the BC offspring.

Lisa, my friend you know from all the emails back and forth that I just say what I believe and what experience has taught me.

Don,

You remember all my BC males... There were a TON of them huh?
Ok... so some of them were from my Black copper marans roo x black copper marans hen. ALL those were culled.
Some were from my Black copper marans roo x blue copper marans hen(s). All those were culled too.

I went through a LOT of males that year LOL... I kept 4 pullets from that year - 2 blue copper hens and 2 black copper hens. They were all from my blue copper marans hens. My black copper marans hen NEVER PRODUCED A pullet

I STOPPED using that girl because I got sick and tired of hatching cockerels!

Last Fall, I hatched more pullets using the four daughters above. I only got one small hatch done in last Fall and it produced ONE black copper maran pullet and FINALLY one black copper marans cockerel that I liked a lot.

These are what I am moving forward with - -- 4 daughters ( 2 blacks and 2 blues, all from a black x blue cross)
- - - 1 grand-daughter
- - - 1 grand-son

I THOUGHT I had been upfront with all this when I was WHINING about all the dang males my single black copper marans hen kept throwing. I am sorry if I wasn't clear about it...

Of course, I think the above is about as clear as MUD ...

 

[math ace]

Plus also there is a right way to make the cross and a wrong way to make it.

If anyone wants we can go over how to make the cross and what some of the drawbacks in the BC offspring.

Lisa, my friend you know from all the emails back and forth that I just say what I believe and what experience has taught me.

Now, that I have been UPFRONT with the black x blue heritage of my current breeding stock.... WHAT do we do now?
What is the RIGHT WAY to make the cross and what is the WRONG way to do it?

OF course, we know Murphy's law is ALWAYS in effect at my place, so I can Betcha I went about it the WRONG way!

 

[math ace]

Lisa, my friend you know from all the emails back and forth that I just say what I believe and what experience has taught me.

I Know you didn't mean to hurt my feelings

Without a doubt you have more experience than I will ever have and I will ALWAYS value what you say.... I will sometimes go a different path because I am a hard headed woman. . However, it doesn't mean that I don't care about quality.... SOMETIMES, I just have to figure things out the hard way...
I don't know about your kids, but mine had to touch the hot stove before they would believe that it was hot

My husband says if you are gonna be dumb, you have to be tough... Now the logical side of me will listen to proof. If you could share more of your experience with me, I might not have to learn things the hard way LOL...

I have ALWAYS valued your honesty. I Know you have a big HEART and care greatly about birds and the people trying to breed them.
I do consider you my friend, a really good friend, even if you rubbed me wrong last night

I am over it now... You want to teach me something NEW ? ?

 

[snowbird]

Lisa, Will send you a long email tomorrow explaining where you can possibly go from now into the future, What do you want to breed Black Copper or Blue Copper or both. Believe me there is a correct way to make the matings.

 

[math ace]

Lisa, Will send you a long email tomorrow explaining where you can possibly go from now into the future, What do you want to breed Black Copper or Blue Copper or both. Believe me there is a correct way to make the matings.

I want to end up doing Blacks Only. I am only using the Blues as a way of getting some decent type blacks to work with.

We are warm enough that I am going to try to do a couple of hatches this Winter, so I will be waiting with bated breath for your email