Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[BroosterSpringsteen]

We can try to help better with pictures BUT BCM should be black with white bellies and wing tips. Golden Cuckoos will ALL have spots. They are AUTOSEXING. The roos are much lighter in color like a milk choc brown color and the pullets should be darker. Someone posted a link above so you can look at what golden cuckoos should look like. Keep in mind not everyone selling Marans has good Marans.

Thanks for the help. Most of the BCM look exactly like what you're describing. None of the brown chicks have spots on their heads, so I'm not really sure. (I posted a picture on the previous page) I guess I'll know when their grown-up feathers come in. The guy I got the eggs from had beautiful birds and eggs, but then again, I'm new to this breed.

 

[Wynette]

Hello, friends! Sorry I haven't been on much, I've been busier than a one-legged man in a butt-kickin' contest!

Just wanted to pop in & let y'all know, for those who haven't yet heard, that our beloved Black Copper Marans are getting seen & loved by the judges! TWO appeard on Champion row at the prestigious Stockton, CA show this past weekend!


WOOOT! GO MARANS!

 

[pmessner]

sorry... I was referring to Brooster Springsteen's post on the mixed hatch of marans chicks... I have golden cuckoo marans. The first hatch I had was such a delightful surprise...they are an autosexing color and the females are just the prettiest chesnut brown. The males are a completely different color... much lighter than the females and more a yellow grey... that's how mine are, at any rate. I thought of the 3 chicks shown that the last chick on the right could be a female golden cuckoo... looks to have that nice russetty chestnut brown coloring the female golden cuckoos have... but then color in pics is always so deceiving.

 

[DMRippy]

Just a little of my flock, coming to E-bay soon.....Snohomish, Wa

Before you go trying to make your fortune on E-bay..... Your pullets/Hens have the wrong coloring. They should ONLY Have copper in there HACKLES and NONE on their front neck and chest. A little might be OK, but that is WAY too much copper and would never make it to my breeding pens. And they have lacing of the copper and coppers are not laced.

 

[BroosterSpringsteen]

sorry... I was referring to Brooster Springsteen's post on the mixed hatch of marans chicks... I have golden cuckoo marans. The first hatch I had was such a delightful surprise...they are an autosexing color and the females are just the prettiest chesnut brown. The males are a completely different color... much lighter than the females and more a yellow grey... that's how mine are, at any rate. I thought of the 3 chicks shown that the last chick on the right could be a female golden cuckoo... looks to have that nice russetty chestnut brown coloring the female golden cuckoos have... but then color in pics is always so deceiving.

The one on the right is exactly that...a beautiful chestnut color. I'm pretty sure she's a female Golden Cuckoo, even without the dot on her head. The one in the middle is the one that has me thrown. It's mostly black with a chestnut head, and sort of a mocha brown colored belly. Will it be obvious when their wing feathers come in?

 

[DMRippy]

I have only hatched Golden Cuckoos ONCE. And I had one hatch SOLID BLACK... looked just like a Copper Marans. She feathered in with gold and barring, but she didn't have a spot at hatch.

 

[flgardengirl]

I have only hatched Golden Cuckoos ONCE. And I had one hatch SOLID BLACK... looked just like a Copper Marans. She feathered in with gold and barring, but she didn't have a spot at hatch.

x2

 

[desertmarcy]

Before you go trying to make your fortune on E-bay..... Your pullets/Hens have the wrong coloring. They should ONLY Have copper in there HACKLES and NONE on their front neck and chest. A little might be OK, but that is WAY too much copper and would never make it to my breeding pens. And they have lacing of the copper and coppers are not laced.

I agree, I was thinking the same thing...thanks for saying that. I can say from experience that it is so frustrating to buy hatching eggs only to find out after spending a lot of time and money raising the chicks, that they weren't what you thought they were going to be. I encourage anybody going to post eggs for sale to hold off until their birds are more where they should be or at least be upfront with faults and post good photos that show the good and the bad. I know this is not going to happen in a lot of cases, so many people just out to make a buck.

 

[BroosterSpringsteen]

Interesting. Well, I guess it will be obvious soon enough!

I seem to have a lot of BCM, but very few Golden Cuckoo. I had to pull a dozen clear eggs early in the hatch. I think the farmer is having some fertility issues with the Golden Cuckoo. It could be weather related. It's been single digits here. Anyway, I'm hopeful some of these mystery chicks will turn out to be Golden Cuckoo after all.

 

[pmessner]

I will also add that head spotting on my goldens is minimal... not really the best indicator... it is really the over all body color that makes an easy comparison when you know you have all goldens. Sounds like there are underlying genes that might make this a bit different for other peoples goldens. And of course adding other possibilities into the mix will of course make the task a bit more difficult! Might as well sit back and enjoy your surprise basket. lol