Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[math ace]

Do you hear what I hear?

Ringing through the sky shepard boy

Do you hear what I hear

A song, a song
High above the tree

With a voice as big as the sea
With a voice as big as the sea

Do you hear what I hear?
Ringing through the sky Farmer Boy

Do you hear what I hear
A Delaware, A delaware

Hatching in the incubator

With a chirp as big as the sea
With a chirp as big as the sea

 

[gilavina]

Do you hear what I hear?

Ringing through the sky shepard boy

Do you hear what I hear

A song, a song
High above the tree

With a voice as big as the sea
With a voice as big as the sea

Do you hear what I hear?
Ringing through the sky Farmer Boy

Do you hear what I hear
A Delaware, A delaware

Hatching in the incubator

With a chirp as big as the sea
With a chirp as big as the sea

yay! Its hard to beat hearing baby animals being born, especially baby chicks. They are so stinking cute!

 

[geebs]

I will reply to the splash egg color question

In my past experience the splash are more likely to have lighter egg color... It is more difficult to get the darkest shades of eggs from this color... There is such a complex set of genes that govern egg color and melaniser that some speculate that the melaniser that drives the colors on the outside are linked to the genetic "drivers" that regulate the egg color as well. As we separate the genes and weed out all the colors that make up the BCM such as hidden wheaton, birchen, BTB, Blue, Splash etc... you find the loss of color initially... I find that concept interesting. My darkest layers to date contained all of these host colors in their makeup.... when broken down genetically by weeding out certain color the egg color was lost almost entirely... this being show most prominently in the Splash and the Birchen....

 

[gilavina]

I will reply to the splash egg color question

In my past experience the splash are more likely to have lighter egg color... It is more difficult to get the darkest shades of eggs from this color... There is such a complex set of genes that govern egg color and melaniser that some speculate that the melaniser that drives the colors on the outside are linked to the genetic "drivers" that regulate the egg color as well. As we separate the genes and weed out all the colors that make up the BCM such as hidden wheaton, birchen, BTB, Blue, Splash etc... you find the loss of color initially... I find that concept interesting. My darkest layers to date contained all of these host colors in their makeup.... when broken down genetically by weeding out certain color the egg color was lost almost entirely... this being show most prominently in the Splash and the Birchen....

I would agree with this assessment. It also takes longer to improve the color on the eggs when breeding birchens. It does work, just takes more matings to get the same progress you can in just a few with the BCMs

 

[geebs]

I have yet to see a single silver birchen female that can produce as well as a blue or black. The birchen doesn't hide much... If you have something that lays more than a 5 or 6 I would love to see it. I must admit I didn't work much with this line as the result were dissapointing and it was one of my first colors.

 

[gilavina]

I have yet to see a single silver birchen female that can produce as well as a blue or black. The birchen doesn't hide much... If you have something that lays more than a 5 or 6 I would love to see it. I must admit I didn't work much with this line as the result were dissapointing and it was one of my first colors.

I'm sitting as of the generation before this last spring at about a 5 regularly, and waiting now to see what these youngest birds give me. I hatched the birchens last this year, so still waiting. I have found that what I can accomplish in one generation with the BCMs for darkening the egg color takes me two to three with the birchens. I'm not in a hurry with them, as I have them because I love the color pattern of the birds. Its one of my all time favorites, so it makes up for them taking more to work with them haha I will say, when I started with them almost 4 years ago, that the color of the eggs would have in no way made it onto the egg chart, so consider myself fortunate to be moving forward, albeit slowly. haha

 

[Jenikate]

Posted this in the breeding/genetics and showing thread but may be more suited here....

Looking for some FBCM hatching eggs or chicks and wondering if anyone recommends a breeder? I feel like doing the random internet search makes me feel like I get no where...everyone claims to have dark eggs and perfect lines.
Really, the only thing that is important to me is egg color.
I do have 2 FBCM hens now that are giving me some nice eggs. Just looking for some more dark egg layers and thought someone in this forum might point me in the right direction of an honest seller. FBCM breeders or sellers are few and far between locally for me. The one I bought my 2 from doesnt sell anymore. I am just a back yard hobbyist, with no roos, so I dont breed my own.
Any recommendations are appreciated.
Thank you!

 

[Wynette]

I'm sitting as of the generation before this last spring at about a 5 regularly, and waiting now to see what these youngest birds give me. I hatched the birchens last this year, so still waiting. I have found that what I can accomplish in one generation with the BCMs for darkening the egg color takes me two to three with the birchens. I'm not in a hurry with them, as I have them because I love the color pattern of the birds. Its one of my all time favorites, so it makes up for them taking more to work with them haha I will say, when I started with them almost 4 years ago, that the color of the eggs would have in no way made it onto the egg chart, so consider myself fortunate to be moving forward, albeit slowly. haha

FANTASTIC - so glad to hear that you're making progress! Slow? So what! Progress is progress. For me, it seems one year I'll take 2 or 3 steps forward, and the next year, I pay for it. Sigh.

 

[gilavina]

FANTASTIC - so glad to hear that you're making progress! Slow? So what! Progress is progress. For me, it seems one year I'll take 2 or 3 steps forward, and the next year, I pay for it. Sigh.

I hear ya on that. I think that's where it helps that I have quite a few pens set up for breeding and have other breeds in several color varieties to keep me busy when I'm experiencing a set back in one of them. The Marans by far tho are the most rewarding when I see good visible progress. I do believe the birchens will be the ones that hold me up longer, but I don't mind. They are more than worth it to me. Plus, the progress I'm seeing in over type, size, and overall attributes in the Marans in general (particularly in the Coppers), is enough to keep me in them for a long, long time.

 

[Cotton42]

Don't expect the eggs from this hen to get any darker, BUT.... if it got darker when it was wet and then dried back to the original color your hen could be laying eggs with a mineral deposit on them that causes a haze that makes the egg look lighter. I've had a hen do this and her offspring laid normal eggs.

So Marans aren't supposed to have a bloom on their eggs? That's good to know. Hopefully her sister will not have the same problem. Thanks!