Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[elorraine52]

this is my BS marans roo, again the only one I have left after predation problems last summer. Hoping to set some eggs within the next month or so from the pair....

 

[ashandvine]

No one said anything about the type on my pullet. I was hoping for that.

FWIW I read that those culls were going to be bred. Its one thing to cull a bird out because he isn't THE best and another to cull out for reasons of flaws. Wynette is right. If people are going to cull their birds for faults or flaws and then know they are going off to be bred somewhere those people aren't helping the breed any. As someone who has two breeds of chicken here that are 'rare' I can say its so much work to bring them back to a place where they 'should be.' There are plenty of hungry folks out there who'd be happy to have a chicken to eat. Of course, nothing says this person who is buying them isn't interested in making OE. They might. Or meat birds. They might, right?

 

[Wynette]

Help me see her type flaws and good points please.


See how her comb wobbles?


This is her helping herself to the grain I took out to tempt her to stand still. Silly silly girl.

Is this a Black Copper, Ashandvine? If so, of course she's overmelanized.
Looking at the top picture, and assuming that's a natural pose for her (it's never the best to do evaluations via pictures, but often it's the best we can do), she has a nice topline. Her back is nice and long, something I see lacking in most. Also, it runs very slightly uphill from base of tail to base of neck, as it should. Also, her wing carriage is quite good - it should be horizontal, and is almos perfect. I was at the Newnan, Georgia show this past weekend and, frankly, was disappointed at the wingset on the majority of the ones I saw there. Her tail angle is also good. I can't see here eyes...are they dark? They should be the color of a ripe pumpkin. Shank feathering looks a bit light, but that's an easy fix. Is her tail pinched? Her underline isn't great, and I suspect her long back would make it difficult to get a nice, filed out breast, though it's tough to be able to tell unless the bird was in person. She's definitely has a wave in her comb. I know that some folks would cull for that, but IMHO, most programs are not far enough along to be worrying about that. There are lines that have extremely large wattles & combs...if you bred this female to a male that's got a smaller comb, that may fix the issue, but again, I wouldn't make that the #1 item that you put on the "fix-it list."

 

[ashandvine]

THANK YOU. I know she is too dark. All but one of mine are. She is still a pullet so I am hoping her breast will fill out. I didn't even look at her wing. This is why I love feedback. The wavy comb is in all but one of my pullets as well. Smaller combs in general would be a blessing. Her legs are light? Should they be dark slate like an Ams? I should check that. [So many things to remember.] A full hand width pelvic floor made me happy. I did notice that some of the eyes in these girls were more like ale or a light stout than pumpkin. Again I think I have ONE pullet that has that light eye. Flat backs are on all of them. I love that, too. Do you think she/they will develop more fully? She is an imp. I was hoping feedback on her would be relatively redeeming because I like her little personality. I know, chicken, but she is standing out without me trying.

 

[BCMaraniac]

Here are some of my splash Marans. I only have one pullet, and the others are roos. The pullet is from a spring hatch last year, so she is about 9 months old. The roosters are from a late summer hatch, so they are around 6-7 months old. Their pullet hatch mates, which are blue birchen, have started laying within the past two weeks

They are out of what appeared to be Blue Birchen Marans, and all of my other Marans are coppers. I guess since my main focus is breeding for good meat birds, the color cross really doesn't matter. I got them primarily because the rooster they are out of is huge, and am hoping they will pass some size onto their offspring. I also like the color too.

 

[Wynette]

Her shank color is fine.

There's a lot to be said for a good disposition.

 

[kara1015]

Any guesses on the sex of these 3 chicks? They are 5-6 weeks old. Don't mind the marks on their beaks, the chick waterer is too small for them now. Changed it out today.

 

[mikefields]

I have turned the roo's into fryers. How do you caponize a bird, sounds difficult to do! I would love to try it.

 

[BCMaraniac]

I have turned the roo's into fryers. How do you caponize a bird, sounds difficult to do! I would love to try it.

You have to make an incision be tween the lower two ribs, spread them apart and remove the testicles from inside the abdomen. It takes practice to become proficient, but it lets you grow out a larger, more tender bird. This is usually done at 6-8 weeks of age, although I have done it on 4 week old birds as long as I could tell for certain they were roos.

 

[ladycat]

That's great that you can get so much for them in your area - around here, cull cockerels sell for MAYBE $3 each. Awesome for you!!

$3 each is a great price! Around here, you can't give away roosters for free!

Which means I have a steady supply of Marans in my diet.

Marans soup, Marans stew, Marans chicken salad, Marans burritos.....