Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[ellymayRans]

Thanks pinkchick and maryhysong. I've been keeping close tabs. As I said though it seems he's always been like that. Kinda more like being horse with wheezing. Just find it really odd. Granted always means, well he's just about 13 wks!

 

[pinkchick]

Vicki~ I would enter those eggs in an egg show....no doubt.

Zanna~ I hope you do wonderfully with your egg show entry.

 

[pinkchick]

Winniem~

He might be a Black Copper from Blue Copper matings or he could be a very dark Blue Copper that appears black. The only way you will know for sure what color he is, will be to wait until he is old enough to test mate and test mate him to a bird that you know is genetically black....if blue offspring are produced then he is blue....if only black offspring are produced then he is black.

Blue does not breed true...therefore a person will get blue, black and splash offspring from a blue to blue pairings.

Couple things to watch for as he is maturing is his black color to just not be or seem truly black anymore, it may lighten a bit as he matures and reaches sexual maturity. You may also see edging on his feathers which is another indicator as Black Coppers should not have edging. I start to see these changes around 5-6 months on my birds that are truly blue, but appear black.

 

[gilavina]

Winniem~

He might be a Black Copper from Blue Copper matings or he could be a very dark Blue Copper that appears black. The only way you will know for sure what color he is, will be to wait until he is old enough to test mate and test mate him to a bird that you know is genetically black....if blue offspring are produced then he is blue....if only black offspring are produced then he is black.

Blue does not breed true...therefore a person will get blue, black and splash offspring from a blue to blue pairings.

Couple things to watch for as he is maturing is his black color to just not be or seem truly black anymore, it may lighten a bit as he matures and reaches sexual maturity. You may also see edging on his feathers which is another indicator as Black Coppers should not have edging. I start to see these changes around 5-6 months on my birds that are truly blue, but appear black.

another suggestion, and I have found to be effective when determining blue or black, is to breed to a splash. If hes black you should get 100% blue and being bred to splash will lighten the blue tone a bit. When bred to a black, if it is a very dark blue, can deepen the blue color more and make it hard to tell on the offspring. If not 100% come out blue, then you know you have a blue.

 

[RoyalLegend]

I know that many of you guys keep your birds in breeding coops, but I like to let mine free range, like no fences kind of free range. That was until my flock of chickens got decimated and we opened a food pantry for the community great horned owls. Do any of you guys know of ways to keep the owls away, at least from around the coop? (btw, I don't really want the whole night eyes light, I'm thinking cheap, but effective)

Ours are free range too, during the day, but we always go out once it's dark and lock the coop doors. It protects them from racoons, owls, bobcats, coyotes, oppossums, neighborhood dogs, and skunks. Once morning comes, we can open the doors and let them charge back out into the grass. But locking up them up at night is for their own protection. Besides, all they do is sleep anyway, so they don't seem to mind it.

 

[RoyalLegend]

I am a BIG fan of mentors. It sometimes takes awhile for your mentor(s) to be "brutally" honest about your birds but once they get that you really do want to learn and are prepared to cull, they'll have at it so to speak.

Takes a thick skin - warning in advance. (It helps if you have a "layer" coop so you can toss all your favourites for the wrong reasons out there.)

I'm also learning that with most breeds and colours - really good males and really good females (even White Silkies) don't come from the same parents. (Makes me feel like I'm back in math class figuring out all the combinations and odds.)

I need another mentor! Anyone live in the central Texas area (Bryan, specifically)? My friend Jan, who helps me out soooo much with my birds is a two hour drive away, and she can't ever come here. She just gave me another 15 wheaton Marans hens!! Yay! But I really need someone who can help me sort my birds for type. I can look for feathered legs, dark eggs, and upright combs, but otherwise, I'm at a loss. I don't show (as yet) but believe if I'm going to be breeding, it should be toward the breed standard. Soooo.... anyone out there that can come help me prioritize the best to the worst? I have wheatens, blacks, black coppers, blues, blue coppers, splash, cuckoo, and golden cuckoo Marans.

I'd like to know what parts, of which hens, are good. Also, I have a few roosters of each variety, and would like to know how they stack up against each other. What things I am and am not tryign to breed for, etc. Anyone?

 

[RoyalLegend]

Thanks for that. Now I just hope my candling is up to the task of these dark eggs!

Stylus makes a pen light, LED, that makes such a bright light, I can see blood spots, or meat spots, or even veins in the darkest of my eggs, and I have some really dark eggs.
And since it's LED, it doesn't heat up the egg.
I just LOVE that light.

 

[RoyalLegend]

Head structure is something I breed for in all my breeds and feel it is very important as it can change the overall look of a bird very quickly. Here's an example of the head shape I am breeding for and am getting more consistently in the Marans. You are right that there is a large range within the Marans when it comes to head shape.

thanks for posting pictures. It's easier to compare mine, when I see what they are supposed to be like.

 

[RoyalLegend]

...
I use sharpie and have had no problems with it. I have received shipped eggs many times that have been marked with sharpie and hatch. 2 pipped in the bator right now.
I have used white colored pencil in the past and have liked it as well, but prefer the sharpie because it is easier to see when looking in the bottom of my sportsman in the hatching tray, where it tends to be very dark.

Sharpie makes a silver pen, that is a whole lot easier to see than the black on an egg too. But since it's quite toxic, mark quick, small, and fan the egg afterwards to get rid of the chemicals evaporating. Once it's dry, I don't think it hurts anything.

 

[flgardengirl]

Sharpie makes a silver pen, that is a whole lot easier to see than the black on an egg too. But since it's quite toxic, mark quick, small, and fan the egg afterwards to get rid of the chemicals evaporating. Once it's dry, I don't think it hurts anything.

I use a silver colored pencil on my darkest ones. No worries about toxicity that way and it shows up great.