Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[Wynette]

I'm honestly always dismayed when I see a post like yours! Really?!? Are you seriously stating that you've never sold a rooster for breeding purposes? IMO- If a roo doesn't fit into my breeding plan, it certainly doesn't meant that it might not add a needed dimension to another flock. I was expecting to sell 1 of these 6 roos as a breeder....and the rest are/were freezer quality which is what made the situation seem so off. That being said, I've had an individual purchase a Marans roo from me simply because it was extremely docile and they needed a family friendly rooster...they didn't have another Marans hen on their property. In your opinion, should I not have sold them a rooster?

I never said I don't sell cockerels or cock birds for breeding purposes; I do not, however, sell CULL males for breeding purposes.

This is the "breeds, genetics & showing" section...in this section, we discuss breeding to the SOP, strategies to breed out (or in) certain traits, raising & conditioning birds for exhibition. Part & parcel to that is dispatching inferior birds. There are plenty of other threads that discuss pet quality birds, and I have no problem with that at all.

Of course, do as you wish - this is America!!

And if we were discussing a breed/variety that had been approved many years ago, this would be a very different discussion. I learned long ago that a whole lot of folks who SAY they just want a flock protector, or to hear crowing on their farms, often DO end up using them for breeding. Here's the thing. Again, selling a male that's really not worthy of breeding forward does put more bad birds out there; also, it's a strike against your reputation. Think about it...sell a crappy male (and I mean no offense by that but - again - this is the Breeds, Genetics, and Showing section and the intent here is for these type of discussions) to someone who "says" they won't use him for breeding...they change their minds when they see the high prices the nice birds of the breed sell for, and they advertise that their birds come from YOUR farm.

Marans are dual-purpose birds, and are fine eating. This is why I personally don't breed bantams...not much meat on a bantam carcass.

Again, I want to stress that I am not trying to offend; just offering my own personal opinion. There are a whole lot of folks on here that are new to the breed, and who come here for information...it's important to discuss "both sides" of dealing with extra cockerels/cock birds.

 

[DMRippy]

Quote: He is not a a solid color marans. He has something in his back ground that gave him the barring. Like a barred rock or a cuckoo marans. He will pass the barring to at least half his offspring if not all his off spring. My guess is he just has one copy of the barring. If he got the barring from a barred rock you will get yellow legs to pop up.... not a good thing.

Look at his hackles you will see the barring on the feathers.... very faint but it is there.

 

[CarolinaSkies]

Folks, the previous thread was closed due to the bickering that broke out in the last few days. It will remain closed on the forum for our future reference.

This is our second chance - let's ALL work together to make sure this one doesn't end up spiraling downward.

Please remember that there is ALWAYS (did I say ALWAYS) a way to get your point across without being rude, inconsiderate, and/or arrogant. There, I've said it. We all know this breed is fairly new to the U.S. and that until the proposed standard is approved, there will be varying opinions, which is welcomed. Please just put a few seconds of thought in before you his the post button.

I want to add one last additional note - there's not a thing wrong with folks just wanting some pretty birds that lay a gorgeous egg - let's remember that, and not jump all over peeps who just want to learn about this breed & have pretty eggs in their egg baskets. Breeding for show is not for everyone, and it certainly shouldn't be pushed onto someone that's not interested in it.

Okay, post away!!!

I never said I don't sell cockerels or cock birds for breeding purposes; I do not, however, sell CULL males for breeding purposes.

This is the "breeds, genetics & showing" section...in this section, we discuss breeding to the SOP, strategies to breed out (or in) certain traits, raising & conditioning birds for exhibition. Part & parcel to that is dispatching inferior birds. There are plenty of other threads that discuss pet quality birds, and I have no problem with that at all.

Of course, do as you wish - this is America!!

And if we were discussing a breed/variety that had been approved many years ago, this would be a very different discussion. I learned long ago that a whole lot of folks who SAY they just want a flock protector, or to hear crowing on their farms, often DO end up using them for breeding. Here's the thing. Again, selling a male that's really not worthy of breeding forward does put more bad birds out there; also, it's a strike against your reputation. Think about it...sell a crappy male (and I mean no offense by that but - again - this is the Breeds, Genetics, and Showing section and the intent here is for these type of discussions) to someone who "says" they won't use him for breeding...they change their minds when they see the high prices the nice birds of the breed sell for, and they advertise that their birds come from YOUR farm.

