Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[sewandgrow]

Quote:
Great looking eggs Geebs.......... I am still waiting, but know my turn will come.

 

[geebs]

I have produced some wierd stuff alright... but DANG...

How was I to know what it was... No one did.... Just like hatching the blue birchen and the birchen... What the heck... I can't believe that in one hatch I got 7 different colored birds from 8 eggs...What a wierd set of circumstances.. I had a treasure trove in genetics and I didn't know it as it was one of my firsties... I would have kept some of each had I known... blue, blue birchen, birchen, wild type, black, blue copper... This was my first experience with a quality hatch... What do ya do with that???? I still have access to ONE bird from that original hatch... Then last year I pull off a black birchen from another line and these little sweeties... If I hatch any pink ones...I will save em for ya PINKCHICK

My bad... two birds. I still have the small wild type.... (could also carry bantam gene)... and blue, positive for copper on second cross to BC.... Birds both type and color and egg color are fantastic... I only made a few....It was a total win/win....I just don't do the blue as a rule but I do know how to make good Blue copper. (first real love project)... I gave it all up for the Wade BC's... which are now my first love!!! It is a very CLOSE 2nd. No room at the inn.

 

[oesdog]

I sooooooooooooooo know nothing about chickens -

Oesdog

 

[HenThymes]

Quote:
Yes, I am learning from this group as they are my firsties.

I do not want to cull to soon till I know what I really have and get a better handle on what they are doing as well as what the heck I am doing, it may take me a while.

 

[chicken stalker]

So what do you think this is on the marans scale? I'm thinking they are a 5 or 6. The picture of the 2 eggs are the darkest of the dozen. Picture was taken inside, by window with natural morning light. They are from my FBCM...no roo for them though. Anyone have a blue copper maran roo or eggs darker than these, so I can improve my egg color?

 

[sewandgrow]

Quote:
Congratulations on your getting eggs Debbi.....I am so sorry about your bum hatch. I am sure Spring will be much better. Living in the valley in California I can not even imagine 9 degree weather. Brrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!

 

[sewandgrow]

Quote:
Can you order it online & have it delivered?? I do alot of online stuff...............

 

[VillageChicken]

The tricky thing about Golden Cuckoo is there seems to be no standard for which e allele it is based on. flgardengirl's is a barred blacktailed buff. Most are barred black coppers, but if there is a barred wing triangle, then it can even be barred wildtype (golden salmon).

I believe most standard (silver) cuckoos are EE based, solid black bird with barring. I have seen some that are definitely silver birchen based because the hackle on both roosters and hens is much lighter than the rest of the body. (like the ones in the picture on the Marans of America Club website)

So when "creating" the golden cuckoo and introducing the gold gene, crosses had to be made to black coppers (the most likely choice for egg color). But then you get a mix of the extended black (EE) allele and the Red Birchen ER allele in the first generation, and probably don't get good "golden" until the second generation bred again to black copper.

We know that certain lines of black coppers throw dark wheaten, and that these dark wheaten can throw blacktail buff (just add the columbian gene) So if any of the black copper used in the cross to make golden cuckoo were from these lines, you can potentially see barred wheaten, barred silver wheaten and barred blacktailed buff.
In addition, if the golden cuckoo rooster used doesn't carry double factor barring BB and is instead Bb, then he will throw some plain BCM hens!

HenThymes' lighter chick looks silver based to me, maybe silver wheaten? If it's a hen the barring won't be very easy to spot.
The darker one looks like it could be barred blacktailed buff like flgardengirl's. It doesn't have the defined chipmunk striping of the typical golden salmon wildtype, and the feathers are showing some of the pattern gene Pg that creates spangling or lacing in some breeds. But it could just be the way the barring is showing up. I have barred crosses that show every level of barring from barely there, to strongly defined. If he's a roo and carries double factor barring, then the barring will be more distinct.
It will be very interesting to see how he feathers out.

Keep posting pics!

Debbi - I just had a 2 out of 14 on shipped eggs!

 

[bikechick]

Debbi-so sorry for your hatching probs. Ugh
I do believe NONE of the shipped eggs I set will hatch. Bad luck of the draw?
The two stuck zippers are in a brooder by themselves and I know one will have to be culled because of a deformed foot and the other if it doesn't get better balance. See, I should have let mother nature do her thing. I have three more that are stuck zipping. I'll give them another day or so and then I'll pull the plug.
I need to celebrate the 11 very healthy chicks I have and not beat myself up about the others.

 

[3riverschick]

The tricky thing about Golden Cuckoo is there seems to be no standard for which e allele it is based on. flgardengirl's is a barred blacktailed buff. Most are barred black coppers, but if there is a barred wing triangle, then it can even be barred wildtype (golden salmon).

====Reply============
I am trying to learn to breed Golden Salmon. I admit it's a real challenge. From my research, the very best Golden Cuckoo are based in Golden Salmon( wild type). e+e+ s+s+. Very difficult to find. If anyone knows of a pure Golden Cuckoo which is truely based on wild type, I sure would be grateful for the contact info!
Thanks,
Karen in western PA [email protected]