Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[3riverschick]

Hi, I'm hoping someone on here can help me out. Back around maybe 2004-5, we bought some hatching eggs, maybe e-bay, for some cuckoo marans. The birds we hatched out were huge. Very dopey, didn't like to move much. Laid a nice dark egg, didn't lay the greatest, but dark and big. They were clean legged, with pink legs. The cocks did not get along at all, once they came of age, even brothers wouldn't tolerate each other. But the meat, it was different, very good. Very rich and flavorful, almost too flavorful if you were used to commercial broilers. Bones were pinkish hued.
Does anyone here have any idea what that line of cuckoos would have been?

Just wondering what that line was,

Oh I used to know all this. Hum, let me think. Ok, it could have been strains named Cratty ( dark egg show winner, English strain cuckoos out of Clarksville, PA ( western PA) Or Ripley, or Fitch. or Fugate. All those were English, clean-legged strains ( except Fugate which was a French strain) and very popular in that era, . ( and as I remember, sold on the Internet) I had Cratty's back then . Clarksville was within driving distance of Ligonier and we drove down to Mr. Cratty's to get them. Several other breeders had English clean legged cuckoo Marans but I wouldn't be surprised if they descended from the strains above. You might check in over at the Marans of America Club. I was Director of Archives for a while and we put together a lot of info on history of strains and their attributes. Maybe email Brenda Little at Little Peddler Marans who founded the Club. She and I worked together a lot on early Marans history. Tell her Karen Tewart sent you.
The difference in leg feathers is cultural. In France, the folk pasture their chicken on grass. So the feathered legs aren't an issue. In England, folk yard their chickens in poultry yard and the ground can get muddy , mussing up the leg and feet feathers. So, the English bred the feathers off of the legs and feet. When the APA was deciding to accept the breed, there was a huge bruhaha in the breed over clean vs feathered legs and feet. The APA finally decided to go with the country of origin and elected for the feathered legs and feet. I think that is ironic because many Americans yard their birds like the English do. In any case it is only the matter of a generation or two to add feathers to feet and legs if you decide to show your English Marans. Then they become French Marans. I think the APA should have made feathered feet and legs a non-issue, allowing both, but that's just me, smile. There are scattered flocks of pure Cratty ( H&H in TX), Fitch and I saw one flock of Fugate when deep surfing the net a while back. You might find a Flock of Ripley but most probably it will have been mixed with one of the other (Fitch, Fugate, Cratty) strains. Don't take my word for that tho, a pure strain of Ripley is a lovely thing. Ripley was created by Mr. Ripley who founded the Smithsonian Museum. he brought the birds over from England. They were dispersed in the Marans fancy after this death. Supposed to lay the darkest eggs of the English strains. Fugate folk will dispute that saying Fugate was dark as or darker than Ripley.
History of the Cuckoo Marans by Bill Braden:
http://www.maransofamericaclub.com/cuckoo-marans.html
Best,
Karen

 

[Red Banks]

Oh I used to know all this. Hum, let me think. Ok, it could have been strains named Cratty ( dark egg show winner, English strain cuckoos out of Clarksville, PA ( western PA) Or Ripley, or Fitch. or Fugate. All those were English, clean-legged strains and very popular in that era. ( and as I remember, sold on the Internet) I had Cratty's back then . Clarksville was within driving distance of Ligonier and we drove down to Mr. Cratty's to get them. Several other breeders had English clean legged cuckoo Marans but I wouldn't be surprised if they descended from the strains above. You might check in over at the Marans of America Club. I was Director of Archives for a while and we put together a lot of info on history of strains and their attributes. Maybe email Brenda Little at Little Peddler Marans who founded the Club. She and I worked together a lot on early Marans history. Tell her Karen Tewart sent you.
The difference in leg feathers is cultural. In France, the folk pasture their chicken on grass. So the feathered legs aren't an issue. In England, folk yard their chickens in poultry yard and the ground can get muddy , mussing up the leg and feet feathers. So, the English bred the feathers off of the legs and feet. When the APA was deciding to accept the breed, there was a huge bruhaha in the breed over clean vs feathered legs and feet. The APA finally decided to go with the country of origin and elected for the feathered legs and feet. I think that is ironic because many Americans yard their birds like the English do. In any case it is only the matter of a generation or two to add feathers to feet and legs if you decide to show your English Marans. Then they become French Marans. I think the APA should have made feathered feet and legs a non-issue, allowing both, but that's just me, smile. There are scattered flocks of pure Cratty ( H&H in TX), Fitch and I saw one flock of Fugate when deep surfing the net a while back. You might find a Flock of Ripley but most probably it will have been mixed with one of the other (Fitch, Fugate, Cratty) strains. Don't take my word for that tho, a pure strain of Ripley is a lovely thing. Ripley was created by Mr. Ripley who founded the Smithsonian Museum. he brought the birds over from England. They were dispersed in the Marans fancy after this death. Supposed to lay the darkest eggs of the English strains. Fugate folk will dispute that saying Fugate was dark as or darker than Ripley.
Best,
Karen

 

[varidgerunner]

