Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[hillfloweranch]

yes, some cuckoos will appear more silver in tone as well. The larger dots are usually your roos indeed on the cuckoos

Just joined this thread as I'm trying to figure out which cuckoo marans are girls or boys. They all have dots but one looks for sure like a girl and another one looks kinda silver-ish so I'm thinking it's a boy...but here is a pic maybe some knowledgeable people out there could help me with this?

 

[Bakerentllc]

Just joined this thread as I'm trying to figure out which cuckoo marans are girls or boys. They all have dots but one looks for sure like a girl and another one looks kinda silver-ish so I'm thinking it's a boy...but here is a pic maybe some knowledgeable people out there could help me with this?

The largest spots and brighter colors are roosters and the dark ones with smaller spots are hens

 

[hillfloweranch]

The largest spots and brighter colors are roosters and the dark ones with smaller spots are hens

Thank you!!

 

[DMRippy]

Ok, quick question. What would a cross of a Black Copper Maran roo over a White Rock Hen?

I good size meat bird.

 

[DMRippy]

Sexing Cuckoos

Rooster


Pullet and Rooster



Pullet



4 pullets and 1 roo in this pictures.... this is a little too obvious and not the norm.

 

[MikeBarnes]

They all look very much alike. Some have more darkness on them, the BCM being dark on top with lighter under areas. They can not be sexed at that age. If they can...please let me know.

 

[DMRippy]

They all look very much alike. Some have more darkness on them, the BCM being dark on top with lighter under areas. They can not be sexed at that age. If they can...please let me know.

I am not sure what post you are referring to, but the last question was about Cuckoo Marans and they are an autosexing breed.

 

[Irishgirl]

I have dark colored chicks with spots on their heads, but I think they're barred rock crosses.

 

[MikeBarnes]

I was referring to BCM chicks.

 

[gilavina]

I haven't been able to check the thread for a few days. As usual I missed a lot of great stuff. After reading back through, I am sitting here trying to process the information and this question keeps coming to mind. At what point will we have a consistent population of BCMs? My original / current goal is to have a flock of birds with good type, standard color and dark eggs. In my simple mind, I thought I could buy eggs or chicks from top breeders, put them in the lot, and reap the benefits. I apologize to all of you who have and continue to work so hard for the breed. I now only have a few BCMs to work with. My friends are the proud owners of some nice dark egg laying hens. They don't care about SOP and such but LOVE the dark eggs (maybe 4 or 5 on the chart). I don't know if I will ever show or sell but SOMEDAY I will have a flock to be proud of! Thanks for sharing all your experience and knowledge.

I think with the Marans, there is a steeper hill to climb when it comes to consistency because of how much work they need. Consistency in quality of type, color and egg color are the top of the list here as well. I think a lot of people have been through the same process you described, of thinking it would be a simple process of going to well known breeders and such. That's why I think it is so important to have a welcoming place for people to learn and grow and to be able to talk out processes and etc with stock to be able to move forward when coming across roadblocks, frustrations, or etc.
I also think it is important to point out as well, that a lot of breeders will only keep a top 5 to 10% of stock to hold back for their own programs, and it takes time for that consistency to precipitate and improve the quality of a larger percentage of the offspring, so your culling down to just a few of the best I think is a great decision. In relation, I've run across this a lot, not just in the Marans, but in regards to hatching eggs or chicks, the odds of getting very many chicks that would fall in a top 10% out of some hatching eggs is slim. Don't get me wrong, hatching eggs and chicks are a great way to get a start, and that's how I got the majority of my start, but they are going to require culling and careful decision making to get the best use out of them. I always get a little chuckle when someone gets outraged they don't get exactly what the stock photos look like out of the eggs when those chicks mature. Those photos are more than likely the top 10% group and out of a dozen eggs, statistically 1.2 of those eggs might logically be a top 10% bird, but there are no guarantees. Sometimes however, you can luck out and get some amazing birds from a larger percentage. Its all a bit of a gamble, and I gotta admit, its one of the things I both love and hate about them.
I indeed can't wait for the day when it gets harder to make culling decisions because the overall quality of stock has improved. Me thinks that will be a very good problem to have!