Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[DMRippy]

Quote:
Is there something else I can play with now that I have the birchen roos??????? I like to play, makes chickens interesting.

 

[DMRippy]

I have a question..... I just hatched a chick from one of those REALLY Dark eggs and it was RED all over.... looking kinda like my BLRW (dark mahogany color) but not stripes. What would cause that? I don't have that roo anymore. I have hatched several from that pen and this was a first. I need to tag it and see what it does I guess. Pretty chick though..... NOT GOING TO BREED IT.

 

[gilavina]

Making some Birchens..... what else? I have some cuckoo pullets that are more birchen looking than they should so I am going to see what I can get. My cuckoos are nice sized big girls, egg color is not great but I can work with that. I am not using the birchen pullets in the cuckoo pen and thought I would play and make me some birchens, without gold I hope.

oh yeah I do seem to remember you saying you had some pullets that way a while back

 

[gilavina]

I have a question..... I just hatched a chick from one of those REALLY Dark eggs and it was RED all over.... looking kinda like my BLRW (dark mahogany color) but not stripes. What would cause that? I don't have that roo anymore. I have hatched several from that pen and this was a first. I need to tag it and see what it does I guess. Pretty chick though..... NOT GOING TO BREED IT.

not sure, I had some chicks hatch from shipped eggs when I first started and just sold them to a lady that sells eating eggs, but have no idea what they turned out like since she keeps a ton and lets them free range out with her dairy herd.

 

[DMRippy]

Quote:
It would work right? I will cull the Sex Linked Roos since I don't want them to get in the Cuckoo with the birchen look. They will go to the roo guy for dinner.

 

[gilavina]

It would work right? I will cull the Sex Linked Roos since I don't want them to get in the Cuckoo with the birchen look. They will go to the roo guy for dinner.

it will take careful culling and will have to stay on top of the cuckoo pattern influence, but is doable, just takes patience

 

[DMRippy]

Quote:
Cuckoo influence on pullets?

 

[gilavina]

Cuckoo influence on pullets?

I mean in following generations. It can crop up in offspring out of birds that look completely birchen down the line a ways.

 

[DMRippy]

Quote:
If cuckoo is sexlinked how would that happen? Could the cuckoo influence have come from roos and not pullets? Either way I can cull.

 

[gilavina]

If cuckoo is sexlinked how would that happen? Could the cuckoo influence have come from roos and not pullets?

I'm not fantastic on sex links and how they work, but know that it can come back to bite you in the bum, even if you use only pullets. In the BBS wyandotte bantams, barred patterned chicks will still crop up, rarely, but still does. My dad only ever used pullets, but its in the breeding those pullets and crossing them back with just the right combo of males down the line and can still happen. By the way, the barred pattern birds were birchen like in patterning on pullets and that was over 30 years ago. Sometimes it can be 10 years and nothing will come up, and then you get just the right combo, and bam, shows up again, I just cull them and move on.