Oh I used to know all this. Hum, let me think. Ok, it could have been strains named Cratty ( dark egg show winner, English strain cuckoos out of Clarksville, PA ( western PA) Or Ripley, or Fitch. or Fugate. All those were English, clean-legged strains ( except Fugate which was a French strain) and very popular in that era, . ( and as I remember, sold on the Internet) I had Cratty's back then . Clarksville was within driving distance of Ligonier and we drove down to Mr. Cratty's to get them. Several other breeders had English clean legged cuckoo Marans but I wouldn't be surprised if they descended from the strains above. You might check in over at the Marans of America Club. I was Director of Archives for a while and we put together a lot of info on history of strains and their attributes. Maybe email Brenda Little at Little Peddler Marans who founded the Club. She and I worked together a lot on early Marans history. Tell her Karen Tewart sent you.
The difference in leg feathers is cultural. In France, the folk pasture their chicken on grass. So the feathered legs aren't an issue. In England, folk yard their chickens in poultry yard and the ground can get muddy , mussing up the leg and feet feathers. So, the English bred the feathers off of the legs and feet. When the APA was deciding to accept the breed, there was a huge bruhaha in the breed over clean vs feathered legs and feet. The APA finally decided to go with the country of origin and elected for the feathered legs and feet. I think that is ironic because many Americans yard their birds like the English do. In any case it is only the matter of a generation or two to add feathers to feet and legs if you decide to show your English Marans. Then they become French Marans. I think the APA should have made feathered feet and legs a non-issue, allowing both, but that's just me, smile. There are scattered flocks of pure Cratty ( H&H in TX), Fitch and I saw one flock of Fugate when deep surfing the net a while back. You might find a Flock of Ripley but most probably it will have been mixed with one of the other (Fitch, Fugate, Cratty) strains. Don't take my word for that tho, a pure strain of Ripley is a lovely thing. Ripley was created by Mr. Ripley who founded the Smithsonian Museum. he brought the birds over from England. They were dispersed in the Marans fancy after this death. Supposed to lay the darkest eggs of the English strains. Fugate folk will dispute that saying Fugate was dark as or darker than Ripley.
History of the Cuckoo Marans by Bill Braden:
http://www.maransofamericaclub.com/cuckoo-marans.html
Best,
Karen

Thanks for the wealth of knowledge. You jogged my memory. The ones I had were Fugates. Very distinctive birds. I'm kind of out of the dark egg phase of my chicken affliction now, but you never know.

 

[3riverschick]

Thanks for the wealth of knowledge. You jogged my memory. The ones I had were Fugates. Very distinctive birds. I'm kind of out of the dark egg phase of my chicken affliction now, but you never know.

Wow, they were wonderful birds. I think there may be one flock out there. I kinda remember running across the online site when I was surfing the deep net one night.
Best,
Karen
Letters from Mr. Fugate to USA Marans breeders:
History of Marans in America By Bev Davis :
https://ixquick-proxy.com/do/highli...ewsletters/Newsletter.html&mtrq=Fugate+Marans

 

[dolfi]

Oh I used to know all this. Hum, let me think. Ok, it could have been strains named Cratty ( dark egg show winner, English strain cuckoos out of Clarksville, PA ( western PA)  Or Ripley, or Fitch. or Fugate. All those were English, clean-legged strains ( except Fugate which was a French strain) and very popular in that era, . ( and as I remember, sold on the Internet)  I had Cratty's back then . Clarksville was within driving distance of Ligonier and we drove down to Mr. Cratty's to get them.  Several other breeders had English clean legged cuckoo Marans but I wouldn't be surprised if they descended from the strains above.  You might check in over at the Marans of America Club. I was Director of Archives for a while and we put together a lot of info on history of strains and their attributes. Maybe email Brenda Little at Little Peddler Marans who founded the Club. She and I worked together a lot on early Marans history. Tell her Karen Tewart sent you.
 The difference in leg feathers is cultural.  In France, the folk pasture their chicken on grass. So the feathered legs aren't an issue. In England, folk yard their chickens in poultry yard and the ground can get muddy , mussing up the leg and feet feathers. So, the English bred the feathers off of the legs and feet. When the APA was deciding to accept the breed, there was a huge bruhaha in the breed over clean vs feathered legs and feet. The APA finally decided to go with the country of origin and elected for the feathered legs and feet. I think that is ironic because many Americans yard their birds like the English do. In any case it is only the matter of a generation or two to add feathers to feet and legs if you decide to show your English Marans. Then they become French Marans. I think the APA should have made feathered feet and legs a non-issue,  allowing both, but that's just me, smile.  There are scattered flocks of pure Cratty ( H&H in TX), Fitch and I saw one flock of Fugate when deep surfing the net a while back. You might find a Flock of Ripley but most probably it will have been mixed with one of the other (Fitch, Fugate, Cratty) strains. Don't take my word for that tho, a pure strain of Ripley is a lovely thing. Ripley was created by Mr. Ripley who founded the Smithsonian Museum. he brought the birds over from England. They were dispersed in the Marans fancy  after this death. Supposed to lay the darkest eggs of the English strains. Fugate folk will dispute that saying Fugate was dark as or darker than Ripley.
History of the Cuckoo Marans by Bill Braden:
http://www.maransofamericaclub.com/cuckoo-marans.html
 Best,
 Karen

Wao Karen, thank you so much for the info. I love reading things like this.

 

[XxMingirlxX]

Wow Karen! You really are an asset to this thread.

 

[3riverschick]

Wow Karen! You really are an asset to this thread.

More than welcome,
Best,
Karen

 

[cdonze43]

I have a question for you Veteran BCM owners. I hatched some breeder eggs about 4-5 weeks ago. At what age will the copper color start showing up? I'm just curious.
Thank you

 

[snowbird]

I have a question for you Veteran BCM owners. I hatched some breeder eggs about 4-5 weeks ago. At what age will the copper color start showing up? I'm just curious.
Thank you

Usually at around three weeks some will start getting Copper. Some female will feather in more slowly. Best if they do not feather up too soon as they might get too much color.

 

[debbie50chicks]

I just got 4 Blue Copper Marans yesterday! I'm just loving these sweet mellow blue eyed babies!