Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[ic46750]

See e bay. There are some hatching eggs on sale now. Dprather I think.

 

[desertmarcy]

Marcy I have some pullets that are so dark even their combs and beaks were black. Early Dec hatch; however, some of these are starting to get a small amount of copper on the neck now and their wattles and combs are beginning to pink up. So you might give the girls a little bit longer and see what they do. However, I'm with you, those boys that are going to be way overcolored seem to get that right away and are easy to pick out early. I have at least 3 of them that are flaming orange. They will go to freezer camp as soon as I have time. You are right, good feed is too expensive to waste on birds you know won't make the grade so might as well eat them early. I've been surprised on some of my other breeds; they didn't look that big at 4 months but still dressed out at 2 1/2 pounds. And I don't mind little guys the size of cornish game hens ;=)

I'm glad you concur. I always get a little nervous butchering early for color wondering if they will change when they molt. The pullets do tend to color up a little later. I have quite a few now, same age as those cockerels, that already have nice color and I haven't seen a mossy one yet. I culled all the mossy ones last year and didn't keep any females without color, so I hope I am making some progress. Maybe if I keep only pullets that color in early I will get pullets that color in early! Those cockerels dressed out between 2 pounds 5 ounces and 2 pounds 10 ounces--not too bad for so young. I sell the processed birds when I have buyers, so that helps pay for feed.

 

[maryhysong]

I'm glad you concur. I always get a little nervous butchering early for color wondering if they will change when they molt. The pullets do tend to color up a little later. I have quite a few now, same age as those cockerels, that already have nice color and I haven't seen a mossy one yet. I culled all the mossy ones last year and didn't keep any females without color, so I hope I am making some progress. Maybe if I keep only pullets that color in early I will get pullets that color in early! Those cockerels dressed out between 2 pounds 5 ounces and 2 pounds 10 ounces--not too bad for so young. I sell the processed birds when I have buyers, so that helps pay for feed.

I have at least one mossy girl. But I'm thinking of perhaps breeding her to a boy that does not have much color; so far just his neck has copper, none on his body yet. But I might change my mind as I watch some of these others grow out. Right now I can eat every body that I dress out, so not really any extra but I have had a couple people ask so I may be able to sell some later.

 

[flgardengirl]

Even though it was rainy today I got a few pics of the two black male chicks. They are a little messed up from playing in the rain and sandy mud. At this age, they still hard to differentiate from a BCM chick but when they are born they have way less to no white on their faces than the bcm chicks (at least mine seem to) but then my bcms always have a lot of white on their faces lol. Anyways, I'm happy with how they look so far. One has that middle toe feather grrr. They are the biggest chicks in the brooder even bigger than the lavender orpington roo babies that are the same age. They look just like their dad did at that age but bigger. They are feathering in pure black and losing their white fuzz on their chests and legs and the lighter black fuzz on their bodies. Everyday they are looking more like dad. They are 1 month old today.

Roo 1 -Voodoo. Dh named them lol. I've just been calling him Boo. He's sooo sweet. He has some major wattle action going on just like his dad. On the downside, has the middle toe feather on both feet. This was a early problem with my solid blues but it hasn't showed up for a few generations...hmmm

Roo 2 -Blackjack He has no middle toe feathering but the feathers aren't covering that outer toe completely even though there is a stub on the top of each outer toe. He has been already acting like the alpha roo fighting with all the other ones. He is very sweet and likes to be held.

Here's Dad (Black Bart) He has a double serration on his comb. Right now I'm not seeing that on the 2 cockerals. Keeping my fingers crossed!!!

 

[Runawaylobster]

Even though it was rainy today I got a few pics of the two black male chicks. They are a little messed up from playing in the rain and sandy mud. At this age, they still hard to differentiate from a BCM chick but when they are born they have way less to no white on their faces than the bcm chicks (at least mine seem to) but then my bcms always have a lot of white on their faces lol. Anyways, I'm happy with how they look so far. One has that middle toe feather grrr. They are the biggest chicks in the brooder even bigger than the lavender orpington roo babies that are the same age. They look just like their dad did at that age but bigger. They are feathering in pure black and losing their white fuzz on their chests and legs and the lighter black fuzz on their bodies. Everyday they are looking more like dad. They are 1 month old today.

Roo 1 -Voodoo. Dh named them lol. I've just been calling him Boo. He's sooo sweet. He has some major wattle action going on just like his dad. On the downside, has the middle toe feather on both feet. This was a early problem with my solid blues but it hasn't showed up for a few generations...hmmm






Roo 2 -Blackjack He has no middle toe feathering but the feathers aren't covering that outer toe completely even though there is a stub on the top of each outer toe. He has been already acting like the alpha roo fighting with all the other ones. He is very sweet and likes to be held.





Here's Dad (Black Bart) He has a double serration on his comb. Right now I'm not seeing that on the 2 cockerals. Keeping my fingers crossed!!!

they are sooo cute....... and good looking ..

 

[Wynette]

Sue, love that first cockerel; he's a cutey!

Folks - I wanted to post a neat little snippet from a newer judge who recently judges a large poultry show in Texas. He did a really great job judging; first, he judged the Black Copper and Wheaton (both approved varieties), then he went on to other breeds, but after, came back to judge the non-approved Marans varieties, all the way to 5th spot if there were enough. He was encouraging and the breeders who spoke with him spoke very highly of him. This note is from him, and I post with permission (the black copper cockerel he mentions placed reserve champ continental). Thought y'all might enjoy:


I enjoyed very much judging the Marans group. There were some nice birds
there. The black copper male really won me over. He is a nice bird.
Perhaps it is just me, but a male Marans that is good just stands out with
great majesty. Like some other breeds where the males stand out, I think
the Marans males will stand out and win their fair share. Some of the
Black Copper females needed more prominent copper color in their hackles.
I was also impressed with so many whites in the show. They were very nice.
I would think you won't have much trouble getting them accepted. they
could us a little more work on type, but that will come. Thank you for
allowing me to judge them. All the folks in the club are a great bunch to
be around. Thanks again. Jim Crain

 

[gilavina]

morning all!

I'm getting excited, will be moving the eggs over to the hatcher tomorrow night!

 

[DMRippy]

morning all!

I'm getting excited, will be moving the eggs over to the hatcher tomorrow night!

GOOD LUCK! Hope you get lots of fussy butts!

 

[gilavina]

GOOD LUCK! Hope you get lots of fussy butts!

Thanks lady! I sure hope so too! I've got those baby kitties to play with to keep me distracted until the chicks hatch. I'm really curious about the Birchen eggs I got in Kansas and eggs from a couple of my blue copper pullets

 

[huntinwidow]

Ok, new to the thread, and I am sure this has been addressed multiple times (since I have heard of several people locally with the same problem I have) but this is an urgent need and I don't have time to read more than 4000 pages.
I have some very important (read expensive) GCM eggs going on lockdown. I have 1/15 BCM from my hens to hatch to date. They all seem to develop to day 18 or so and then nothing. Left the last on in until day 25 and it finally hatched. I had to help it from the shell and don't know if it will survive. Just as a note I am about 95% on my ameraucana and 98% on my bantam cochin.

Is there a trick? Some well protected trade secret? Someone told me to put bleach in the water in the incubator at lockdown. Is it perhaps a humidity problem? HELP!