Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[geebs]

Tell us more... I am thinking hen.... A Gherke line hen.... Wade jean... hmmm and that would be a mystery one... The early coloring gives a clue to the sex as a roo but I will never call it till it crows... The leg feathering says roo... agian not calling it a roo... I still think it is a hen.. This is one of those roo/hens.. She will have a big comb... She will probably be a nice layer... Geebs officially calls it a hen... there it is!!! I said it... Does that mean I get some of it's dark eggies.. ha ha..

(just teasin) Tell us more about it Urbanfarmboi

 

[cpartist]

Quote:
Math...I love the coloring on both these birds. My preference in the hens is just as yours presents; with definite, but not solid copper, that does not extend too far into the front and is not yellow or brassy. Your boy IMO has
the PERFECT coloring...those hackles are COPPER, not mahogany and no yellow....nice mahogany shoulders and a tad darker copper saddles....very nice, and rare

.

I also think leg feathering on both is excellent. My interpretation of "sparsely feathered" is a line of feathering that does not overwhelm and hide the toes, and I think both of these show a good example of this.

Eye color on both looks good, maybe a tad less "pumpkin" than desired, but certainly in the desired range and better than too dark or light.

Regarding his tail...I don't think he has "squirrel tail" which is when the whole tail arches upright and forward. His top tail feathers seem to be going in the right direction, I haven't seen one with the bottom feathers
poking up more upright than the top feathers and maybe after a molt these will follow a more natural curve. His tail is certainly not bushy, or too long, and may actually be an asset in breeding. I think the issue
may be more with his shorter back. Your hen looks to have a nice long back, so some of the chicks from these may have perfect tails. Besides a good angle, I believe the proposed standard calls for shorter, tighter tails,
than average, and your boy has that. I think complimentary/compensation breeding may work well with Marans since they are such a work in progress.

I'm growing out chicks from a similar pair. One hen has a longish back, and the roo has a shorter back, had some upright feathers that have molted out to a normal angle. So far, I'm really pleased with the tail angle
of the 14 week old offspring...I'm thinking you have may have good potential with this pair. Also, both pics show him with his weight moving forward. A more upright stance would give a better perspective on both tail
angle and length of back.

Regarding the comb... not perfect, but something we all seem to need to work on. People will tell you that it doesn't count much point wise, but it certainly is one of the first things you notice and judge when viewing
the overall bird. I'm not sure how to get a better comb, but when I wanted to get a Welsummer with a better comb, I just hatched eggs from the hen with the best comb...and hatched only one boy but he has a nicely
shaped, 5 point comb.

I think you have a good start....now hatch some chicks

.

 

[jeremy]

Quote:
If Geebs says it's a hen, I'm keepin' it!

Well, some days it acts like a cockerel, others it acts like a pullet. It will spar with the other chicks it's brooding with, but it always backs down (even though it's larger than most). To me it carries itself more like a girl, it's hardly upright and "proud" looking like you would expect a young cockerel to be. It's body carriage is more horizontal like I've seen with other hens. But yes, it's comb is gigantic... but it's not red! It still sounds very much like a chick, no rooster noises or hen clucks yet, so no hints there.

Maybe it's just a big girl, haha. I'll name it Bertha.

 

[Germaine_11.20]

I vote hen. I don't see any pointy hackles or saddle feathers, there is no wattle either. Even the hens will fight cause I know my hens and when they are working out the pecking order they will take on even the roos.

She does have alot of color though and it looks a bit mossy. They seem to lay the nicest eggs those mossy ones.

On a different note... I have a BCM who screams Roo but still doesn't have saddle feathers or hackles and he is almost all black. Weird. Came from an excellent line. It will be interesting to see him grow out if I let him live that long. He is a little meanie.

 

[math ace]

Quote:
Wow - - thanks for the details and Yippee ! !

Here is the history on these birds - - - the hen is suppose to be a presley / davis mix. How far removed - - I don't know.

The roo is suppose to be davis from Greenfire farms. I drove to Tallahassee and hand picked him and one other roo when they were a few weeks old. The other roo was not as good as this one and I sold (culled) him already. He had a better tail, BUT his coloring, build, and comb were not as good.

The hen only lays a 4 or 5 color egg. Not nearly dark enough for me. I am hoping that by crossing her back with the pure davis roo I will see an improvement in egg color. I really will not be happy with anything less than a 6 and would love to see a 7 on egg color. HOW REALISTIC IS THIS ?

