Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[desertmarcy]

These are the layers and my rooster. I think only one or two have started laying.

These are an Ameraucana or Easter Egger cross. Notice the comb. It should be a single straight comb on a Marans. The combs on your look half and half, straight and pea, but more pea, like an Ameraucana. Also notice the muffs---the puffy feathers on their cheeks. The combs and muffs are dead giveaways that they are crossed with Ameraucana or Easter Egger. They will lay pretty eggs, but they are not Marans. Sorry.

 

[desertmarcy]

Is it possible for one hen to throw both feathered and smooth shanks? The chicks were hatched from eggs I purchased so I don't know how many hens were in the breeding pen. I want to breed to the FBCM SOP.

Yes. That is what I got with one hen. Some had feathering, some were completely clean.

 

[desertmarcy]

These new Black Copper Marans chicks I got are wild! They were a week old when I got them. I have not had any of my chicks, Marans or any other breed, jump out of my brooder bins until they are almost 2 weeks old. Then I put wire over top, but before they start jumping out, I don't bother. Well the morning after I got these, 3 were on the floor. Then I found a 4th clear on the other side of the room, in with some turkeys. That one must have jumped out the first day, because I toe punched all the new ones the evening after they arrived, and the one that found it's way to the turkey brooder wasn't toe punched yet! I don't handle my chicks, no time for it, but they aren't this crazy. These new ones have a lot of energy, that is for sure! I hope I get some good ones out of these.

 

[jackdragbean]

LeMec,

No. These are not marans eggs. Even if the chicken has good physical traits, it's not a marans unless the egg color is a 4 or above on the color chart. Possible you got olive eggers.

 

[Burleigh Chick]

Hope everyone had a great weekend!!!
I am hoping all of you learned Marans folks can give me an educated guess as to the sex of this French Wheaten Marans, I only have the one of this breed so I have no one to compare him/her to. This pic was taken today and it was 4 weeks on friday....
My guess is pullet.... but I I DON"T KNOW!!!!

thank you in advance!!!

h

 

[pinkchick]

Chickee~


Things I look for while chicks are growing out.

From hatch:
Crooked toes, curled toes, cross beak, green legs, yellow legs, splay leg ( most often splay leg can be fixed, but even though they are fixed it does not mean I will breed from that bird), slipped tendon, fused toes or webbed toes, failure to thrive ( I usually cull chicks that are not thrifty as I don’t want to breed that forward). I am sure there are some things I am missing and hope others will chime in with their thoughts.

From about a week old to about 6 or so weeks of age I watch them closely as they feather out and I start watching for mossiness. Mossy can be seen coming in on them very early. I have had a few mossy chicks that were produced from birds that I brought in from other breeders, I will not breed a mossy bird as I believe that it is a sure sign of Wheaten influences in genetics. There are other signs of Wheaten influences in the BCM and Blue Copper varieties that I watch for as well if the birds I am raising are outcrosses from other lines, I watch for shafting in the breast of both male and females. Shafting is where the shaft of the feather is not black but looks more of a goldish yellowy color and the feather looks orangey stippled.
Over the next couple of months as the chicks now look like little miniature chickens and should be fully feathered out, I usually have had my eye on a few of them since hatch that appear that they are going to be good typey birds. This is something that you can see when they are very young but it is learned, it took me years to be able to spot certain traits in young chicks that help me make choices early on for type and conformation. One of the easiest things for me to spot on young birds is their head shape and the distance between their legs, more on the legs below.
Even in very young birds I watch for how wide the bird is going to be in the shoulders and down the back to the tail. I look for good tail sets, long backs, nice deep keels and good distance between the legs when they are standing. I cull all birds that look knock-kneed or that have very little distance between the legs, I believe they are too narrow of a bodied bird and do not produce good offspring by way of broadness and type.

