Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[pinkchick]

Quote:
I'd put my bators away and was absolutely, NO WAY, going to hatch this fall. Raising babies in winter is not my cup o' tea! But...I got to thinking about how these babies hatched now would be laying in spring rather than summer...and it changed my mind. So - eggs are in the bator yet again! Woot! I think today's day 10 - have to check calendar at home - and candling tonight!! Cross your fingers for a good hatch, my friends!

Good luck with your hatch Wynette!

My 'bators are ready and will be going very soon, Kathy shipped Dellie eggs yesterday!!! Thanks Kathy!
I've also managed to save a few nice little gems from my Blue Copper pen to toss in with them.
I like raising them through the winter, makes the long dark wet days of the PNW somewhat tolerable and I also get eggs in the spring and not late summer.

 

[pinkchick]

One of my little cockerels from GFF started crowing 2 weeks ago at the age of 2 mos. I thought one of them had been trying, I was always a day late and dollar short actually seeing him do it, but yesterday I caught him in the act. Never had one start this early! I thought about 12 weeks on one of my Wellie roos was young, but 2 months, that's just crazy early. I have to admit that his little crow is toooooo cute and almost bigger than he is.

 

[alabama49]

Hi-I am new to this thread-could you all tell me exactly what mossy means? I have cuckoo marans and would like to be able to tell if they have that problem! Also, I looked for 2 years to find a featherlegged roo to go with my hens & finally did. Now I have 7 cockerels I can't even give away!! Doesn't make sense to me!!
Thanks!

 

[Illia]

Quote:
Mossiness usually only counts on Black Coppers, Blue Coppers, etc. As with Cuckoos - It would be called leaking, not mossiness. .

Mossy means that the bird has red or gold smudging on feathers that are supposed to be black.

If your Cuckoo is just solid barred, it should be fine. If there's smudging of black vs white between the barring though, that's another issue.

 

[Drk_Wlf]

Does anyone that lives in a colder climate own any Marans? I want to get some Black Copper Maran hatching eggs from MPC, but acording to their breed database the breed does not do well in the cold and it get VERY cold here in the winter. If you do live in a colder climate how do you house them in winter?

 

[geebs]

Someone in Alaska has them.. I don't know how they do... You might find the Alaska thread and ask there.

 

[shesaredroan]

Marans newbie here............
Can you help me understand why the marans folks/experts want/prefer a "rounder" egg??
Is the rounder shape a better thing for some reason?

 

[haTHOR]

ok, i have three roos to choose from. keeping only one. they are now 20 weeks and my husband is ready for chicken pot pie, so my loooong time for consideration and observation has to end.

one is the biggest and has the best personality. compared to the other roos--best eye color, leg color, body shape seems better than the others, tail is a nice wide inverted v from the back, ok comb, darkest breast. no brainer, i should keep him, right? only problem is that darn squirrelly tail. what do you see, old timers?

now, i know he isn't fantastic, but he's the bets i have to work with right now, as a first roo. hoping he gets more coppering coming through. copper feathers still growing in all over the back so we'll see. that green paint all over him helps me spot him, lol, it isn't mossiness.

the other two have issues...size, eye color, feathering on middle toe, red breast, too many points, bad personality, late maturation (not all these on both, but these are all their "problems").

i don't plan to breed for show but for egg color--utility (laying) line of birds like the french have, apart from their show birds. i should just keep the dang roo i like who has all the great qualities and breed him with a hen with a correct tail, then use a rooster with a better tail in the future, correct, as i get one?

what would you work to improve on, if this was where you were starting? i'll post my girls next so you can see my starter flock.

i like this girl a lot (she's quite a bit older now than you see here, and her eye color has corrected to orange). but she sure won't give any more copper to a mix with this roo will she?

two other pullets...same age. i think these girls are exactly the definition of the term "mossy" that was just discussed. have two just alike..this pic could be of either of them really. could she give some copper to offspring males, or should i totally shy away from using her for anything but eating eggs?

 

[snowbird]

Quote:
I live in Michigan and it get rather cold here also. I move my males inside for the winter out of any kind of draft and they do very well here.

 

[snowbird]

Quote:
From theory the Spherical egg is supposed to be darker since it takes longer to get through the spray booth. I would not know because mine do not lay spherical eggs wish the did though.