Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[desertmarcy]

If they are coopers they will have cooper on their necks

And Marans can lay lighter eggs but they don't call them show quality unless they do lay dark eggs
Ps there is dark egg laying lines and light egg laying lines

Frequently the coppers will not have the copper on their necks. They would still genetically be blue or black copper, however. The copper hackles come from breeding selection. Not sure how much of that the hatcheries do. I've also read that hatchery Marans will not lay as dark as from a breeder who is working towards dark eggs. Let us know when they grow up and start laying how they turn out.

 

[desertmarcy]

Ok. At what age can I tell if I'm going to have a good colored and shaped cockerel? I have about 6 black copper cockerels that are about 8 weeks old. One of them will be replacing my current rooster. Unfortunately, my current boy carries the recessive wheaten gene and so does my hen. Both will go. These chicks are not out of my own. I really don't want to have to raise them all to full maturity of I don't have to but I will if necessary.

Minimum 6 months. They mature slowly. Longer if you can stand it. They continue to grow and fill out until at least a year old.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Minimum 6 months. They mature slowly. Longer if you can stand it. They continue to grow and fill out until at least a year old.

I don't think I have room to let them grow out that long lol. I have at least 2 that already look to have too much color. I'll post pictures in here probably when they're about 4 months old and see what opinions you guys can give me on them. Thanks!

 

[desertmarcy]

I don't think I have room to let them grow out that long lol. I have at least 2 that already look to have too much color. I'll post pictures in here probably when they're about 4 months old and see what opinions you guys can give me on them. Thanks!

6 months is more for culling for type. You can cull for other things earlier, like excessive breast color, comb sprigs, no foot feathers, wry tail, hump back; there are a whole list of faults that can show up earlier.

 

[ladycat]

6 months is more for culling for type. You can cull for other things earlier, like excessive breast color, comb sprigs, no foot feathers, wry tail, hump back; there are a whole list of faults that can show up earlier.

I start culling when they're just a few weeks old, and I'm still culling until they're maybe a year old.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

I start culling when they're just a few weeks old, and I'm still culling until they're maybe a year old.

I'll be raising them until they're at least big enough to eat. I don't want to waste them when my family could use them for a meal. But, my spare coop isn't big enough to fit that many full sized roos lol. We just butchered the 4 that were in there. It was pretty much maxed out with them but they were 6 months old. I need a bigger, second coop lol.

 

[ladycat]

I'll be raising them until they're at least big enough to eat. I don't want to waste them when my family could use them for a meal. But, my spare coop isn't big enough to fit that many full sized roos lol. We just butchered the 4 that were in there. It was pretty much maxed out with them but they were 6 months old. I need a bigger, second coop lol.

The young culls I keep until they're big enough to eat myself, or to sell to the Hispanics and Asians who come out and buy roosters for butchering. The older culls are already big enough.

I'm not worried about people using the culls for breeding. These guys don't know a leghorn from a cochin. A rooster is a rooster and they're all good for eating.

 

[Ihilani Coffee]

I do remember reading that so I'm not totally surprised they're dark. Any chance they will have coloring or will they be all black and nearly identical to the australorps? I was obviously hoping for blue but at the end of the day I really just wanted a dark brown egg layer- Marans all lay dark eggs, yes?

As a breed Marans "should" lay dark brown eggs. It's not a guarantee however. A good breeder will cull all pullets from the breeding program that do not lay at least a 4 on the Marans egg chart. We only keep BCM that lay at least a 6 and at least a 5 on our blue coppers. From what I can see, you have two dark blue chicks there. Good luck!

 

[XxMingirlxX]

Hi, someone on this thread is looking for Black Copper Marans Hatching Eggs for sale, if you are selling maybe you could work something out out.
Thanks in advance :

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/962746/bc-maran-blue-ameraucana-olive-egger-hatching-eggs

 

[Cynthia12]

Ok, don't laugh, is there such a thing as a clean legged Marans? Or do they need to have feathers on the legs and feet to be pure?