Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[BevDavis]

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No, I don't think it was a sale, I think she found them under a Bethel bush.

 

[geebs]

Wow we are in Rare form tonight folks... Lets kick up our feet and ready ourselves for Cpartist fashion review... CPartist... You have the runway!!!

Ooooops almost forgot my popcorn

 

[Debbi]

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Debbi...I hear ya'

I had hatches (2 different sources, one that had combined 2 lines). I can't remember how many chicks I ended up with...maybe 20?
I think some of most of these were from a nice line crossed with one that had a lot of faults. I had no white feathers, but one mossy, one with short toes, one with
side sprigs, one with fused toes, one roo with squirrel tail and too much red breast, and a roo with roach back.

After culling for all this, and egg color, I ended up with one roo with non feathered legs, and one BCM and an unrelated Blue Copper. Both girls have lightly feathered legs and less
than optimal coppering. GREAT egg color. The roo has a nice comb, very nice hackle coppering, and size, but too high of a tail set. When combined, they are are producing some nice offspring, with mostly feathered legs and various degrees of coppering. I've not seen any of the DQ (SOP or Marans) issues pop up. Some pullets need better eye and hackle color, but the 2 roo's are looking
good for color and 45 degree tails. I will be working on better coloring, but by eliminating and understanding which traits are easier to work with, I think I'll eventually have some close to standards which have good egg color.

I'm not hatching hundreds or even dozens of birds to do this...just keeping the best of the best...culling to the standard, and perfecting through compensation breeding.

I think this can be done on a smaller scale, just by closely examining and carefully breeding, even if you only end up with a few that make the "cut" of breeding out DQ's and extreme faults.

I'm working with 1 roo and two hens...I think this can be done, keeping a good eye and a sharp hatchet (actually the cull hens are easy to rehome as layers and the boys are tender and
nice sized meaties).

Just MHO on how this can be done on a smaller scale, and I'll be happy to post pics of the culls and keepers, if anyone is interested.

Yup! All of us with limited space, income, and resorces, that is all we can do! I wil lean towards SOP type and egg color first! Then work on the rest from there,,,

 

[coq au vin]

what is a roach back?

at what age do you like to process your culls? I have some 18-weekers in the freezer now, but they really just look like a waste of time at 2.5 lbs dressed...thus they sit in the freezer. if I let them get older than that, won't they be tough and nasty?

 

[geebs]

In horses it would be a rounded back instead of a nice topline they would ten to have a vaulted arch to them.. I expect it is likely something similar for chickens... I have not heard this term for birds.

Yep looked it up... another term is hunchback.

 

[kathyinmo]

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Absolutely positive! Maybe I should mate him with the one that looks Partridge?

 

[kathyinmo]

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[geebs]

I wish I could remember what I read regarding the late feathering gene but I recall that it was not something that you wanted in your flock but I cannot remember why... anyone else out there know what else is driven by this gene????

I remember it was a significant reason... I culled a bird I had planned to keep... I wish I had kept the info on that..It was something like predisposes the to LL or something like that.. something really significant..... You may want to ask Blackdotte or something..

 

[flgardengirl]

Kathy: OMG! You have rumpless one too? I have his girlfriend lol. I hatched this from some eggs I bought last December. I only know one other person who also has a rumpless marans. I think me and that person got the eggs from the same place. Needless to say I am NOT breeding this one, she is in the layer pen. I am keeping her cuz she is such a sweetie. Dh named her Guinea...isn't that mean? lol

 

[Debbi]

From what I'm learning of this breed, I wouldn't be culling at 18 weeks. Seems to me to be a VERY slowly maturing breed, and lots of favorable traits show up way after 20 weeks! All this is taken from what I've read and seen, and judging by my 14 week olds, they will need a lot mor time to mature. That said, why is this breed so darned slow to mature??? Has anyone worked on that yet??