Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[lawatt]

were you planning on building a breeding program, or just wanted some for enjoyment?

I'm undecided, honestly -- i don't have any ambitions to show them, but i'm getting more interested in breeding -- but from what little i know about it, it sounds like the birchen pattern can be particularly difficult to get right?

 

[gilavina]

Interesting that you have found white on the leg does not correlate to the rest of the body............ I culled lots of nice pullets/cockerals this year for white on the toe feathers. Still have lots of nice ones left though or I probably would have taken the chance on a few just because Really good to know! Thanks Gilaviana!!!

Like I'm sure we all know, there is so much diversity in the Marans, that what might work for one person's flock may not be a certainty in another's. I would say, give it a shot. I keep all the birds marked and have a decently extensive breeding book I use for notes on birds I'm watching or planning on using so I always have a record of what I've got going on at any time with birds. Granted, I keep a lot of it in my head, I also like to have it on paper as well because I want to be able to see patterns and such that may not be as easy to find going off the top of my head.

 

[gilavina]

oops, double post

 

[gilavina]

I'm undecided, honestly -- i don't have any ambitions to show them, but i'm getting more interested in breeding -- but from what little i know about it, it sounds like the birchen pattern can be particularly difficult to get right?

Overall I think they may be one of the hardest varieties to work with. I would say if you are wanting to get a breeding program going, you'll want to do some more shopping for some stronger stock to get you going. The things I notice on the pullets is that they are pretty overcolored/mossy which will cause you problems. Also your oldest girl appears to have white earlobes in the photo, which is a beast to get rid of. As far as the male, when you stand looking down at him from a top angle, do you find he has a tear drop shape, wider/rounder toward the front and tapering to the top of what would be the tear drop? He appears a bit gamey (most I've seen have this trait), it can be worked on, but would need some added stock to get things done with them. As far as a flock for enjoyment, they are just lovely. I have a separate layer flock that consists of my favorite reject birchens with the same overcolored issues that I just love watching out on the lawn.

 

[Zanna]

Like I'm sure we all know, there is so much diversity in the Marans, that what might work for one person's flock may not be a certainty in another's. I would say, give it a shot. I keep all the birds marked and have a decently extensive breeding book I use for notes on birds I'm watching or planning on using so I always have a record of what I've got going on at any time with birds. Granted, I keep a lot of it in my head, I also like to have it on paper as well because I want to be able to see patterns and such that may not be as easy to find going off the top of my head.

Totally agreed!! I am into this breed 5 years as well but due to lack of knowledge, misinformation, predation and plain old bad luck it was a really slow start............ Only started to get where I was wanting to go two years ago and last Fall started over with new, unrelated, from a different line Cock and Cockeral. Finally, progress is being made in numbers

 

[lawatt]

Overall I think they may be one of the hardest varieties to work with. I would say if you are wanting to get a breeding program going, you'll want to do some more shopping for some stronger stock to get you going. The things I notice on the pullets is that they are pretty overcolored/mossy which will cause you problems. Also your oldest girl appears to have white earlobes in the photo, which is a beast to get rid of. As far as the male, when you stand looking down at him from a top angle, do you find he has a tear drop shape, wider/rounder toward the front and tapering to the top of what would be the tear drop? He appears a bit gamey (most I've seen have this trait), it can be worked on, but would need some added stock to get things done with them. As far as a flock for enjoyment, they are just lovely. I have a separate layer flock that consists of my favorite reject birchens with the same overcolored issues that I just love watching out on the lawn.

thanks so much for the feedback! i AM hoping to get some more eggs/birds from April after the holidays, she had some birchens she's very happy with but who were having fertility problems, i think, this fall, so couldn't send any eggs (i haven't had great success hatching shipped eggs, anyway). would be happy to try other sources of birds, too -- they are not easy to find!

I went out and looked at Jack -- he's slightly teardrop shaped, but more boxy than a teardrop? and can you explain what you mean by gamey?

re: Maria's earlobes, that's just a trick of the light somehow -- while i was out in the pen i looked more closely at her ears, and they look red to me. her feathers do have a brownish tinge to them, rather than a flat black -- is that what's meant by overcolored/mossiness?

 

[gilavina]

Totally agreed!! I am into this breed 5 years as well but due to lack of knowledge, misinformation, predation and plain old bad luck it was a really slow start............ Only started to get where I was wanting to go two years ago and last Fall started over with new, unrelated, from a different line Cock and Cockeral. Finally, progress is being made in numbers

Would love to see some photos of your birds! Do you just have black coppers? I can't remember what all everyone raises.

 

[Zanna]

Would love to see some photos of your birds! Do you just have black coppers? I can't remember what all everyone raises.

Only BCM. I will take and post some pics of my favorites.

 

[gilavina]

thanks so much for the feedback! i AM hoping to get some more eggs/birds from April after the holidays, she had some birchens she's very happy with but who were having fertility problems, i think, this fall, so couldn't send any eggs (i haven't had great success hatching shipped eggs, anyway). would be happy to try other sources of birds, too -- they are not easy to find!

I went out and looked at Jack -- he's slightly teardrop shaped, but more boxy than a teardrop? and can you explain what you mean by gamey?

re: Maria's earlobes, that's just a trick of the light somehow -- while i was out in the pen i looked more closely at her ears, and they look red to me. her feathers do have a brownish tinge to them, rather than a flat black -- is that what's meant by overcolored/mossiness?

the overcolored/mossiness I'm referring to is the silver extending anywhere on the body other than on just the neck collar of the pullets. The brownish tinge I'm not a fan of, I tend to cull those here with that in favor of holding back those with solid black, and most preferrably those with the beetle green sheen to them. I think not enough consideration is given to using birds with beetle green sheen. I do not believe it to be an indicator of overmelanization as I've never found that to be true when breeding with them. All my best bird have it.
On the cockerel, when I say gamey, they will lack the beefy heft a Marans should have and instead have a shallower body type, a sharper tapering from front to back of the bird. If you are visual, maybe it would help to compare my avatar photo to your cockerel and see how the differences of the body type compare. He is very wide from front to back and was about 8 months old when that photo was taken.

 

[gilavina]

Only BCM. I will take and post some pics of my favorites.

That's what I thought, but wasn't 100%. Looking forward to seeing the progress!