Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[gilavina]

One thing to remember is that most show birds that are good are not from two good show birds when talking about anything but the White and Black birds. Knowing what to breed together is something that comes with experience or have a good Mentor that will help. There are people out in the real world that will help if you reach out to them. I have had several in the past.

amen Don!

 

[snowbird]

Barb, In the old days I sold or gave peter Krusell in Canada several birds to show at the big show over there in Canada.

I have also bought several good birds from Stringmen.

Tim Bowles in Southern Ohio is a Judge and very large stringman.

 

[snowbird]

Egg color in Marans, I always expected my Marans to lay at least a #6 on the egg scale or they were sold as egg layers in my neighborhood. I am one that thinks that once you set your line you will need to cull for egg color just like all the other Faults.

 

[snowbird]

has anyone been thinking about trying to upgrade to the Spherical egg from their Marans. I believe they are darker since it take longer for the hen to lay. I know this type egg is out there as I have seen them here on BYC.

 

[BarnGoddess01]

One thing to remember is that most show birds that are good are not from two good show birds when talking about anything but the White and Black birds. Knowing what to breed together is something that comes with experience or have a good Mentor that will help. There are people out in the real world that will help if you reach out to them. I have had several in the past.

I am a BIG fan of mentors. It sometimes takes awhile for your mentor(s) to be "brutally" honest about your birds but once they get that you really do want to learn and are prepared to cull, they'll have at it so to speak.

Takes a thick skin - warning in advance. (It helps if you have a "layer" coop so you can toss all your favourites for the wrong reasons out there.)

I'm also learning that with most breeds and colours - really good males and really good females (even White Silkies) don't come from the same parents. (Makes me feel like I'm back in math class figuring out all the combinations and odds.)

 

[gilavina]

has anyone been thinking about trying to upgrade to the Spherical egg from their Marans. I believe they are darker since it take longer for the hen to lay. I know this type egg is out there as I have seen them here on BYC.

I'm working on it Don, its slow going with working on type of the birds, color on the birds, egg color and egg shape at the same time. I have split my breedings on paper for this spring to have matings that are in different stages of growth, so the ones with really good type and color on body will be used to improve the other for that reason, but then I'll also do another set of matings that focuses on the eggs especially. I do get some really nice spherical eggs, but not as many as I'd like, but will keep working.

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Quote:
I entered my "spherical" Blue Copper eggs in the egg show at Newnan. They were placed in the middle of the pack by the judge, just 1 point above my darker but less spherical blue copper eggs so clearly, this judge didn't appreciate their shape. Admittedly, it was a HUGE class - 8 entries for Blue Copper with 50 plates of Marans eggs shown altogether. Wynette definitely knows her way around a Marans egg since she took the show - and others before this. Perhaps she would comment candidly since she knows I can take it.

 

[Wynette]

Egg color in Marans, I always expected my Marans to lay at least a #6 on the egg scale or they were sold as egg layers in my neighborhood. I am one that thinks that once you set your line you will need to cull for egg color just like all the other Faults.

I agree. I started with very good egg color and have not compromises moving forward. I'm still working on egg color & will continue to do so, so long as I have Marans.

has anyone been thinking about trying to upgrade to the Spherical egg from their Marans. I believe they are darker since it take longer for the hen to lay. I know this type egg is out there as I have seen them here on BYC.

I agree and have seen pictures of some of these more spherical eggs, but have never seen one in person. Not even at the last large egg show. I certainly DO hope to see more of them in the future, as it does make sense they would tend to be darker if they are rounder & slower to be pushed through the oviduct.

 

[Wynette]

I entered my "spherical" Blue Copper eggs in the egg show at Newnan. They were placed in the middle of the pack by the judge, just 1 point above my darker but less spherical blue copper eggs so clearly, this judge didn't appreciate their shape. Admittedly, it was a HUGE class - 8 entries for Blue Copper with 50 plates of Marans eggs shown altogether. Wynette definitely knows her way around a Marans egg since she took the show - and others before this. Perhaps she would comment candidly since she knows I can take it.

Sheesh, you keep posting at the same time I do.

I honestly didn't see any eggs at the show that I would personally consider "spherical" although some eggs were definitely more round than others.

Yet another topic there was much discussion about after the show on Saturday. Folks who aren't sure how eggs are judged at an egg show - here's something that perplexes me, and I am likely opening a can of worms here. The egg is given a potential of, I believe, 6 points for COLOR (there are also points given for texture [sheen], shape, and consistency) - it may actually be just 5 points for color, I don't recall and don't have a scorecard here in front of me. Anyway, the eggs are graded by breeders on a scale of 4 to 9. To me, it seems like it would be a whole lot easier for a judge to just score the color, per the egg color chart for color, rather than giving, say, a "9" colored egg a score of 5 (if that's the highest point value for color). I may not be making my point clearly...but, what I am saying is, perhaps the score should equal the egg color rating for color. (?)

 

[Raven1]

My Birchen eggs are very spherical and dark. I can not take credit for that but I plan to keep it that way and work on my other varieties. It does help having those to look at and compare to. I made some very hard cuts going into winter and only kept about half my birds. I sorted by type and have suffered some color loss in my eggs, but gained a better quality of bird to go forward with and egg color will come back (I hope)