Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[aussieheelr]

Ok Finaly get to post an egg picture!!!

This is my first FBCM egg. I have put it on a "pile" of pear tomatoes and next to a SLW's egg for comparison. I used direct sun light and no flash which made the closest to true color. This was also taken from a Camera phone so not the best "quality" picture out there but I just HAD to post this.

 

[snowbird]

Quote:
Thanks for your input, Debbi. That's what I'm trying to figure out with this breed. Let's just say for conversation's sake that someone does have a perfect rooster, but he has an incredibly nasty disposition. Is the disposition of future offspring being disregarded in efforts to produce "perfect" birds? I'm no expert, but somewhere down the line that trait is going to rear it's very ugly head and a whole 'nother can o'worms must be dealt with. It's my belief that there's just too many nice roosters out there to be dealing with one obnoxious jerk of a rooster...and I tell all of my bad boy roosters that just before they head to freezer camp.

Hi, are you talking about a Marans that is people agressive or other chicken agressive, there is a difference.

 

[snowbird]

Quote:
Don, What about the use of a lighter colored hackled roo with proper pattern, bred to really dark and sparsely coppered hens? What would you get there? I'm not talking "straw/wheat" colored roo, just a lighter copper.

I would still want the male to have copper spotted chest, and I would also use a yellow hackled Male in my breeding program depending on what I was looking for at the time.

 

[snowbird]

Quote:
Ivywoods, The ideal of 5 points comes from the French and also the US "proposed" standard. This breed has not yet been APA approved, so the standard of perfection is still yet "proposed". Go to this link to read the "proposed" standard of the breed. Check out the "color varities" for the specific color standards.

http://www.maransusa.org/

The five point comb is a APA requirement and will not be changing in the proposed Standard.

 

[shelleyb1969]

Quote:
People aggressive.

 

[pinkchick]

ON~ Lotsa~ flgarden~Thank you and your welcome.


Aussie~ Congratulations on your first egg.....I know you have been patiently waiting for your little gem forever. Love the eggs on the pears!!!!

Shelleyb~

Under normal circumstances I will put aggressive birds (roos) in the freezer lickity split and wouldn't ask questions regardless of how nice or close to perfect he may be. Recently, I was attacked by one of my Welsummer roosters, but this guy is as close to perfect as I have ever got with Welsummers and I just couldn't bring myself to do it, so I decided to work with him on his issues, after all this was his first offense and he is not aggressive with any other birds. I gave him the humiliation treatment for 2 weeks, borrowed a snuggie from my DIL and carried him around like a baby while I was doing chores....."awwwww da poor widdle baby", he has been good so far and I can just walk over and scoop him up with no resistance but, if he decides that his new attitude doesn't work for him in the future I will not hesitate or be so merciful.

 

[shelleyb1969]

Pinkchick...thanks for your input.

While some roosters do respond and change their evil ways with "encouragement", there are some that simply don't. I'm just trying to determine how much folks account for disposition in their breeders when aggression most definitely can be passed on to future generations...even through "transformed" roosters. The underlying trait is still there...just below the surface.

Are we sacrificing good temperament in an effort to obtain the perfect bird? Which is somewhat a misnomer...the perfect bird should, by all accounts, be non-aggressive towards people. JMHO though.

 

[flgardengirl]

On aggression I would also take the age of the bird into consideration. Alot of the roos (any breed) go through a hormonal stage where they are beginning to feel thier sexual feeling, protective feelings (flock protector is thier job), and other stuff. They are a little mixed up emotionally. Like teenage people they seem to need some time to adjust to these new feelings and how they will fit into their new roles. I would work with the roo if he has qualities or traits that you need. If he is older and set in his ways and you don't need him, then that is a different story. Rehome or freezer camp then.

 

[shelleyb1969]

Quote:
Great point! I get the whole teenager/hormone thing. If a young rooster is perfect to begin with, I totally agree with trying to work through his aggression issues. I base a lot of my freezer camp policy on the old "three strikes, you're out" philosophy. One fault, I can work with...2 can be managed as well. But if bad temperament is a 3rd fault...adios.

 

[pinkchick]

Very true and I forgot to mention that my roo is only 7 mos old and just trying on his big boy pants for size and that is one of the reasons why I decided to work with him, I feel he just had a momentary lapse of sanity caused by the flood of hormones that he is feeling at this particular age. He had also just been made head roo of that pen as I had removed his father just a couple of weeks prior and I know he was just warning me to get out of his space, but like a teenager he had to test the waters, this boy was lucky enough to be granted a temporary pardon.
Roo's who don't grow out of their hormones or aggressiveness and that show signs of being nasty from the get go don't have a place in my breeding pens regardless of how good they look and yes it can be passed on to the offspring, this is why it is important to determine whether or not they are being jerks because it's just who they are or if other factors are causing them to have brainfarts.

The 3 strikes and your out rule is great!