Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[bamadude]

@snaffle
I paid good $ for wheatens.

 

[forgetful]

Butchered three BCM cockerels and a wyandotte hen that had her leg crushed by a horse. It was my first go at it. Cockerels were lean, as expected, and I found the unlaid eggs from the hen very interesting. She laid that morning before butchering. I didn't get a chance to weigh any of them. The Marans were about 30 weeks old, just the right age to be fighting each other over hens and crowing at 4 in the morning. I finally got my water temperature stable on the last bird. I found that 160 for five seconds was perfect. Feathers rolled right off.

 

[Catfishfedd]

Wow! I find that interesting as well, I had no idea, and can't be alone, thanks for posting!

 

[chickix]

I'm looking for a Marans pullet preferably Blue Birchen to add to my small flock of six spoiled ladies. Does anyone know of places local to Northern California that has any?? I'm also willing to pay for shipping from out of state. I am limited on the number of chickens I can have in my neighborhood & no Roos...so straight run chicks or hatching eggs isn't a good option for me.

Thanks!

 

[mymilliefleur]

Butchered three BCM cockerels and a wyandotte hen that had her leg crushed by a horse. It was my first go at it. Cockerels were lean, as expected, and I found the unlaid eggs from the hen very interesting. She laid that morning before butchering. I didn't get a chance to weigh any of them. The Marans were about 30 weeks old, just the right age to be fighting each other over hens and crowing at 4 in the morning. I finally got my water temperature stable on the last bird. I found that 160 for five seconds was perfect. Feathers rolled right off.

How old were the cockerels? One thing I like about the Marans is the fact that the roosters grow out to a good size so fast. They even mature faster than the my sexlink roosters.
Nice looking egg yolks! To bad you had to butcher her, it looks like she was a good layer.

 

[forgetful]

They were about 30 weeks old. They mostly free ranged, with feed available in their coop. They preferred scratching around outside however. I could have processed last month most likely, but didn't have the time. They've been this size for a little while.

She was! She was injured on Friday, laid that day, laid that Saturday, laid the morning of, and it looks like she was getting ready for today. I hated that she got injured, but I made the right decision I think.

 

[One Chick Two]

This is my 2nd year hatching out Black Copper Marans. I am very disappointed this year because out of about 40 chicks, 4 have been Wheaten.

I am going to see if I can figure out which of my chickens is carrying the Wheaten gene.

My question, is: What should I do with the wheatens that hatch out this season? Sell them as brown egg layers? Tell people they are Wheaten Marans but not pure?

Snaffle... as Donna suggested, your male is definitely split for Wheaten. And at least one or more of the hens are split as well. There needs to be both genes from both parents present for eWH expression in the young. The hens will have to be test mated for Wheaten to know which are the split hens.

Okay... the odds for splits are 1 in 4 are Wheaten (or split for Wheaten). That means, in your 40 existing chicks, should be about 10 chicks actually are split, but not showing the obvious signs (like their parents.) and look pure, which is misleading and gets everyone into trouble. However, 30 chicks should be pure Golden Birchen based (BCMs.) and would need to be test mated to make sure they do not carry tainted genes.

Here's one idea for what you can do:
Sell the obviously split chicks, or any mossy chicks as you suggested as brown egg layers (pets) but not as pure, so people know exactly what they are purchasing. Some people only want pets who lay dark eggs, no breeding. Otherwise, the same thing will happen to an innocent party that happened to you, and it's just better to be totally upfront.

With the remaining pure looking chicks, grow them out, then, test mate each one with a Wheaten based bird. (Clean out the hen for at least 3 weeks.)

I suggest the Wheaten based birds be lighter, perhaps like a RIR, so you can see yellow shanks on chicks (but not a black bird). Each tested bird needs 20 test mate chicks each to be sure.

Anything that hatches other than black chicks with white bellies with yellow shanks should signal that bird is a Wheaten carrier. Even if the chick expresses copper on the head only it is tainted in some way. Still means there is something wrong and should be removed from the breeding program.

Ideally, you may want to consider getting many more feet on the ground so you can hopefully replace your roo with a pure based son. You should have at least 15 cockerels to get a fair choice of males.

If you decide to scrap your current flock and purchase other stock, just be aware that you may still be in the same position of needing to test your flock, as far too many flock owners have not, or, do not test their flocks. Anyone who does not test their flocks should be avoided unless you are not breeding BCM or you will run into this problem again and again. We purchased an additional 6 lines to combine with our main flock, and 5 out of the 6 purchased lines expressed Wheaten! One "top" line threw yellow shanked chicks.

We now test every chicken that sets foot here- even if a seller tells us for sure their stock is clean... mistakes can happen... and I think we found every one of them last year, lol. Just saying... you might be able to clean up your flock completely in just a few short months with some effort. It is worth knowing for sure that your flock is clear of Wheaten.

Good luck!!!

 

[GasMenagerie]

I'm in Northern California and would like to replenish my chickens with Wheaten Marans. I had quite a few at one time, but over the years my flock has shrunk. I'm not a breeder or a shower -- just someone that loves the look of the birds. They have done well where I live and egg production is perfect for my family's needs.

Last year I spent quite a bit on hatching eggs, but had very little success with them. I've since learned they can be harder than average to incubate.

What I would like to do is find some chicks or pullets, but don't know of anyone in a 200 mile radius that has any.

Is there anyone here that is in Northern California that has any? I don't need show quality by any stretch! Just would like to see the Wheatens puttering around my yard again.

Thanks you in advance for any help you can offer!!

 

[CP-FARM]

30 out of 38 hatched That is a 79% hatching rate BCM and OE. One had a hard time getting out and pipped all the way around and didn't make it . But other than that not to bad. I will check the other eggs and see if there were feartal.

So I forgot to post on this. Seven of the eight were not fertile which is not bad with seven hens, on this hatch.

 

[chicken-whisperer]

Congrats I just hatched with about the same rate. Half BCM and half Blue Copper Marans with the girls that show no copper