Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[mommachick1]

Quote:
I'll have some Olive Egger hatching eggs available this Fall. Brought in some new breeding lines, and trying to get the perfect "Olive" color first before I offer them.

 

[BLT79]

Hello all,
I am an official maran chick owner! The first baby we got is a rir/cuckoo maran mix. We just went and picked up 3 more hens. these are older, and two appear to be black copper and one splash. There is a chance they could have americauna in them. will post photos later and maybe someone can help on age and if they are mixed or not. The lady thought they were born around Memorial Day but they appear to be much bigger than the other ones we have that were born on June 1 and 2nd. thanks

 

[ashandvine]

okay going to try again because I didn't type my question well the first time despite trying:

I have a young bird here, still feathering in. It has all the right stuff... but it has extra. By extra I mean that there are some mahogany flecks or chips on the ends of the feathers where you would typically see spangling or mille fleur or mottling etc. It is NOT mossy. None of this hatch are. I was wondering if anyone knew if this would molt out like the white does. Does it? Thanks

 

[my4ladies]

I'll have some Olive Egger hatching eggs available this Fall. Brought in some new breeding lines, and trying to get the perfect "Olive" color first before I offer them.

Thank you, but I'm looking for some to buy now. Good luck

.

 

[desertmarcy]

Thanks for your feedback, Wynette, on my mahogany male. I will keep an eye on that white at the base of his tail. I did not think his shank/foot color was too light, so I should be looking for a darker slate? The flash may make them look lighter, too. I will have to wash his feet and look again. One of the things I find frustrating in breeding to SOP with the Marans is the tail angle. I get one like this cockerel, whose tail angle looks good, but then gets higher by the time they are a year old. Like your comment about the white in the tail, these things popping up when the bird is older sure make this a challenge.

 

[Zanna]

Thanks for your feedback, Wynette, on my mahogany male. I will keep an eye on that white at the base of his tail. I did not think his shank/foot color was too light, so I should be looking for a darker slate? The flash may make them look lighter, too. I will have to wash his feet and look again. One of the things I find frustrating in breeding to SOP with the Marans is the tail angle. I get one like this cockerel, whose tail angle looks good, but then gets higher by the time they are a year old. Like your comment about the white in the tail, these things popping up when the bird is older sure make this a challenge.

I have a really promising young BCM cockeral (actually he is a Cock now) that came in with white at the base of two main sickle feathers. It was suggested that I pull them out and see if they grew back correctly. If not, cull. I pulled them out 2 mos. ago and still waiting to see what grows back. Also posted recently about my only GNH cockeral with the same issue, seemed to pop up out of the blue The discussion on that thread was that it would only get worse after each molt and this bird should not be used for breeding. Bummer................. Glad it is popping up in these younger birds though. My past experiences were similar to Wynette's, the birds were 1 1/2 - 2 years old before it reared its ugly head!

 

[Wynette]

Often people say the white feathers in the tail can be due to a follicle injury, which I think can be true, but I also believe that maybe 99% of the time, that's not the cause. If it's a follicle injury, the feather will grow back the correct color after it's pulled.

Shank color has been a point of contention; SOP calls for medium to dark slate, with pink undertones showing through. For the male. The female will be dark slate. I feel like we're seeing lighter & lighter shanks, and I don't know if that is the wheaten influence being shown or something else. The shanks may be properly slate, desertmarcy - that's a tough thing to see in pics.

 

[BLT79]

Ok, here are some photos of our new babies. They were born on May 23rd. Wondering if you think they are mixed. Doesn't matter to me, just wondering because lady said they could of been fertilized by a Americauna rooster!

 

[Labmum2]

Desertmarcy, I'm not a chicken expert, but he sure looks handsome to me. I'm jealous!

 

[Dewayne441]

I am looking forward to my first hatch out off my French marans. they are from a splash cockerel and a black hen. I expect to get mostly blues.