Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[BarnGoddess01]

There should never be a problem with anyone asking a question without out everyone jumping in to defend that person in question. This Click stuff is killing the Marans threads. If we all were playing on the same field with the same immunity there would not be all the smart answers. look around at all the forum regulars that have left. You sure can not blame me this go round.

I guess it all comes down to how the question was asked. And, I might add, the spirit behind the question. It is quite clear when a question is asked because someone genuinely wants to learn. But a question filled with pointing out faults. Not so much a question as a comment.

 

[snowbird]

Don, we will NOT move forward unless folks are willing to show pictures. Folks will NOT show pictures when met with criticism. Here's the thing, and you and I have had this discussion many, many times. There is ALWAYS a way to say something without coming off as accusatory, negative, or snarky. For example - rather than saying something like, "how can a bird with yellow legs have been put up for BB?" perhaps something more like, "I may be not seeing the picture in the right light - does the bird have yellow legs? Just wondering."

I'm not criticizing the comment - I was posting merely as a reminder. AGAIN - if YOU, DON, received a comment liek that, would you be likely to ever consider posting a picture again? I think not.

Frankly, I personally could give a rip whether the Marans threads are being "killed" - it's sure as heck not likely. There are many folks here & posting daily. What y'all need to be doing, rather than sitting behind your computers and pointing fingers at someone else's picture, is getting out there to the shows to SEE THESE BIRDS FIRSTHAND. The folks out there doing the good breeding work and showing are the ones who are moving this breed forward...not the ones sitting behind a computer.

Wynette, Will say in closing that anytime someone post a picture with DQs it should be brought up. Anytime I have posted a picture I have always wanted questions asked.

 

[Wynette]

Wynette, Will say in closing that anytime someone post a picture with DQs it should be brought up. Anytime I have posted a picture I have always wanted questions asked.

It's not an issue that a fault was brought up, it's the way in which it was brought up. The person posting the picture wasn't asking for feedback, much less negativity. Should we not be celebrating moving forward rather than pointing out issues? Barb sent me (privately) a picture of a bantam black that was shown by a JUDGE two years ago. That bird had solid white lobes, and again - it was owned by a judge. From then, to these past pics posted, what a HUGE move forward. But instead of, "Holy cow, fantastic work on the lobes!" We see negativity. I have NO issue with anyone bringing up faults or DQs. IT'S IN HOW YOU DO SO. If it's in a helpful way that we can all learn from - KUDOS! That's all I'm saying - let's work together in a helpful positive way!

 

[OHmamma]

I wasn't intending to be negative. Was I? The Marans are bantams that won? I missed that but I don't think that their not being LF or not being approved of has anything to do with what I was asking. Please do not construe what I was asking as being negative. I am having a terrible trouble being positive about my own endeavors. It seems every chicken conspires to have some problem as of late. I say again, they are lovely as far as I am able to 'judge.'

Hi,
I didn't take it as being negative. I too was worried about the light color of the black copper hens earlobes. I talked to two different judges there that handled the hens and said that it was just lack of the red pigment (blood) I have talked to several different judges about the earlobe issue before with other peoples birds too that was how I understood that it was not a DQ. I have read about it quite a bit, but like I said her lobes are pale no color like her skin. Not pure white or red with white on top as in a porcelain lobe on a leghorn or minorca.

Please be aware that I am attempting to breed away from this. It was not an issue in the last 4 generations. I have only used breed reduction and pure marans to get these. I had half sized hens pop up from a line out of the North East and Bev Davis encouraged me to try to get them right again. Now it has become an obsession they have come a long way and are still a work in progress.

I believe that the problem is her nutrition, I still think it is because she has not been eating good. You can tell by her comb color that something isn't right.

Here is a good bit of earlobe info from kipen....

"Most breeds have red ear lobes. The red color is due to the blood of the bird and is visible because the skin of the ear lobes, comb and wattles has a rich blood supply that is not masked in any way. These skin areas are so highly vascularized that squeezing a comb between your thumb and forefinger will more than likely squeeze out some of the birds blood onto your fingers. Mosquito bites often leave a small amount of dried blood on the comb. Breeds of the Mediterranean Class (Leghorn, Minorca and Spanish) have 'white' ear lobes.
The white ear lobe is due to the purine pigment which is controlled by a number of genes. The trait is said to be polygenic. The red ear lobe is due to the lack of the genes that invoke the purine pigmentation. Sometimes the white ear lobe can have a greenish or yellowish tinge. The number and location of the genes responsible for white ear lobes is not presently known."

 

[OHmamma]

Oh and on the issue of it being a DQ. If it was she would have been DQ'd this is her second time being shown and it has not been mentioned by 3 separate ABA judges.

They don't give BV RB and BV BB to birds that should be DQ'd. I didn't put them in a JR show trying to sneak by I would have welcomed any judges opinion and like I said, all the ones I talked to loved them.

It could have been because they are the only ones but if some one comes up with some that look better and still lay the nice eggs that these two do then I would welcome some competition. In the meantime I will be in the barn.

 

[Wynette]

I talked to two different judges there that handled the hens and said that it was just lack of the red pigment (blood)

Geesh, it was probably because it was so stinking COLD there! Holy heck. MY lobes were white, to be sure!

 

[OHmamma]

I thought I was going to be having a nice little warm vacation in Sunny GA and it was colder there than when we left Ohio!

I still think it was you and Barb bringing it down with you!!

 

[Wynette]

I thought I was going to be having a nice little warm vacation in Sunny GA and it was colder there than when we left Ohio!

I still think it was you and Barb bringing it down with you!!

Hey, that first day was awesome! It had to have been like 72 on Friday! WHAT a huge change on Saturday, eh? Sheesh!

 

[OHmamma]

Hey, that first day was awesome! It had to have been like 72 on Friday! WHAT a huge change on Saturday, eh? Sheesh!

You know it wasn't too bad Sunday either, but I came home to 12 degrees!!

I hate to see what we do to Shawnee!!

 

[Zanna]

Oh and on the issue of it being a DQ. If it was she would have been DQ'd this is her second time being shown and it has not been mentioned by 3 separate ABA judges.

They don't give BV RB and BV BB to birds that should be DQ'd. I didn't put them in a JR show trying to sneak by I would have welcomed any judges opinion and like I said, all the ones I talked to loved them.

It could have been because they are the only ones but if some one comes up with some that look better and still lay the nice eggs that these two do then I would welcome some competition. In the meantime I will be in the barn.

I am so glad you did not take Ashandvines post negatively. I believe she is much like me in the learning curve and is just more bold in asking the questions........ Not wanting to speak for her, but I think on this thread or maybe the black copper marans thread someone told her to cull her stock that had the white earlobes. For a newbie to the breed and I am sure spending plenty of money and making plenty of mistakes as I did in the beginning it can all get really frustrating and discouraging. Because of that, I can completely understand where her questions came from. We all know BCM are a work in progress and I believe that great progress is being made! I posted a pic. of a roo one time, another poster asked questions about him and another poster commented that "he brings nothing to the table". How does that help anyone? I think for us all to learn, the questions Ashandvine posed are good ones and the resulting discussion about the questions were valuable to the learning curve. I will continue to post pictures and participate in this thread, I can take and leave stuff, I make up my own mind I hope Ashandvine continues to participate!