Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[Foster's Freehold]

Just stepped into the Marans world with a Trio of Golden Cuckoos. Hens laid first eggs after the move this morning. Onto the laying box, from the roost! Of course they are broken grr. But I don't think they are going to be as dark as I want. I don't know the parentage of the birds, but the lady said from 2 different places. So, before I sell them on, I'm going to hatch a batch to see if the Roo helps darken a daughters eggs.
I also ordered 6 BCM from a lady nearby. She shows pics of her eggs and they are the dark color I want.

 

[Bantambird]

Just stepped into the Marans world with a Trio of Golden Cuckoos. Hens laid first eggs after the move this morning. Onto the laying box, from the roost! Of course they are broken grr. But I don't think they are going to be as dark as I want. I don't know the parentage of the birds, but the lady said from 2 different places. So, before I sell them on, I'm going to hatch a batch to see if the Roo helps darken a daughters eggs.
I also ordered 6 BCM from a lady nearby. She shows pics of her eggs and they are the dark color I want.

Golden cuckoo can work in a breeding program with BCM. You can darken your eggs by crossing your golden cuckoo cock over BMC hens, then take the resultant single barred pullets and cross back to your sire and keep the F2 that are double barred. It may take a while, but it's a good way to darken your golden cuckoo egg color!

 

[Foster's Freehold]

Golden cuckoo can work in a breeding program with BCM. You can darken your eggs by crossing your golden cuckoo cock over BMC hens, then take the resultant single barred pullets and cross back to your sire and keep the F2 that are double barred. It may take a while, but it's a good way to darken your golden cuckoo egg color!

Oh good. The roo is really lovely, will try to get some pics tomorrow. I'd love to keep the color and form but that light egg thing, Just really need to darken it.

 

[Bantambird]

Oh good. The roo is really lovely, will try to get some pics tomorrow. I'd love to keep the color and form but that light egg thing, Just really need to darken it.

It will take time and patience, but you can do it if you have the right birds. Golden cuckoo are very pretty!
One other nice thing about outcrossing to complementary lines: hybrid vigor!

 

[Foster's Freehold]

Yeah, I figure I'm about 5 yrs away from what I want. But, gotta start somewhere don't we? Yeah, that boy is very pretty, hens are just plain cuckoo, a little gold on the hackles. And stupid, I have two nest boxes, one is a big co-op but noooo, they have to lay from the roost on top of the nest box so the eggs break.

 

[Bantambird]

Yeah, I figure I'm about 5 yrs away from what I want. But, gotta start somewhere don't we? Yeah, that boy is very pretty, hens are just plain cuckoo, a little gold on the hackles. And stupid, I have two nest boxes, one is a big co-op but noooo, they have to lay from the roost on top of the nest box so the eggs break.

You will increase your red/gold in your golden cuckoo by crossing out to the BMC. Many people create golden cuckoo by crossing BMC marans with a cuckoo cock and keeping all the barred chicks for grow out.

 

[Foster's Freehold]

You will increase your red/gold in your golden cuckoo by crossing out to the BMC. Many people create golden cuckoo by crossing BMC marans with a cuckoo cock and keeping all the barred chicks for grow out.

So what would the non-barred chicks be? BCM? Or just barnyard mix?

 

[Bantambird]

Non barred would be BMC. If your golden cuckoo has any silver hidden you might get a birchen or a (silver) cuckoo. This is why they are so awesome!
Edit: any silver birds probably won't show up until the second crossing, if they do show up, since your hens would be gold based.

 

[Foster's Freehold]

Oh Wow!! That's really cool. So, with these cuckoos and some BCM (am I abbreviating that right?) I can not only darken the eggs, I can possibly end up with three different kinds? OK, so now I need to be reading up on Maran genetics lol.

This is a pic taken from the net, but looks just like my boy.

Except he may be a little more golden.

 

[Bantambird]

Oh Wow!! That's really cool. So, with these cuckoos and some BCM (am I abbreviating that right?) I can not only darken the eggs, I can possibly end up with three different kinds? OK, so now I need to be reading up on Maran genetics lol.

This is a pic taken from the net, but looks just like my boy.View attachment 1293875
Except he may be a little more golden.

A great guy to ask is @Chooks man on Marans genetics. He works pretty closely with marans and is a wealth of information about their genetics.