Marans are dual-purpose birds, and are fine eating. This is why I personally don't breed bantams...not much meat on a bantam carcass.

Again, I want to stress that I am not trying to offend; just offering my own personal opinion. There are a whole lot of folks on here that are new to the breed, and who come here for information...it's important to discuss "both sides" of dealing with extra cockerels/cock birds.

- By definition, by virtue of you removing a rooster from your breeders, whether it's SOP or not, it's a CULL.
- FYI, ill-bred, poor quality and now crappy....not sure that fits with the tone of your very first post, but anything for a productive discussion I suppose.
- I have NO problem with Marans as meat birds but I don't care to deal with the mess personally, so they are sold.

To recap, expand and follow the effects of your premise: We should never sell less than SOP roosters to anyone because they might breed them. Which leads to:

1.) It doesn't matter whether they are being sold for meat or not....someone might take them and breed them. So there goes any profit in selling Marans roos for meat. OK.

Moving right along.
2.) Chicks make roosters, and a good percentage of those won't be SOP, so drawing from that....we should never sell chicks. So there goes any profit there. OK.
Let's see....eggs make chicks, so... (Do you sell eggs? hmmm. Do they ALL hatch SOP?) Sorry, off-track so,
3.) We should never sell eggs....again, might hatch into roosters that aren't SOP and might be breed. No $ there.
And again, unless you sell to someone who is willing to dispatch those pesky non-SOP roos themselves, just don't sell eggs. OK, got it.

"What about eggs for consumption?", you ask? Well, following your premise, if a rooster was w/ in striking distance of the laying hen. NO SALE! Again, eggs turn into chicks, which might be NON-SOP, a bakery might decide to keep that rooster and breed it. So, no profit there!

4.) But wait. Why are we only focusing on roosters? Those pullets and hens are just bags of feathery, potential Non-SOP genes! So no sale of pullets as egg layers, meat birds or otherwise. No profit there!

That premise wiped out pretty much any and all demand for Marans in the US, so I don't think that I care for it, but to each his own.
I stand by my decision as a Marans owner to work with a potential buyer to find a bird that might balance or enhance their stock. And I stand by my decision to sell birds for the freezer. My original post was trying to find out if roosters were being used for something that was cruel or inhumane that I wasn't aware of and I was attempting to tap the chicken community for that information. This specific post may not have been the best option, however, as usual, it certainly brought up other interesting concerns.

And I would also like to stress that I am not trying to offend, just offering my own, personal opinion.

"I have never in my life learned anything from any man who agreed with me". Dudley Field Malone.

 

[Wynette]

Thanks for your commentary, Skies. I always enjoy hearing opinions.

 

[elorraine52]

He is not a a solid color marans. He has something in his back ground that gave him the barring. Like a barred rock or a cuckoo marans. He will pass the barring to at least half his offspring if not all his off spring. My guess is he just has one copy of the barring. If he got the barring from a barred rock you will get yellow legs to pop up.... not a good thing.

Look at his hackles you will see the barring on the feathers.... very faint but it is there.

well heck, no, I never even noticed it until you pointed it out. Not like I have any choice at this point, guess I 'll just have to see what they produce together....the eggs they came from were purchased from someone who I met on BYC, I guess you never know what you're going to get. Anyway, I really wanted some more BBS marans hens, just for the eggs. I'm not even sure he is doing his job, have not seen him mating with any of his hens since I've separated them. May have to go with purchased eggs after all....

 

[Wynette]

I'm not even sure he is doing his job, have not seen him mating with any of his hens since I've separated them.

Try playing some Barry White, and lighting some candles.

 

[DMRippy]

 
 I'm not even sure he is doing his job, have not seen him mating with any of his hens since I've separated them.

Try playing some Barry White, and lighting some candles. 

that always works for me! LOL

 

[elorraine52]

Try playing some Barry White, and lighting some candles.

 

[Runawaylobster]

Try playing some Barry White, and lighting some candles.

mix oysters in the feed

 

[BCMaraniac]

mix oysters in the feed