Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[desertmarcy]

I ended up with only one BCM pullet, and one roo worth keeping. Out of my blues, I have 3 pullets, and 2 roo's, one of which was injured by a dog and is in recovery.

BCM pullet


BCM roo
blue copper Maran roo





blue copper Maran pullets
Any opinions out there about these birds?

I agree with DMRippy, the blue male looks to be a cross with Birchen. Your Black Copper pullet is way overmelanized, not a speck of copper coloration on her hackles and very dark eyes. She also is clean legged from the photo. I would hesitate to use her but if you do, make sure the male has nice heavy leg feathering and good color. You will be looking at several generations to lighten up the females using that one, I think. The BCM male you posted looks fairly good but has something funky going on with the blade on his comb. Lots of little points on it. Not sure if those would be considered sprigs or not. I don't think they are, just could be carnation comb influence. It is also useful to take a photo from above the bird so we can see how wide they are. You want a nice wide back that does not taper towards the tail. Also post how old the birds are. The blue pullets are a bit out of focus, but the first one looks nice. The second one looks to be narrow in the chest. You want a nice rounded breast when viewed from the side, she looks like a triangle. Third one needs photo from the side to see her profile. She looks a little pinched in the tail. The one thing that strikes me about all of them is their heads look small in comparison to the rest of the bird. I think this is a common problem. Also, did the blue copper pullets come from the same breeder as the male? If so, I'd be worried there might be Birchen in their background as well, although I don't see it in these pullets.

Everybody, remember when posting photos for critique, you can only see so much from photos so give us the best photos you can and include side view, top view, front and back. Close up of head is also useful and one shot needs to include the whole leg/feet so we can see the feathering there. And remember: the breed is always spelled with an "s" on the end even when singular: Marans

 

[elorraine52]

Sorry to tell you but your blue copper, he is not copper. He looks like a cross with a birchen so he will not breed true.

how could that be? I bred my BCM roo over my blue splash Maran hen....unless the stock they come from isn't true...?

 

[elorraine52]

I agree with DMRippy, the blue male looks to be a cross with Birchen. Your Black Copper pullet is way overmelanized, not a speck of copper coloration on her hackles and very dark eyes. She also is clean legged from the photo. I would hesitate to use her but if you do, make sure the male has nice heavy leg feathering and good color. You will be looking at several generations to lighten up the females using that one, I think. The BCM male you posted looks fairly good but has something funky going on with the blade on his comb. Lots of little points on it. Not sure if those would be considered sprigs or not. I don't think they are, just could be carnation comb influence. It is also useful to take a photo from above the bird so we can see how wide they are. You want a nice wide back that does not taper towards the tail. Also post how old the birds are. The blue pullets are a bit out of focus, but the first one looks nice. The second one looks to be narrow in the chest. You want a nice rounded breast when viewed from the side, she looks like a triangle. Third one needs photo from the side to see her profile. She looks a little pinched in the tail. The one thing that strikes me about all of them is their heads look small in comparison to the rest of the bird. I think this is a common problem. Also, did the blue copper pullets come from the same breeder as the male? If so, I'd be worried there might be Birchen in their background as well, although I don't see it in these pullets.

Everybody, remember when posting photos for critique, you can only see so much from photos so give us the best photos you can and include side view, top view, front and back. Close up of head is also useful and one shot needs to include the whole leg/feet so we can see the feathering there. And remember: the breed is always spelled with an "s" on the end even when singular: Marans

thanks for your comments. if there is birchen in them, what would I end up with? they are all brothers/sisters as I only had one BCM roo and one splash hen to work with. will be getting more lines next year. the blues are 4 1/2 months, the BCM's are 7 months. What again was the ratio when breeding black/blue/splash together? I know black over splash equals blue, what was the rest again?

 

[desertmarcy]

thanks for your comments. if there is birchen in them, what would I end up with? they are all brothers/sisters as I only had one BCM roo and one splash hen to work with. will be getting more lines next year. the blues are 4 1/2 months, the BCM's are 7 months. What again was the ratio when breeding black/blue/splash together? I know black over splash equals blue, what was the rest again?

I don't breed Birchen so will let someone else answer that question.
black X blue = 50% of each
blue X blue = 50% blue, 25% black, 25% splash
black X black = 100% black
splash X splash = 100% splash
blue X splash = 50% of each
black X splash = 100% blue

 

[MrsFitzDarcy]

My Blue CM I got from @desertmarcy is starting to show signs of my saturation in her comb. Maybe we'll have dark brown eggs sometime in the near future!

 

[elorraine52]

I don't breed Birchen so will let someone else answer that question.
black X blue = 50% of each
blue X blue = 50% blue, 25% black, 25% splash
black X black = 100% black
splash X splash = 100% splash
blue X splash = 50% of each
black X splash = 100% blue

thank you very much, this helps!! and Marans! Marans! Marans!

 

[DMRippy]

Quote: My guess is that your Splash Marans hen was actually carrying silver. You would not have been able to see it on a splash. Silver is a sex link trait and since it is expressing in him don't breed him. Your others are expressing copper and if you see silver just cull for it. They are the same genetically except for the copper/silver thing.

 

[Newchickey]

Here is my BCM roo at twelve weeks old this week. Any comments on how he looks?

 

[SIMZ]

Yay! I finally have a BCM hen that not only goes broody, but actually hatches the chicks! She lays lots of very dark eggs and now this! She's a keeper.

 

[Ray C]

I got my first Marans at the weekend, a quad of Splash and a pair of Cuckoo. This is a pic of one of the Splash pullets.