Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[Zonoma]

Hello! De-lurking to say that I just traded in my starter flock in for some Cottage Hill birds and I'm seriously excited about it. I'd like to hang out here and learn what I can.

 

[gilavina]

Well got 50 chicks out of the incubator so far. I'm so thrilled with the chicks from my stock, they are huge and have nice feathering and are healthy as horses. I had a less exciting reaction to the eggs from Kansas. Some are definitely birchens and have a good look about them, and some are obviously not going to stay here at all (believe he just grabbed whatever to fill the cartons because he must not have had enough birchen eggs), but do have some I am interested in seeing how they do at least. There are more in the incubator drying, and eggs pipped as well as some that haven't done anything yet. Even if nothing else happens, I just am in total love with the chicks from my breeding. I have black and blue coppers, some F1 birchen/BCM crosses, and Splash Coppers (Big Boy's babies for sure, they look identical to him when he was a tyke, plus he was the only male in that pen that could have made the splashes). I'll try to get some pics in the morning. Right now they are dodging and darting all over the place and all I'm managing to get is photos of blurs.

 

[DMRippy]

Sounds like a GREAT hatch!

Question what is the Birchen/BCM cross for? Is if for improvement of something? I have thought about what you would get with that cross. I know if you use birchen pullets it would be sex linked for the silver, but I don't know if the birchen genes go with the silver or are separate.

 

[gilavina]

Sounds like a GREAT hatch!

Question what is the Birchen/BCM cross for? Is if for improvement of something? I have thought about what you would get with that cross. I know if you use birchen pullets it would be sex linked for the silver, but I don't know if the birchen genes go with the silver or are separate.

Those crosses are very specific male to female matings, going with my gut telling me to see what I get. The birchens are very lacking in the size that I would like, so am going to work on seeing what I can get with this, and then work on color for the next generation. I've had terrible luck with tracking down the kind of birchens I want. I have yet to see what I know they could look like, including in my own flock. They just need so much love to get to where I know they could be. I don't follow the last sentence you posted. Probably because I just got done with my shift at work, then was running around getting the chicks sorted and settled.

 

[Zanna]

Well got 50 chicks out of the incubator so far. I'm so thrilled with the chicks from my stock, they are huge and have nice feathering and are healthy as horses. I had a less exciting reaction to the eggs from Kansas. Some are definitely birchens and have a good look about them, and some are obviously not going to stay here at all (believe he just grabbed whatever to fill the cartons because he must not have had enough birchen eggs), but do have some I am interested in seeing how they do at least. There are more in the incubator drying, and eggs pipped as well as some that haven't done anything yet. Even if nothing else happens, I just am in total love with the chicks from my breeding. I have black and blue coppers, some F1 birchen/BCM crosses, and Splash Coppers (Big Boy's babies for sure, they look identical to him when he was a tyke, plus he was the only male in that pen that could have made the splashes). I'll try to get some pics in the morning. Right now they are dodging and darting all over the place and all I'm managing to get is photos of blurs.

Congrats! Huge chicklets turn into huge adults!!! You will have to take some pics for me too I took some of my earlier, smaller hatches but things are so busy right now the latest hatch got moved pretty swiftly from the house to one of the brooders in the barn. We butchered 7 roos tonight, 2 GNH, 2 Delawares and 3 BCM, always feels good to get that done. Luckily DH and I have got a system down pretty well and we have one of those Whiz Bang Chicken pluckers that he built using a washing machine drum, makes fast work of a not fun job!

 

[DMRippy]

Quote: Well you kinda answered it. I thought if you were using the Birchen hens with a black copper you might be working for something sexlinked with the silver. It sounds like you are going to have to work hard to get the copper out. Would be nice if the gold was a sexlink trait too. That would make it a bit easier to get rid of when you want to.

You have solid blues and black too don't you? Are they on the small side too? Is that way you are going to try this route?

