Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[ruth]

Well...it's end of laying season and my BCMs have laid their last eggs - - haven't gotten a single egg in last two weeks - so they are a little light and not the large, spherical eggs some of them lay - but I think I'll send these to the Ohio National egg show:

So while my BCMs may not win a blue ribbon, they do what I got them to do....they lay purty brown eggs - and for me, it's all about the egg and hey, if you ask me, my birds are nice to look at as well so it's a win/win.

 

[fowlman01]

Quote:
My response is this: The APA received affidavits from the Marans folks saying that the BC's bred true and have done so for the five years that they have raised them. We don't do on site inspections and have to believe what people sign on the forms. The true test is the qualifying meet. The BC's failed the first test. We are allowing a second qualifying meet because they were very close to qualifying and the young birds showed considerable improvement.

Your cave woman logic is correct! The birds should meet the Standard more often than not. This is what we will find out at the meet. I attended the first meet and could easily see before the judging that they were not going to pass without even handling the birds. Since then I have seen BC Marans at other shows and what I have seen is a dramatic improvement in the variety. Most of the people on this site don't seem to raise "hundreds" of birds, so I'm not sure who is killing so many Marans. Before I had my breeding skills...such as they are...I raised hundreds of barred Plymouth Rocks, which have been in the SOP since 1874. I raise so many because I wanted the very best show birds, not because they were not true to the breed.

It is almost always harder to get a good male bird.....there is a lot more going on with them than the hens.

Walt

Walt, I am pretty much talked out at this point and will repeat what I have said before. This year I have raised over 600 BC and have culled down to 40-50 females and 7 males. When I cull anything with White wing and tail feathers and white undercolor in side of hackle I do not believe I am going overboard. Lots of the birds I have seen are short narrow back birds and are not going to produce widechest and wide long backs. The Marans that are showing up with almost white legs and the brown soft feathers under the vent are showing they have Wheaten blood mixed within. I will not vouch for anything someone else stated that the BC will breed true. My main thing with all this is that they should resemble Marans if they are going to be called Marans. Don

There is nothing wrong with having the bar set high and if it takes that kind of commitment, more power to you. Serious breeders like yourself are a great asset to the Marans. The Marans are a new breed here in the US, so I suspect some of the Marans are "made" here and with so little history some strains/lines may more need more work than others.

Yes, they should resemble Marans and if they don't, the APA will not accept them.

Walt

 

[snowbird]

Quote:
Ruth, If you are showing these you should take the one on bottom out as it is a different length. My understanding and from watching them judge the eggs is that they should be uniform in color and shape. On eggs you are showing you should do an egg index so they will be close in size and shape. Don

 

[chasehope]

Ruth said...Me too Wynette. That's just it. I don't think anyone has the "perfect" bird but the thread is starting to become a "beauty pagent" where APA SOP is the most important thing. I realize it is to "show people" but I just want to remind everyone that most people out there are not show people. They are kind of excluded from this thread and afraid to "jump in" and post or to ask questions. I know, because they write to me and most order birds. Why.....not because they intend to show but because so many of those that do won't sell their birds because they aren't perfected yet.




I agree that it is very hard to find good starter stock. Most people that have a good start on their breeding program are holding onto them for dear life. It seems that most of what is available is not good quality. Perhaps if we want the breed to improve as a whole, we need to be able to purchase from those people that have better birds than most.

 

[chasehope]

Don (Or anyone else)I know that he is not a black copper, but what do you think of this guy? He is about 6 months old. He is just finishing up his molt and hasnt gotten all of his feathers back between his tail and his back, and he doesnt normally have this much fuzz on him. Any input would be great. thanks

 

[math ace]

I believe with the marans there are two types of people

1.) DARK EGG FIRST, STANDARD second

OR

2.) STANDARD FIRST, DARK EGG second.

This thread has the feel and appeal to those going after the standard first. It is about educating those interested in Marans about the standards.

There is already a thread out there called " Dark Eggs . . . ." that is geared towards the Dark Egg first people.


I am sure if this thread or the other Dark Egg thread does not meet someone's needs, they can and will start a new one.
When this thread got shut down for the day AND we tried to start a new one in the meantime - - A LOT of newbies came onboard.

They were intimated by this threads SIZE not by its content. They posted immediately and were glad to get in on the "ground floor" so to speak. People are afraid to post here because they are afraid they will ask something that has already been discussed.

EVERY once in a while - - maybe - - we just need to open the floor to newbies and let them know we are waiting for their questions and welcome the discussions EVEN if it is on material we have already discussed

 

[snowbird]

Quote:
Yes, I agree to a point. With myself the young have to be acceptable to me before I will let any eggs out. I have sold well over 200 pullets this year as egg layers. I am sure some will be used as breeders and I do not have any control over that. I will not let any go as long as they have all the white in wing and tail and with undercolor in the hackle. I have the size I want and eventually will have feathering.

 

[math ace]

Quote:
GOOD: Nice comb, Nice length in back, nice blue shanks

BAD: I don't know if you will be in trouble with all that white fluff

 

[geebs]

Wow... ya all have been busy...

Opinions around here are like..... um... chickens!!! LOL

 

[chasehope]

Math Ace: I will have to take new pictures when he is done molting. You can feel little feathers coming in all over him still. This was his first molt and he was serious about it!