The roo - - I saw his daddy at Greenfire and he was HUGE. So, this boy still has a lot of growing to do. My hen is a little on the light side and I, once again, am hoping that this pairing will improve the next generatioin.

 

[Germaine_11.20]

Quote:
Math...I love the coloring on both these birds. My preference in the hens is just as yours presents; with definite, but not solid copper, that does not extend too far into the front and is not yellow or brassy. Your boy IMO has
the PERFECT coloring...those hackles are COPPER, not mahogany and no yellow....nice mahogany shoulders and a tad darker copper saddles....very nice, and rare

.

I also think leg feathering on both is excellent. My interpretation of "sparsely feathered" is a line of feathering that does not overwhelm and hide the toes, and I think both of these show a good example of this.

Eye color on both looks good, maybe a tad less "pumpkin" than desired, but certainly in the desired range and better than too dark or light.

Regarding his tail...I don't think he has "squirrel tail" which is when the whole tail arches upright and forward. His top tail feathers seem to be going in the right direction, I haven't seen one with the bottom feathers
poking up more upright than the top feathers and maybe after a molt these will follow a more natural curve. His tail is certainly not bushy, or too long, and may actually be an asset in breeding. I think the issue
may be more with his shorter back. Your hen looks to have a nice long back, so some of the chicks from these may have perfect tails. Besides a good angle, I believe the proposed standard calls for shorter, tighter tails,
than average, and your boy has that. I think complimentary/compensation breeding may work well with Marans since they are such a work in progress.

I'm growing out chicks from a similar pair. One hen has a longish back, and the roo has a shorter back, had some upright feathers that have molted out to a normal angle. So far, I'm really pleased with the tail angle
of the 14 week old offspring...I'm thinking you have may have good potential with this pair. Also, both pics show him with his weight moving forward. A more upright stance would give a better perspective on both tail
angle and length of back.

Regarding the comb... not perfect, but something we all seem to need to work on. People will tell you that it doesn't count much point wise, but it certainly is one of the first things you notice and judge when viewing
the overall bird. I'm not sure how to get a better comb, but when I wanted to get a Welsummer with a better comb, I just hatched eggs from the hen with the best comb...and hatched only one boy but he has a nicely
shaped, 5 point comb.

I think you have a good start....now hatch some chicks

.

He is a handsome roo. Send him to me.

 

[jeremy]

Quote:
Thanks Germaine! I noticed she does have some mossy feathers on her back, though they're pretty minimal. I don't have BC roo (well, I don't if she's a she) so I don't plan on breeding her. Not for BCs at least. If it does turn out to be a hen she'll probably be put in the same pen as my BW Ameraucana to make some Olive Eggers.

 

[math ace]

Quote:
Thanks for the compliment. I'm afraid he will be too busy in the near future to take a trip to you. There is no time for a vacation for this young man. Just WORK, WORK, WORK. He has some babies to make ! !

Last night, I was cleaning, watering, etc. The girls were doing their thing, but Tsunami ( my FBCM roo) and Tic Tac ( my 2 month old SS roo) were on my heals. They were talking to me and following me all over. One was on my left and one was on my right. If they got too far behind, I stop called their names and they came running.

Tsunami is NOT keen on me holding him, but other than that he has a delightful personality. I am so glad he has been given a Big Thumbs Up

to use in breeding. It is this breeds personality that sold me on them to start off with. I never want to use a mean roo in breeding.
I have heard others state that they got rid of their entire flock of marans because they were mean / aggressive.

 

[Germaine_11.20]

Quote:
Thanks for the compliment. I'm afraid he will be too busy in the near future to take a trip to you. There is no time for a vacation for this young man. Just WORK, WORK, WORK. He has some babies to make ! !

Last night, I was cleaning, watering, etc. The girls were doing their thing, but Tsunami ( my FBCM roo) and Tic Tac ( my 2 month old SS roo) were on my heals. They were talking to me and following me all over. One was on my left and one was on my right. If they got too far behind, I stop called their names and they came running.

Tsunami is NOT keen on me holding him, but other than that he has a delightful personality. I am so glad he has been given a Big Thumbs Up

to use in breeding. It is this breeds personality that sold me on them to start off with. I never want to use a mean roo in breeding.
I have heard others state that they got rid of their entire flock of marans because they were mean / aggressive.

Fine.... but I know for a fact he wants to come here

 

[math ace]

Quote:
LOL