Thank you for answering. I'm not familiar with breeding enough yet to understand how to add dark to the breeds unless you just breed darker egg layers to darker egg layers. If BC are the darkest....could you breed the Splash to the BC, get blue, then breed the blues back to get the Splash chicks....ideally having darker eggs? I know this is a long project but is that where I should start?
OK so if she is nice enough to be that picky I will be happy about it. LOLThis is my LAST attempt at answering these questions. I have been at it for over an hour now. BYC keeps kicking me out and then I have to start all over gain! OMG.... WHAT a PITA! NEVER had this issue on the old system!
I REALLY appreciate your help and the effort you have put into this.
Her fluff looks a little too loose at the legs. . .
Is the fluff is something that she just lucked out on or something that a less fluffy rooster over her would improve offspring? I think I asked that correctly....
My response is that we should open this discussion to the BYC forum. I am so frustrated with the BYC editor right now that I can't even think straight!
Fluff - is it described in the SOP or is it open to individual preference?
I will say that it is not nearly as big of an element of concern as the other things we have talked about already... To me it is an " Oh by the way, see if you tweak this item on the next hatch" type of item. I, personally, wouldn't focus on fluff until all the other items are lined up and working correctly
Nice shape to this splash pullet. Her fluff looks a little too loose at the legs. Her back is nice and long. I can't tell, but I suspect her tail is not very open. A pic from the back would help determine this. Her comb looks small which is a good thing. She is too far away in the pic for me to see if anything funky is going on with the comb. Her legs look like there is none or barely any feathers on them.
I'm glad she has a good shape, I actually think she is the lesser quality of my 2 pullets so I will get better pictures of the other one to compare.
When I say good shape, I am looking at her bottom line . . . I am looking to see a gentle curve with symmentry, like a wide bowl.
I will use the rooster sketch to illustrate the shape I am describing.
Gotcha....they should look like bowls.....big bowls.
She has a decent topline too. Once again I am using the rooster sketch to illustrate the area I am watching.
The marans should have gentle slopes at the neckline and where the tail meets the back. Sharp angles are NOT part of the marans type.
Open tail?
Post MORE pictures of this pullet from the back and I will share more about the open vs closed / pinch tail concepts.
Tomorrow I'm going to catch each of them and put them in a crate for their photo shoot!!
I'm sorry, I think I explained this wrong. He was a spawn of satan teenager rooster. He got a weekly education on his behavior and is now no longer aggressive or ugly towards people but avoids us like the plague.....I'd rather have this version of him. LOL He got picked up a LOT, feed scoops thrown at him, held down, everything to show him who was the bigger rooster......he was hardheaded about it.Any suggestions on getting to stop acting like he is as wild as a marsh hare?? He and I had to go rounds about once a week when he was maturing and while he doesn't attack me or anyone else anymore he doesn't really want me near him either.
By the time the roo's are a year old their behvior is pretty well set. IT doesn't mean it can't be changed, but it is much harder to do at this point in time.
With that said. . . .TREATS and TRUST go hand in hand. He is as Wild as a marsh hare because he is afraid. Start Slow and keep building a relationship with him. Move Slow... Throw treats at him for a week or so. The next week, MOVE SLOW, throw the treats closer to you. The week after that, throw the treats even closer to you... Eventually, build enough trust that he will take treats from you. He needs to know that you are the treat lady. Don't spend a lot of time doing this. Make your visits Bried, but PLEASANT!
MOVE Slow, don't flap your arms, No jerky movements, and don't let kids around him. When he takes treats from you, then you can gently, slowly, without stressing him, work on picking him up and giving him treats from your hand. Hold him every day. . . Feed him treats from your hand. Hold him for a few minutes, walk around and talk to him, then set him down.
If your roo was aggressive, you would do the picking up thing first. This establishes you as the bigger roo. However, you said he does NOT attack you. So, this is not a dominance hormonal issue, this is a fear issue. Move slower and give him treats. If you go out to the coop at night, as the birds are settling in on the roost, if you time it right, you may be able to go in and pet him as he is sleepy. Speak softly to him... He should be too sleepy to freak out. However, if you do this enough, move slowly during the day time, offer him daily treats, you will become a dream instead of a nightmare to him.
He now moves away from me while I'm in the pen but is on high alert and FREAKS if I get near him. Please don't think I abused him or crossed any lines. I do NOT tolerate roosters that don't learn their place and behave. Solid citizens or freezer camp are the choices at my house....Thank you for your insight! I'm looking forward to improving/tweaking my bunch and adding new/better blood when I can. Please forgive all my questions!
You will NEVER ask more questions than I did when I first started learning ( and the BYC forum members all say - AMEN LOL)!
LOL you say that now.....just wait until you see all the questions I have.
The rooster is right at a year old and the splash pullets are POL.
I do not work with the Splash color. I will only comment on the roo's type.
His chest is not deep enough. It could be his pose in the pic is being effected by a very full crop.
I do not see a clear shot of his chest in the other pictures.
Deep enough? I figured he wasn't "big" enough due to pictures of other roosters I have seen. Maybe we are talking about the same thing?
HOW about a picture or two to help out...
This is a good sketch to refer back to. It shows the general Type we are looking for in the Marans breed.
When I look at your roo, I see a chest that is like the one I outlined in Blue. It should be deeper / fuller like the one I outlined in red.
When you look at the marans, remember that they are a Dual Purpose bird. Folks should look at the chest on these boys and start drooling... BIG CHESTS... Full Chests... Yum Yum.
Gotcha, he needs a bigger/eating chest.....
Could this be age related?
Vicki, Yes, this is what I was talking about. Notice also that he has good leg color.Hey Don,
Would this be an example you are looking for of the more brown based bird? This male was about 14 weeks old here, he hatched with a bit of the penguin look, but didn't have the markings around the eye and the white wasn't as extensive on him. He made a nice freezer camp member tho.
Yes, that's why he was in the grow out pens for dinner. I grow out my males here and process them since I make a lot of my own foods such as stocks, soups, and stock the freezer for winter months.
Jan, just wheaten and black Copper and maybe Blue copper all will be small scale .
Since I've culled down to birds with just this type of leg color, I rarely get ones without this. If they do vary, it shows up in the females with the dark slate instead of midslate.
look forward to seeing what you breed for blue coppers!
