Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[pinkchick]

I posted this in the other thread on birchen Marans but was so excited wanted to share here since there is more traffic..

The first chicks from my birchen rooster hatched last night and this morning. I am wanting to work on blue birchen, but I have a lot to learn about the genetics behind it.

The hen that produced these eggs is a splash. The eggs weren't super dark, but I am hoping over time I can darken them up.

My boy Hyperion. He is almost 9 months old..



The splash hen that laid the eggs, Dragonia - sorry not a great picture. She is about a year old.



And on to the babies.. There are 7 total. I didn't get pictures of all of them.. seemed to have missed one. I'm assuming they are supposed to be blue, but what color they have elsewhere is where I am lost. LOL

#1



#2


#3 & #5


#3


#4


Hatched them out with a Brinsea Mini Advanced with Auto-turning. 7 out of 7. Love that little thing.

Also wanted to add that all of the chicks have shank feathering. The rooster has heavier shank feathering than the hen, but it appears that all of the babies have a considerable amount visible already.

CUTE Babies! They should all be blue chicks if they came from the Black to Splash mating. Blue color can vary greatly and produce very light blue birds to very dark blue that almost appears black. Look forward to seeing how they mature! Please continue to update us on them as they grow.

 

[mikeypalone]

CUTE Babies!
They should all be blue chicks if they came from the Black to Splash mating. Blue color can vary greatly and produce very light blue birds to very dark blue that almost appears black.
Look forward to seeing how they mature! Please continue to update us on them as they grow.

I had a blue rooster over splash hen and my chicks looked like that,I came out with two blue,one black,one blue splash. Mine are now three weeks old and I don't know if they will change as they age.

 

[DMRippy]

Quote:
You can't get black with blue over splash. 50/50 blue and splash.

 

[pinkchick]

Mikey~

Black can't show up from a Blue to Splash mating......I bet what you have is a very very very dark blue that appears Black. Time will tell as it matures.

I have had several of these very very very dark blue birds (as my original rooster was suppose to be black and appeared black but was blue) and they can be extremely hard to discern from black. The only way I was sure they were blue was to cross them to a genetically black bird and when I got blue babies from the cross I knew. I have a cockerel right now that is just over 7 mos. old and is finally showing me that he is indeed not a Black Copper like I had originally thought, he is a very very dark blue. Confirmation of that will be very soon as one of my Splash girls in cleaning out. When she is done I will test mate this male to her and see what colors they produce. If he is truly blue, I should be expecting blue and splash babies only from the cross.

 

[mikeypalone]

The splash pullet came from a bluexblue mating. I don't know if that has something to do with it. I know at three months I call her black. If its a very dark blue that would be great,as that's what I'm after. The rooster is a very dark blue but you can tell its not black. All four chicks did look like those pics right after they were dry. One thing that favors what you say is that I can see a lighter shade of lacing,and I have never seen lacing on black.

 

[DMRippy]

It is genetically IMPOSSIBLE to get a black has to be blue.... the lacing would also indicate blue. When a Splash is mated ALL the chicks will blue or splash since a splash can only contribute BLUE genes.

Blue X Blue = 50% Blue, 25% Black , 25% Splash


Blue X Splash = 50% Blue , 50% Splash


Blue X Black = 50% Blue, 50% Black


Black X Black = 100% Black


Splash X Black = 100% Blue


Splash X Splash = 100% Splash

 

[Hangtown Farms]

question? I raise Penedesenca and have been having a very tough time getting these dark eggs to hatch on the ones getting shipped to me.
I was wondering if anyone had any ideas on shipped dark eggs to get the best hatch rates. Non shipped eggs are hatching great for me but shipped ones nothing. I have had a few people trying to hatch for me as well and nothing.

 

[DMRippy]

question? I raise Penedesenca and have been having a very tough time getting these dark eggs to hatch on the ones getting shipped to me.
I was wondering if anyone had any ideas on shipped dark eggs to get the best hatch rates. Non shipped eggs are hatching great for me but shipped ones nothing. I have had a few people trying to hatch for me as well and nothing.

I use dry incubation. Works well for me and all my eggs do well. I have a problem getting the DARK DARK eggs to hatch. I have just resolved to lower hatch rates on those eggs. Until I hear a GOOD and SAFE method to help the Dark eggs hatch I will live with the the lower hatch.

 

[vebyrd36]

I use dry incubation. Works well for me and all my eggs do well. I have a problem getting the DARK DARK eggs to hatch. I have just resolved to lower hatch rates on those eggs. Until I hear a GOOD and SAFE method to help the Dark eggs hatch I will live with the the lower hatch.

They can are difficult to hatch at times. I like to run my Sportsman at 45% humidity with temp of 100.5 during the first 18 days, then I'll take it up to 55%. I have found this works best for me. Honestly the eggs are so dark I'll peek at them at 14 days then agaan on day 18 before I put them down on day 19 to hatch.

VIVI

 

[vebyrd36]

question? I raise Penedesenca and have been having a very tough time getting these dark eggs to hatch on the ones getting shipped to me.
I was wondering if anyone had any ideas on shipped dark eggs to get the best hatch rates. Non shipped eggs are hatching great for me but shipped ones nothing. I have had a few people trying to hatch for me as well and nothing.

On shipped eggs I'll let them set on top of the bator and settle out for 24 hours then place them in the bator. Also if the air sack is really dislodge I'll place them in the bator and not turn them for the first week. I have found this works really well. I had 13 eggs that the postal services used the box as a football and ended up hatching 8 of them. Shipped eggs are a trick, just keep trying and trying.

VIVI