Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[OneMountainAcres]

Thank you!  I didn't think about being able to add the chicks back.  Do you have any experience with CMs as mothers?

I've only had one BCM hen go broody once and while she was a decent mother to her chicks, she was not very protective of them. They all grew up ok but my flock is very accepting of young birds. It was probably just my girl though and was only 1 experience.

 

[snowbird]

I have two Marans that I purchased about 2 weeks ago. They are 7 weeks 2 days old. I am pretty certain they are both pullets. When I picked them out from amongst their brothers, I thought I was picking two Black or Black Copper Marans. I am wondering if one might be a Blue Copper Maran. It is noticeably lighter than the Black one. The lighter one also has copper flecks starting to show up around the neck area. Any insight/opinions are welcomed. I compared the lighter one to Blue Coppers online and it looks darker than those but lighter than the Black one I have. I would be thrilled if she is a Blue Copper. I am new to this breed. Thank you!

Yes, you have a Blue and a black, I see no copper yet.

 

[MedSchlFarmers]

Quote:
Thank you! Im thrilled. A can see small amounts of copper on the blue one. None on the black. So hard to capture it in a picture.

 

[Bantambird]

Thank you!  I didn't think about being able to add the chicks back.  Do you have any experience with CMs as mothers?

You will only be able to add back chicks within a day or 2 beyond hatch, usually. If the mother is a good one maybe 3 days. Do it after dark.

 

[fatcatx]

Can someone help out a Maran newbie?
We hatched some Wheaten and the feathering development is different about 50/50 so I am assuming it is a boy vs girl thing? Some have long full wings and the beginnings of a tail. The others have stubby wings and no evident tail yet. Can someone tell me which are the pullets? Their behavior is not giving it away yet.

Side note: I had not originally planned on keeping any but these are such sweet easy-going birds I may have no choice!

 

[fatcatx]

Can someone help out a Maran newbie?
We hatched some Wheaten and the feathering development is different about 50/50 so I am assuming it is a boy vs girl thing? Some have long full wings and the beginnings of a tail. The others have stubby wings and no evident tail yet. Can someone tell me which are the pullets? Their behavior is not giving it away yet.

After doing some more searching on the threads, I'm more stumped than I was before. The general rule for large fowl (according to other threads) is tails + wings = pullets. I posted this question on the general Sex thread and the one responder agreed with tails + wings = pullets

However I found a Buff Orp thread where the opposite was true with helpful pictures. We had a Buff Orp several years ago that turned out to be a cockerel and it matched their pictures. So in the case of an Orp, it looks like tails + wings = cockeral

Hoping someone here can confirm which it is for Marans?

 

[PhxChickens]

4 months is too young to make a judgment on whether or not he is worthy of breeding. A lot can change, they don't really mature until a year old or more. Lightly feathered toes/shanks can be worked with when used over hens with more feathering. Middle toe feathers are considered a fault only. More important is type, type, and type!

Thanks for the response!

 

[luvmychickenz]

Thanks Aurora! I fired up the incubator just in case she doesn't stick with it, and will put in brooder after they hatch if doesn't work out. Will see shortly.

 

[dvoice]

Can someone help out a Maran newbie? We hatched some Wheaten and the feathering development is different about 50/50 so I am assuming it is a boy vs girl thing? Some have long full wings and the beginnings of a tail. The others have stubby wings and no evident tail yet. Can someone tell me which are the pullets? Their behavior is not giving it away yet. Side note: I had not originally planned on keeping any but these are such sweet easy-going birds I may have no choice!

You will see at a cpl weeks as feathers come in. The cockerels will have some black on their wings. The pullets will have a light milk chocolate colour.

 

[gbartha]

Not sure if these are cuckoo marans or barred rocks? Legs are much pinker than my dominiques. They are 3 weeks today.

Chick #1 *Sparkles*


Chick #2 *Batman*


Chick #3 *phoebe*