Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[Lotsapaints]

If I put my eggs in around 8AM I count the day I put them in as day 1 on the 18th day which counting that way would be Oct. 13th and I normally candle them when it's dark in the evening make sure they look okay and up my humidity to 65% and wait. On shipped eggs I've had Marans take 22 days to start pipping even if I don't count the first day. It's so exciting to hatch eggs I'm wanting to get some.....I have to wait for mine to get old enough.

 

[Biochick]

Okay gang I would like some input on my Marans. This is Harley he is 7 months old and Philis a 6 month old hen that has just a hint of copper on her neck and still not laying

This shot shows his comb better and you can see my only mossy hen in the back.
He is a great rooster watching over his flock all the time.

Goldie trying to steal Harleys hens. We are just eating our eggs so far. I will have to lock Goldie up later.

 

[geebs]

The mossy hens may work well with your rooster.. close ups of both would be helpful.... The rooster appears to be on the mahogany side with lots of black.... that usually is a good match with hens that don't have enough and the copper bleeds through... It however wouldn't produce enough copper for the hens with only a "hint" of red/copper on the neck...the babies may be born and mature all black with no copper showing... all of this could be moot if it is in fact camera angle etc that I am seeing

 

[snowbird]

Well we have debated just about everything about the Marans except the Comb. Some observations from my fowl. Try and breed only the fowl with clean Blade with no points, also the proper way to get five points is use no more than 4-5-6 points. Preferably use five points. Using one with two points and one with 10 points is not the correct way to get five points. Do not breed the hens or males with the Blade part that is twisted. If you have birds with the split blade do not breed.

It is much quicker if the implement this in with breeding for TYPE and will shorten the length of time in getting some good birds. All the comb problems are DQ and the points are a fault.

Hope this will be useful for some.

 

[snowbird]

Walt, We all know that the Black Copper Marans produce three color of Hackle. Wheat, Copper, and Mahogany. Is there any reason why the Wheat and mahogany can not only be a fault an not a DQ. Seems only logical that it would only be a fault. Appreciate your comment.

 

[Criskin]

Lotsapaints what do you set your humidity at from the beginning? I remember awhile back someone suggested that Marans eggs required a lot less humidity than lighter colored eggs but I'm not sure if it was ever confirmed. I usually just do the generic 50% until lockdown then up it to 70% but this will be my first Marans hatch and I want to give them the best chance possible.

 

[Illia]

Biochick: Love Harley. That's quite some mahogany in him!! I rarely see BC's with such deep, rich hackle and saddle feather. The tail is a little big though, and as others have said - You can fix the copper problem with a mossy hen. But, really, that pullet with him needs a comb fix.

 

[Debbi]

Nice egg Pink! I too know how the camera washes them out, I'd go with a six, and from a Blue, yeh!!

Wish there were some shows closer to me, at least to watch. Will wait to see if and when I get something show worthy before I jump in!

Don, Seems the MCC is talking about that matter of the different hackle colors right now. I think it should be a fault, if for no other reason being that the roos with the lighter colors are used in breeding to lighten up the hens copper.


Biochick, I think he's a very handsome boy! I tend to prefer that color combo. To me, his hackles look truely copper, and his shoulders/back look like a coppery red. I'd take him in a heartbeat!

 

[Debbi]

Ok all you old pros! What is the earliest age you have ever had a BCM pullet lay an egg?? I'm thinking one of my 12 week old pullets is trying to trick me! Yesterday when I went out to feed, she was checking out the nest boxes. None of them have ever done that. She looked like a woman shopping for shoes!

"Hmm, I like this one, this one is ok, ooo I'll take this one!" I sat out in the run with them for about an hour, and noticed that she also looked very red in the face and comb, way more so than the other two. Then she would run back into the coop, and jump in "her" nest box. Is it even possible that she could be thinking about laying at this young age??

 

[math ace]

Quote:
The tail on Harley - - - is that what is called a "Squirrel Tail" ? ?

The hens - - what should the combs look like ? ? The picture of the two or three hens together shows one hen with a twisted comb and another straight back. I noticed that some of my girls have a floppy single comb - - - I thought that was just because they were big and old. Is the comb expectation the same no matter how old the bird is ? ? ?

We seem to concentrate more on the roo,s comb than the hens. How important is the comb for the girls ? ?