Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[pinkchick]

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Sex linked genes can also be passed from Mother to Son...ie a Barred/Cuckoo hen can only pass her barring gene onto her sons. Village, if I misunderstood what you stated or what you were getting at please set me straight.

 

[Debbi]

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Thanks for this info, and thanks for making it easy for newbies to understand too!

 

[pinkchick]

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I am a non fusser when it comes to setting eggs...I will usually incubate them the same way as I do with the other breeds I work with. Depending on weather and time of year I may or may not increase the humidity for the Marans. I guess it all depends on my mood.

 

[VillageChicken]

I've had to help some out, even though many say that's not a good idea. Especially the really big eggs can give you trouble.
Had too many pip and die. I usually give 'em 24 hours after pip and if they're still peeping I carefully help them out.
But it's nerve-wracking and painstaking. You have to go really slow, and only help them as much as they need to do the rest themselves.

There are other French fowl with large eggs that have the same problem. There is the Gauloise - a top ranked dual purpose bird that has the same problem.
I've heard from a Bresse Gauloise breeder that they have to dry incubate to reduce the space the chick has to develop, so they don't get so big and struggle to pip and zip.

Pink: You're right, but they can only pass the single one that they have down to their sons, so they only get one copy. With some of the sex-linked genes it's not as clear with only one copy.

 

[Debbi]

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I am a non fusser when it comes to setting eggs...I will usually incubate them the same way as I do with the other breeds I work with. Depending on weather and time of year I may or may not increase the humidity for the Marans. I guess it all depends on my mood.

Pink,

I know of one BYCer that uses the "dry method" for Marans eggs. They state the eggs evaporate and breathe better with a lower humidity in the first 18 days? Have you or anyone else done it this way? Think the humidity was set at 35% for the first 18, then cranked up to 50% for lockdown. I would like to try it, but may wait till I get my own eggs, as shipped eggs are too expensive to test with!

 

[geebs]

wow villagechicken...thanks..

 

[pinkchick]

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I am a non fusser when it comes to setting eggs...I will usually incubate them the same way as I do with the other breeds I work with. Depending on weather and time of year I may or may not increase the humidity for the Marans. I guess it all depends on my mood.

Pink,

I know of one BYCer that uses the "dry method" for Marans eggs. They state the eggs evaporate and breathe better with a lower humidity in the first 18 days? Have you or anyone else done it this way? Think the humidity was set at 35% for the first 18, then cranked up to 50% for lockdown. I would like to try it, but may wait till I get my own eggs, as shipped eggs are too expensive to test with!

Debbi~ I guess I would be guilty of doing that 100% of the time. I will let the hum. run anywhere from 30 something to 40 something the first 18 days. Upon lockdown I will add a wet sponge to each bator but it really doesn't help much, I have rarely taken the hum. over 44-45%. I have done a few hatches that I took the hum. up to around 55 or 60 but did not like the results. When I cracked open the unhatched babies they had drowned. I like the dry method, and usually do not help any babies out unless they are like the last 2 eggs that have pipped, partially zipped and just don't go any further by themselves and peep for more than a day without advancing, but I don't like helping them and this sounds cruel, but I will more often than not let them go in the shell if they cannot do it on their own. I want birds that are strong and able to make it into this world on their own. You know, the strong will survive type thing.

 

[BevDavis]

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Hi there Pink

They are coming along nicely, getting the correct coloring for the male is a challenge. The size, conformation is good and so is the egg color. The over all stippling of the feather was difficult but do have some nice pullets coming along. I bred a lot of them this last year and am now waiting for them to come into lay so that I can see what chicks they produce using the male I kept.

I did breed a blue copper male this year and he has some red in his breast, this is a first for me so excited to see what females he produces. I didn't keep too many copper blue hens but have some young pullets. The copper in the hackles is much better this year, it's taken a long time to get what I have now but well worth all the breeding over the years.

Bev

 

[geebs]

Bev.. If one is linebreeding using the father against granddaughters one can only expect a good result if the two birds that started the line are correct examples... Otherwise one has to factor in the loss or gain of color in the hackle for every generation and choose accordingly... Example:

If I am using an overcolored male on undercolored female to improve them... I only want to improve them a litttle at a time to allow for the necessary changes for the many generation that must come later....correct???

 

[math ace]

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Nope, sorry. I don't see any blues in any pictures. Maybe if they are really dark, dark blue and it didn't photograph very well - but all I see is black.

Good because this was the group of blacks. So, I was hoping I separated them correctly