Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[konachicks]

Ok so here is two kinda junk pics but it's raining outside so I couldn't take them out for full body shots

They are the French blue coppers and have adorable little feathered feet. I sure hope I picked two pullets as we won't be able to keep a Roo

 

[flgardengirl]

I was under the assumption that the black lay darker eggs then blue. Looks like that might be from the blue one. But I'm no expert. I'd love to know what others think.

In general black copper lays darker than blue coppers or pure blues or pure blacks. It does depend on your stock and their genetics though. I have some pure blues that lay very dark...darker than some other peeps black coppers (see my Marans photo album) so I think it does just depends on genetics. I have been working on dark eggs for quite a while though. You will see quite a variation in color of Marans eggs with some being darker some being redder etc. depending on stock.

 

[konachicks]

In general black copper lays darker than blue coppers or pure blues or pure blacks. It does depend on your stock and their genetics though. I have some pure blues that lay very dark...darker than some other peeps black coppers (see my Marans photo album) so I think it does just depends on genetics. I have been working on dark eggs for quite a while though. You will see quite a variation in color of Marans eggs with some being darker some being redder etc. depending on stock.

Wow @flgardengirl your eggs are GORGEOUS!!! Love your marans album

 

[RangeChicks]

More than welcome. Also check out the BYC "Golden Salmon Marans" thread where we just finished a discussion very similar to this.
One other thing. It's a big help to know the hen is stippled. There are minor breeding laws governing breeding stippled fowl. The book below is just wonderful.
Laws governing the breeding of standard fowls. ... c.1. Card, Wetherell Henry.
http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=chi.087299559;view=1up;seq=5
The author was a well respected breeder here in America. Note these are Laws. Not opinions or theories. I love this pithy little book and go back to it often when I have color questions. Judge Card was noted for his ability to make complex things simple. He could often be found at poultry shows informally lecturing to other poultry folk.

Best Success!
Karen

Thank you for the link, Karen. I have started reading it. Very helpful.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Hey everyone! I just had to pop in and share a picture of my new Marans babies! The two on the right are the Marans I was really upset with my last hatch when I lost the only one that hatched out as a little wheaten (parents are both black coppers) but this time, I was so thrilled that BOTH hatched out wheaten

Here's Midnight, their biological mother, keeping them warm the other chick there is a Silkie/marans cross and the last egg waiting to hatch will be 3/4 Marans and 1/4 brahma.

 

[Raven1]

I have to ask a silly question why are you glad your BCM's hatched out Wheaten?

 

[OneMountainAcres]

I have to ask a silly question why are you glad your BCM's hatched out Wheaten?

because I found out that my marans had the recessive gene and I'm excited to have another variety of them lol.

 

[BubbaLikesIt]

You hear a lot of opinions about this or that chicken and what chicken is the best or worst. We received 5 Cuckoo Marans pullets after we had 9 mixed pullets. I read that the CM were an aggressive chicken that didn't blend well with the other chickens and I wrote about this months ago but it was the other way around. Our BPR, RIR and other pullets beat up un the CM like they didn't like the French. It was ugly for awhile. My 14 chickens have now formed a impenetrable flock and we couldn't be happier. The CM lay nearly everyday with a pretty dark brown large egg. These are the biggest chickens we have. They can dig a deeper hole than the dogs when scratching and eating bugs. I was told that the CM didn't lay well and were flighty, all of this information was read here on this website. Those people must have got defective chickens or something because all of our French girls are right up there at the top when it comes to being an egg laying chicken. I will admit, the 2 BSL's we have are about the steadiest egg layers I have ever seen, 6 a week and big brown eggs but the CM, BPR and RIR are just barely behind them. We have 2 GLW and a SLW that lay a little smaller egg and about 4/5 times per week. Oh yeah, the big CM we have ate a mouse about 2 weeks ago. She acted like she liked it...... liked it a lot.

I got a little sidetracked but I would conclude that the Cuckoo Marans is as good a chicken as you could get bar none.

 

[BubbaLikesIt]

Mine got big feet.

 

[DMRippy]

I have to ask a silly question why are you glad your BCM's hatched out Wheaten?

because I found out that my marans had the recessive gene and I'm excited to have another variety of them lol.

I would be very upset my coppers were culle because they are not breed properly and will not breed true and never will.