Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[junior5250]

How can I post pics of my bantam rooster

 

[Maranman93]

You can also tell they are cuckoo by the light barring color in the wings as well. It also has some rose combs in there not sure the marans should only be straight combs. Im not seeing as much feathering on the legs as i would like.

 

[Deej211]

I sexed these at 2 weeks as cockerel and probably pullet. Then they oth got lots of black so i assumed i was wrong and both cockerels. The last month the one i sexed as cockerel has gotten half again the size of the other and his comb and wattles have developed quite a bit while the other is much smaller and no wattles with pale small comb. My question is, has anyone ever had a fw maran pullet with this colouring as a 3 mth old? As far as i know they are generally red.

 

[blackbirds13]

I have some questions about shank and foot color. Hoping Don will chip in an opinion
What issues would one face with breeding a rooster that has lighter than slate legs? The legs of the siblings are correct
What would be worse or better pale legs or colored breast?

Comb question - What about combs that are not symmetrical at the base near the blade. Say one side is more pronounced, larger than the other? The comb is still straight.

The LP and GFF chicks are going great. Healthy and lots of vigor. The boys are just starting to try out their vocal cords. My favorite is a way to colorful guy from my LPs so far. His breast is nicely coppery in tone. I've marked out the first set of culls and he's in that lot but will let him get to 6 months before I really decide. He is a big boy. My second favorite is the one with the light legs. I am thinking I may have to use one of these guys to try for a nicer one next year but I'm still hoping for the jackpot this year.

The older girls are laying and I'd say for these first 3 weeks - solid 4s all around with a 5 here and there - nothing to holler about. At least they are

 

[Lana72]

Hi all I am hoping for some help in identifying my chooks, when i purchased them I was told they were wheaten and Longhorn marans. I am pretty sure I have some wheatens looking at pictures from the internet, but not sure about the other marans.

 

[3riverschick]

I have never heard of a Longhorn Marans. I think someone is pulling your leg. Ok let's look at the colors.
Top left hand pic. the light bird is a Wheaten. I can't tell from this pic how correct her coloring is It looks pretty good. The dark bird is a Black Copper Marans
Right hand pic at the top : Those are 2 Black Tailed Buff Marans. They may have an extra dose of autosomal red. It would have been easier to see in the chick down which may have had a darker than usual "hue" to parts of it
2nd row of pic: The bird with the white neck and dark body is a Red Shouldered Silver Duckwing Marans. Some will call it a Silver Duckwing but it isn't because it has an extra dose of autosomal red which is causing the dark red in his shoulder patch. ( I used to own one). If you use this RSSD as a sire , you will pollute your flock with autosomal red and make it very difficult to breed any other color true. Autosomal Red is a sticky gene and hard to remove from a flock once it is introduced. The RSSD is not a regular Marans color. It is a unlooked for and unwantd result of trying to breed Gold and Silver Salmon Marans. It is discarded by wise breeders because it will pollute with autosomal red. It has no use in a breeding program where one is breeding birds to the Standard. If you got the RSSD as a chick, it would have been very difficult t tell it wasn't going to be a Silver Duckwing. That only shows up after the feathers grow in and we can see that extra dark shoulder patch.
The 2 light birds in that pic aren't really any color. They look like a mix of Wheaten and some other color modifiers. Honestly, they look like a product of a Back-Tailed Buff Marans mixed with a White Marans. Again, this would have been difficult to see in the chick down and only for sure once the feathers were in. Looks to me like someone has been experimenting with color breeding and sold you the results. But they are still Marans and should lay those dark eggs for you and taste delicious.
I just wouldn't breed any of them except maybe the Black Copper to another Black Copper or the Back-Tailed Buffs to another Back-Tailed Buff. Or Wheaten to another Wheaten cock from outside your flock. Do not cross the Black Copper with the Back-Tailed Buffs. That will just give you a genetic color mess. Plus you will be crossing alleles which will make it doubly hard to winnow out anything useful. Esp. , do not cross the Wheaten with the Black Copper. This has already been done in the breed's history and caused no end of trouble trying to winnow the Wheaten back out of the Black Copper.
Best Regards,
Karen
Former Director of Archives Marans of America Club

 

[Maranman93]

I sexed these at 2 weeks as cockerel and probably pullet. Then they oth got lots of black so i assumed i was wrong and both cockerels. The last month the one i sexed as cockerel has gotten half again the size of the other and his comb and wattles have developed quite a bit while the other is much smaller and no wattles with pale small comb. My question is, has anyone ever had a fw maran pullet with this colouring as a 3 mth old? As far as i know they are generally red.

I think you just have some darker wheaten marans they throw different colors from lighter to darker but the one with a red chest needs to be culled if your breeding wheaten marans as it doesn't conform to the wheaten standard. let the black chested cockerel grow out to get all his primary feathers grown out to be sure before culling for color.

 

[snowbird]

Quote:
None of these are old enough to cull for color, let them grow a little.

 

[Maranman93]

I have some questions about shank and foot color. Hoping Don will chip in an opinion
What issues would one face with breeding a rooster that has lighter than slate legs? The legs of the siblings are correct
What would be worse or better pale legs or colored breast?

Comb question - What about combs that are not symmetrical at the base near the blade. Say one side is more pronounced, larger than the other? The comb is still straight.

The LP and GFF chicks are going great. Healthy and lots of vigor. The boys are just starting to try out their vocal cords. My favorite is a way to colorful guy from my LPs so far. His breast is nicely coppery in tone. I've marked out the first set of culls and he's in that lot but will let him get to 6 months before I really decide. He is a big boy. My second favorite is the one with the light legs. I am thinking I may have to use one of these guys to try for a nicer one next year but I'm still hoping for the jackpot this year.

The older girls are laying and I'd say for these first 3 weeks - solid 4s all around with a 5 here and there - nothing to holler about. At least they are

The worst thing will be breast color for sure the leg color is something that need to be fixed eventually but color patterns typical take longer to correct once it was messed with. i would cull out the wrong breast color and leave the lighter leg color for now then next year or later in the year get a good breeding cock with correct colored chest and legs and keep improving from there. the comb is the next step in tour breeding get a rooster that carry's the correct comb you are looking for in your birds the worst comb is the floppy or comb that cant stand on its own try and stay away from those. if those are the only things your having problems with it sounds like you have some good bloodlines.

 

[Maranman93]

None of these are old enough to cull for color, let them grow a little.

The red chest color will not shed out where the black and the white will or become under feather in on the back hackles.