Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[gilavina]

Me too Vicki. I learn so much here, and appreciate the years of poultry knowledge that goes into these discussions! Sorry to say all I can offer up is what I see in my back yard. But I won't let you folks get me geared up this winter! No, no, no, NOOOO! No hatching until the end of winter for me!!!!!!!!!!

I'm still gonna play my decision on when to start hatching by ear. If it is a mild winter, I might get a head start like I did last year. I think it was mid February that I set my first eggs. I just don't know how long I can hold off, I'm so dang curious to see what I will get out of some of my birds this year. I have several blue copper pullets marked similarly to Luella (different shades of copper), but am hopeful they will produce good offspring.

 

[Debbi]

I am not bashing yankees..... while doing my genealogy I found out that most of my family signed up with the NORTH during the "war between the state" they also deserted and ended up in jail... well some did. LOL

I wish I had the money right now to get back into my geneology! I traced my Mom's side of the family back to Aaron Burr...you know, the guy who shot Alexander Hamilton in a duel!

I also have a relative on my Dad's side, who signed the Declaration of Independence...George Read! I find it all so fascinating!!

 

[TomNY]

We have a ways to go with this issue as it has to be approved by the Board of Directors. My personal opinion is that I am undecided if it should be a DQ or not. I can say here that I think it is a huge fault IMO. You see white in other parti colored birds too. The other thing that plays into this is that some varieties....like black leghorns......seem to be impossible to breed with yellow legs and no white in the tail of the male. Our committee has to look at a lot more things than most people realize. As an example...is it genetically possible? (I am not talking Marans here). Our committee does not want to back breed clubs into a corner they can't get out of.....this is why you see certain DQ's and cuts specific to varieties or breeds and not found in the general cuts and DQ's.

if there is a change to the SOP, we have to look at every angle of that change...cuz we don't want to have to change it back to what it was. This is why we are doing this revision. This is the only time we can make significant changes without going through too many fiery hoops. They still have to be approved by the APA board. It should not be easy to change the SOP. If it was it wouldn't mean anything. I wish I could post some of the crazy things people want to change....most of it because that is the way their birds look.

Walt

Leg color for BBR Malays and Malay bantams is"Swarthy yellow to yellow, yellow preferred" I always selected for bright butter yellow. The large fowl were OK but bantam males started to get a little white frosting on a primary. It spread to where some would have the bottom half very white,not just frosted.Only using males with no white or minimal white didn't help. There was an article in The Poultry Press describing the same problem with Partridge Wyandotte bantam males. Selecting males with even a minimum amount of dusky color on the legs was offered as the solution. It worked on the Malays. Now white in the primaries is very rare. Does the allowable black shading on a Black Leghorn's legs make a difference? I'm not sure if leg shading would help with unwanted white on a white skinned [Marans] male. It may be worth looking into before a decision is made. Tom

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Quote:
Interesting ..... thanks for sharing! (This might be where the genetics folks can help!!!

)

 

[Debbi]

I'm still gonna play my decision on when to start hatching by ear. If it is a mild winter, I might get a head start like I did last year. I think it was mid February that I set my first eggs. I just don't know how long I can hold off, I'm so dang curious to see what I will get out of some of my birds this year. I have several blue copper pullets marked similarly to Luella (different shades of copper), but am hopeful they will produce good offspring.

Yes, mid to end of Feb. sounds good to me. I'm looking to get some turkeys this year too,

so it will be busy here when it all starts to happen again. I'm trying to look at it as ONLY 2 1/2 - 3 months left of winter! Heck, it hasn't even started yet, but I'm planning the garden in my mind!

 

[math ace]

Last time I was in Florida and really all the times...... it was FULL of Yankees.......

Florida just never crosses my mind as southern........

My family is 5 or 6 generations Floridians. We are part of the small and rare group of residents who were here before the tourists came along
I moved to NORTH Florida to get away from all the tourists that moved into South Florida

 

[math ace]

Me too Vicki. I learn so much here, and appreciate the years of poultry knowledge that goes into these discussions! Sorry to say all I can offer up is what I see in my back yard. But I won't let you folks get me geared up this winter! No, no, no, NOOOO! No hatching until the end of winter for me!!!!!!!!!!

What ever! Watch out girl, I will have chick photos up soon! I've got some fluffy tennis balls cooking right now. Day 19 and counting! Fluffy tennis balls = Delawares....

 

[Debbi]

Thanks Tom, that is something to ponder over. Was there any problem with over melanized birds in the Malays? Did this have any correlation to the white feathers and leg color?

I'm now wondering if the shank/toe feathering gene(s) doesn't have something to do with the white feathers too? The birds here with the most shank feathering, are also the ones with the most white. That included Blue Copper roos too! Seems to bypass the hens though...?

 

[DMRippy]

Quote:
That is COOL! The websites for that stuff are great. I have reached dead ends on several lines, my mom's dad we have NOTHING just him. I traced one line to Tecumseh but it is all rumors

My dad's side of the family has TONS of work done for me already, lots of books with that info in it already published. Got lucky really.

 

[Debbi]

What ever! Watch out girl, I will have chick photos up soon! I've got some fluffy tennis balls cooking right now. Day 19 and counting! Fluffy tennis balls = Delawares....

Oh yes! I mean it this year!! Fluffy tennis balls, I thought you were talking Silkies! But they are more like fluffy ping pong balls...