Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[chickee]

it was as if my dog or cat just gave birth! which they never have nor will, but I could just imagine it's like that! haha! the chicks won't be until springtime right?

Not sure I will wait that long

 

[BLT79]

Not sure I will wait that long

haha! well not sure if any of mine will go broody, and I don't have an incubator!

 

[chickee]

haha! well not sure if any of mine will go broody, and I don't have an incubator!

Safer not to have one! Keeps the numbers down!

 

[ellieemae]

I'm one of the people who just wants pretty birds and pretty eggs. I already show my horse and used to show my dog. That's enough competition for me. LOL That said, I absolutely love how the Blue Splash marans look and I'll be hatching some marans eggs soon. I'm just curious if anyone has gotten darker-than-Orpington brown with their blue splash marans? I've heard that the egg color is pretty dilute in that variation.

 

[BLT79]

Safer not to have one! Keeps the numbers down!

yea chicken math!

 

[HighNDryFarm]

I have a question for ya'll. After picking through 7 Black Copper Marans cockerels and the one BCM rooster that I purchased, I still have three that I'm picking from. If I could get some input, that would be appreciated.

Their issues are:
#1 My rooster, has nice body type, size and good coloring but has very little shank feathering, so little that it's stubs more then feathers and after hatching some of his babies, he has passed this on, even when bred to well shank feathered hens. He comes from a breeder that has nice dark egg color but I don't know exactly how dark of an egg he came from and I haven't kept any of his pullets to see what color of eggs they lay.
#2 Is a 6 month old cockerel with good body type, exceptional size, good coloring and shank feathering. His issue is he has some white that has shown up in his feet and a little at the base of his tail. He came from a dark egg project I'm working on with a friend.
#3 Has good body type, size, shank feathers but has two different colors from his hackle feathers to his back feathers. He also came from my dark egg project.

Which of these issues are the easiest faults to get rid of or is it not so cut and dry?

Thanks!

 

[lindz8504]

Question for you guys... I have 3 BCM chicks that are 3 weeks old. I am wondering if anyone can help me tell whether they are cockerels or pullets..... I have a head shot and a wing shot of each.... They are all feathering pretty fast, and have more feathers on their bodies than their buff cochin hatch mates.... They also have tail feathers, which the cochins don't yet.

Chick one.... pinkish comb




Chick 2 orangish comb




Chick 3 light orange/yellowish comb

 

[desertmarcy]

I have a question for ya'll. After picking through 7 Black Copper Marans cockerels and the one BCM rooster that I purchased, I still have three that I'm picking from. If I could get some input, that would be appreciated.

Their issues are:
#1 My rooster, has nice body type, size and good coloring but has very little shank feathering, so little that it's stubs more then feathers and after hatching some of his babies, he has passed this on, even when bred to well shank feathered hens. He comes from a breeder that has nice dark egg color but I don't know exactly how dark of an egg he came from and I haven't kept any of his pullets to see what color of eggs they lay.
#2 Is a 6 month old cockerel with good body type, exceptional size, good coloring and shank feathering. His issue is he has some white that has shown up in his feet and a little at the base of his tail. He came from a dark egg project I'm working on with a friend.
#3 Has good body type, size, shank feathers but has two different colors from his hackle feathers to his back feathers. He also came from my dark egg project.

Which of these issues are the easiest faults to get rid of or is it not so cut and dry?

Thanks!

If you are breeding to the SOP, then I would rule out #1 since lack of shank feathering is a disqualification and you have already proven that he is passing on this trait.

I would say if the other two have no DQs, then you need to look at the whole bird and evaluate which to use, and not focus too much on any one trait. White in the tail can be hard to get rid of, in my experience, and pass on and multiply in the male offspring. Ideally you want the copper coloring to be uniform in the bird, but if all else is good with #3, I would use him. Type should always come before color. Also I would advise keeping your two top males so you have a back up in case something happens to one.

These are my thoughts and I am certainly no expert.

 

[pinkchick]

Question for you guys... I have 3 BCM chicks that are 3 weeks old. I am wondering if anyone can help me tell whether they are cockerels or pullets..... I have a head shot and a wing shot of each.... They are all feathering pretty fast, and have more feathers on their bodies than their buff cochin hatch mates.... They also have tail feathers, which the cochins don't yet. Chick one.... pinkish comb Chick 2 orangish comb First one is a cockerel and I believe both of the others are pullets. Chick 3 light orange/yellowish comb

 

[naightengale]

can you sex marans by looking at their neck feathers like you can some other chickens?? ive got several that i think are roos just because they are full of color.. but a few mostly have color around the neck... so im trying to deside if i have females with too much color or roos that are just right... its very confusing.. the 2 full grown hens are all black with chips of color here and there.. but these new ones are a mystery to me..roo with too much color or normal colored roos... or hens with too much color??