I have some projects I am going to be working on too so just interested in what your thinking was... sometimes I just file tidbits away for later LOL. I am getting some young Birchen Roo next week... no gold or cream. We will see what I get when they fill out some. I am going to have to MAKE my own pullets but since I have some cuckoos with birchen traits I think I can get some OK pullets. We will see. If size is an issue in the Birchens, my cuckoos should help that.... they are some chunkers.

I KNOW you will want pics when I get them

maybe now that thinks have calmed down I can get some pics of some things.

I have a head ache so I may not be making any sense at all LOL.

 

[gilavina]

Congrats! Huge chicklets turn into huge adults!!! You will have to take some pics for me too I took some of my earlier, smaller hatches but things are so busy right now the latest hatch got moved pretty swiftly from the house to one of the brooders in the barn. We butchered 7 roos tonight, 2 GNH, 2 Delawares and 3 BCM, always feels good to get that done. Luckily DH and I have got a system down pretty well and we have one of those Whiz Bang Chicken pluckers that he built using a washing machine drum, makes fast work of a not fun job!

Thanks! Indeed on having huge adults. I have been getting more and more consistency with the Marans here and am very pleased to see that it spreads to all the colors of coppers. Now to get those pesky birchens squared away. I will post photos on here when I get them taken tomorrow.
Hope you can get some posted of yours as well!

 

[Zanna]

Thanks! Indeed on having huge adults. I have been getting more and more consistency with the Marans here and am very pleased to see that it spreads to all the colors of coppers. Now to get those pesky birchens squared away. I will post photos on here when I get them taken tomorrow.
Hope you can get some posted of yours as well!

Maybe pics of the next batch of 21 which go into lockdown Sat. if they pass the candleing. Then, a break in hatching for a couple of weeks!

 

[gilavina]

Well you kinda answered it. I thought if you were using the Birchen hens with a black copper you might be working for something sexlinked with the silver. It sounds like you are going to have to work hard to get the copper out. Would be nice if the gold was a sexlink trait too. That would make it a bit easier to get rid of when you want to.

You have solid blues and black too don't you? Are they on the small side too? Is that way you are going to try this route?

I have some projects I am going to be working on too so just interested in what your thinking was... sometimes I just file tidbits away for later LOL. I am getting some young Birchen Roo next week... no gold or cream. We will see what I get when they fill out some. I am going to have to MAKE my own pullets but since I have some cuckoos with birchen traits I think I can get some OK pullets. We will see. If size is an issue in the Birchens, my cuckoos should help that.... they are some chunkers.

I KNOW you will want pics when I get them

maybe now that thinks have calmed down I can get some pics of some things.

I have a head ache so I may not be making any sense at all LOL.

I do have three solid girls, two blue and one splash, they are going to come in handy farther generations down into the birchen project. I did use a copper male over birchen hens, so should have an easier time with the selection of silver because of that. I will not keep any males that have even the slightest coloring showing copper influence, mostly I am interested in keeping the biggest females with the silver markings (which I have gotten before from this mating from a fluke hatch), then will cross them onto the birchen males I have. Where the hens only have a single copy, if they present silver, then I know exactly what I'm working with, the males are not nearly that easy.

The solids I will also be doing some matings with, they are not small, but do have differing body type than any of the other Marans I have, as well as are clean legged, so, as Bob says in What about Bob, "Baby steps, I'm doing the work, I'm not a slacker." hahaha I have also another birchen project going, that will be taking place more actively later this hatching season, and also the matings of the birchens I have from different pens. All these different matings should give me some material to work with. Good thing I like recordkeeping haha

I would like to see some photos indeed.

 

[gilavina]

Well, just took about another 15 out of the incubator, and have 7 left in there now that are in various stages of hatching. I went ahead and checked the eggs that weren't showing signs of hatching and they were either the ones from Kansas or the pen I was wondering about fertility in the Wyandottes, or the eggs that were the oldest out of ones I collected. All had developed to some stage, but didn't finish, so am not unhappy with what I have because some of them are great! Will see about getting the last chicks out tonight and will call it good. Will try to get some photos after I have chores finished!!