Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[Ray from PA]

I am very new to chickens--my oldest are only 5 weeks old. I have some French Black Copper Marans chicks ordered to come this summer. I'm interested in breeding one or two breeds. I have a background in breeding show dogs and racehorses, so breeding is sort of part of my identity. That said, I know absolutely nothing about breeding or showing chickens. I intend to exhibit chickens as well. Where do I start to learn what a good Maran type is? When do I start looking at these chicks to judge their quality? Thanks. Janet

There is alot of good material with this thread if you don't mind skimming through the 4500 pages !

You can probably learn more from this thread than most other sources available. Worth your time,,,, there are alot of things to consider whan it comes to Marans and at least on the thread you can see photos in many cases to see just what has been discussed.

 

[Wynette]

Okay, some of you were talking about cockerels crowing at a few weeks old...check this out; it's a THREE DAY OLD cockerel crowing - TWICE (these are chicks belonging to another BYC-er - I'm posting this video with her permission):

Geesh, I just watched it again and it just amazes me every time I watch it. The 2nd crow is toward the end, and is SO clearly a crow by how he extends his neck up before doing it. Cutest thing ever!

Okya, holy cow - I need to correct myself - the chick was a DAY OLD.

 

[gilavina]

Hmm,,, could it be that little guy that was so assertive at a day or 2 after hatch that you talked about ????

haha, that would make sense, but this one is in a different brooder unfortunately.

 

[gilavina]

Okay, some of you were talking about cockerels crowing at a few weeks old...check this out; it's a THREE DAY OLD cockerel crowing - TWICE (these are chicks belonging to another BYC-er - I'm posting this video with her permission):

Geesh, I just watched it again and it just amazes me every time I watch it. The 2nd crow is toward the end, and is SO clearly a crow by how he extends his neck up before doing it. Cutest thing ever!

Okya, holy cow - I need to correct myself - the chick was a DAY OLD.

yup, that's sure the stance and the little squeak they make. The earliest I've ever heard mine was about 8 days old, isn't it just crazy?

 

[jajeanpierre]

I just can't go through over 45,000 posts. If it were all just related to the breed and breeding I would but there is so much side chatter--I just don't have that much time.

Are Marans a recognized breed by whatever organization handles poultry shows?

Are they supposed to have clean legs or feathered legs? My chicks are coming from the Wade Jeane line, so I believe they should have feathered legs.

At what age will they start to show whether or not they are a good type?

Where can I find a written standard on them?

Thanks for all your help. Janet

 

[dajen]

Our first batch of Marans hatched yesterday. We bred our Silver Blue Rooster to our Blue Copper and Black Copper hens. We ended up getting 8 Blue and 2 black chicks. Only 3 of the eggs came from our blue hen!!! Is blue more dominant than black? My husband was hoping for more blacks!!!

The pictures include our 5 Orpington chicks.

 

[gilavina]

Well, eggs will go in the incubator tonight before I head to bed. Did manage to get 6 eggs from Luella who is mated to Big Boy, so I'm going to be very excited to see about these and what they produce. Any bets on wht kind of quality they will produce Don? heehee




Also, here's the shipped eggs I got, they will go in as well




In all, from the shipped eggs and those collected from my pens, I think about 145 eggs are going in. Now, just to convince myself to be patient til they hatch

 

[Ray from PA]

I just can't go through over 45,000 posts. If it were all just related to the breed and breeding I would but there is so much side chatter--I just don't have that much time.

Are Marans a recognized breed by whatever organization handles poultry shows?

Are they supposed to have clean legs or feathered legs? My chicks are coming from the Wade Jeane line, so I believe they should have feathered legs.

At what age will they start to show whether or not they are a good type?

Where can I find a written standard on them?

Thanks for all your help. Janet

I'll touch on this one a bit, hopefully another can give more details.
The APA,,, American Poultry Association recognizes Black Copper Marans and Wheaten Marans only as approved colors.
The SOP,,,, Standard of Perfection is published and states that Marans must have feathered shanks. Preferably all the way down the outer toe.

 

[Ray from PA]

Nice egg color there Vicki,,, guessing you were pleasantly surprised when you opened you parcel box. They go very nicely with your own,,, pretty red tone.

 

[gilavina]

Our first batch of Marans hatched yesterday. We bred our Silver Blue Rooster to our Blue Copper and Black Copper hens. We ended up getting 8 Blue and 2 black chicks. Only 3 of the eggs came from our blue hen!!! Is blue more dominant than black? My husband was hoping for more blacks!!!

The pictures include our 5 Orpington chicks.

Do you have a photo of the Silver Blue Rooster? Here is the breakdown of breeding outcomes when mating Blues, Blacks and Splashes. It is not a gene that breeds true, so you might want to keep a record of these on hand when deciding matings to help with getting the desired colors.

Blue X Blue = 50% Blue, 25% Black, 25% Splash

Blue X Splash = 50% Blue, 50% Splash

Blue X Black = 50% Blue, 50% Black

Splash X Black = 100% Blue

Black X Black = 100% Black

Splash X Splash = 100% Splash