Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[French Hen]

I would argue about lines. If an animal comes from someone's carefully bred stock then they do have those lines or that line in their pedigree.
My biggest pet peeve is when someone calls something a "line" when it is just the offspring of a particular animal. That is not a "line"!!! Grrr.

Anyway I agree that the marketing and language used is misleading but only just slightly.

 

[Ihilani Coffee]

I would argue about lines. If an animal comes from someone's carefully bred stock then they do have those lines or that line in their pedigree.
My biggest pet peeve is when someone calls something a "line" when it is just the offspring of a particular animal. That is not a "line"!!! Grrr.

Anyway I agree that the marketing and language used is misleading but only just slightly.

And there's the issue. Poultry in general has no pedigree available. I've only dealt with registered livestock before this poultry endeavor. I am a pedigree nut and kept 6-8 generations at least on other stock I've bred so you can know what linebreeding you are doing and what the inbreeding coefficient is on any particular animal.

Oh, one more. The marketing ploy of FRENCH black copper Marans or FBCM. American standard calls for feathered shanks and outer toe, so why the redundancy?

 

[bamadude]

Whew...didnt mean to ruffle feathers.

 

[Ihilani Coffee]

Whew...didnt mean to ruffle feathers.

Oh gosh, we're not ruffled!

 

[forgetful]

Hey guys! I have 10 black copper chicks that are a little over a week old. In humor of the discussion a few posts back, they are "Wade Jeanne" lines. The seller claimed to import new birds from the guy being overseen by Wade, or something to that effect, every breeding season. Anyways, I have a few questions specific to the breed. I have several other breeds, but I'm always trying to stay informed. They are as follows:

1. How accurate is sexing based on leg thickness and comb development in this breed? I have two chicks with very prominent combs already, which surprised me, and three or four chicks with very thick legs in comparison to the others (those four including the two chicks with prominent combs).

2. I have a lot of variation in color, and I'm wondering if that is normal, and if not, what it means for the adult plumage. One or two chicks seem to have a lot of white around their faces. They all have wing feathers and the beginnings of tail feathers, and almost all of them have two or three white feathers on each wing. A few have no white besides their original chick down. The amount of dark coloration on their legs and feet varies as well. Some are all black, some black with yellow toes, and some with black only halfway down the shank. Some chicks have yellow combs, and some have black combs.

3. Two chicks have very minimal feathering- maybe two or three feathers max- on their middle toes. The rest have the correct feathering of the shank and outer toe. Will the light middle toe feathering affect possible breeding in the future, and if so, how big of an issue is it? Should I not breed the birds all together?

Thank you all in advance! I'm very excited to add another breed to my flock.

 

[Bethel3330]

Since this is Maran's thread I have a question for those of you experienced with Maran's.  Do you y'all feel they are a basically friendly bird? I know any bird can have a bad day and some breeds are not the best to have around young kids. Should be getting a pair of Blue Coppers next weekend

Thanks & Blessings
Tonya

Mine are fun. More approachable and quieter than my EEs the same age.

 

[Blue Roo]

Hello all I've got a question I have two young blue splash marans one has a lote of copper one doesent witch is better for breeding purposes thanks

 

[gander007]

I know the lighting is not all that great but this one is black and white .......















The black is just not coming out the way I would like ....

 

[gander007]

A white Marans chick 3+ weeks old and I believe this is a Roo .....

 

[doubleleft]

I know the lighting is not all that great but this one is black and white .......















The black is just not coming out the way I would like ....