This is also when I start narrowing them down by combs. I keep all that show a good number of points, whether they have 6 or 4, I’ve even been known to keep a bird with 3 points of the rest of the bird is good. If I see a sprig, no matter what the rest of the bird is like, they are culled. Twisted combs are another thing to look for and watch. Some will have a small twist at the front of the comb and I would say that most of the time this twist or wave grows out with the bird and corrects itself, it’s when it does not that I will cull. I cull all birds that have a twist in the blade of the comb (where the blade turns to the right or the left) it will breed forward and is undesirable when breeding to the SOP. I will also remove birds for the head shape at this age, if they don’t have a big proud strong head, they are not bred. Vicki posted a photo of one of her pullets not too long ago that showed a great example of a nice Marans head. If we ask her nice I bet she would post it again for us. 
At about a couple months or a bit older you can really see these little beasts personalities blossom and their bodies start to take shape. They change very fast from here to sexual maturity and males can change even more until 1 year of age plus.
I like to start looking for nice open tails and how they carry the tail and present themselves. I take note of birds that have a more pinched tail and watch them grow, if it remains, they are culled from the program. Squirrel tail and roach back are a couple other things a person can see pretty early on and cull for. Wry tail is another, but it is IME, not as easy to spot on a younger bird vs. a bird that is approx. 4-5 months old.
After about 2-3 months of age, I start really watching the plumage color and copper. I watch for things such as edging on the Blue Coppers (BCM breeders need not worry about this) and I watch the copper coming in and the tone of it as well as tone of the blue. BCM breeders would also be watching for the tone of copper and also if the black underfluff has a brownish tint to it. Brownish tinted underfluff that is just not true black is said to be another sign of Wheaten influences.
From here until about 5-6 months of age, I just watch them closely because they do a lot of changing during this time. I look for any white in the hackles of the males specifically. I also look for other things that I may have missed along the way or if the bird is just slow to show any faults or such. This is also the time that eye color changes on both male and female. Dark eyed birds are culled unless they have more good to offer than not, but for the most part I try to keep and breed birds with correct eye color. White in the wing tip that happens in some young Marans, if they have it, should by this time be covered or covering by black. I should say that if it is still there after their first molt it is undesirable and considered a fault for SOP breedings.
Now it’s the wait and see egg color game.
Will come back with more later with an edited post. I also hope that everyone else pops by and discusses what they do and adds to it and points out tons of things I know I missed and didn’t touch on or corrects me if I have misspoken. Also it’s great to get as many opinions as you can because what I might be breeding and looking for may be completely different than what the next person is looking and breeding for in their program.

 

[pinkchick]

Hope everyone had a great weekend!!! I am hoping all of you learned Marans folks can give me an educated guess as to the sex of this French Wheaten Marans, I only have the one of this breed so I have no one to compare him/her to. This pic was taken today and it was 4 weeks on friday.... My guess is pullet.... but I I DON"T KNOW!!!!

thank you in advance!!!

h

I think the first one is a pullet and the second one is male.

 

[DMRippy]

Hope everyone had a great weekend!!! I am hoping all of you learned Marans folks can give me an educated guess as to the sex of this French Wheaten Marans, I only have the one of this breed so I have no one to compare him/her to. This pic was taken today and it was 4 weeks on friday.... My guess is pullet.... but I I DON"T KNOW!!!!

thank you in advance!!!

h

I think the first one is a pullet and the second one is male.

I think they are the same bird...... i am voting pullet. But i dont do wheaten marans..... just ameraucanas.

 

[Runawaylobster]

I think they are the same bird...... i am voting pullet. But i dont do wheaten marans..... just ameraucanas.

you know for me the wheaten marans were an afterthought because i had 10 chicks available from someone, but i am
really warming up to them, the pullets are really pretty

 

[Brada Puhi]

Aloha e Pinkchick,

Mahalo nui for your insight on breeding practices. I too hope that others will chime in with their mana'o.

What do you think about a black comb? I have blue coppers and three are really dark but the one female is really gray(or "blue"). Her comb though is black. You would probably cull that huh?

How's the egg color on your marans? Is that a huge culling factor for you? I know you said you have more coming. Looking forward.

aloha, puhi