Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[Ivywoods]

Quote:
If you get one, make sure they are from stock that is used to chickens, and that it is a pup, and raised with the stock they are to protect. I've seen too many Pyrs guard sheep and goats well, yet tear the chicken/duck/ goose flocks to shreds!! They will only guard what they have been raised with, and even then, some are still not reliable.

Good advice

I have heard that some people will raise thier pups with the chickens having them sleep in the coop with them. Our two dogs, a pomeranian and a lab let the chickens walk all over them..literally. Well except when the buff orp boys get rowdy and try to mate the pomeranian LOL! He takes offense to that.

We have 3 great pyrenees. The two older dogs were raised with goats, and the youngest was raised with goats and chickens. The older dogs were introduced to the chickens while the chickens were in pens. They got used to the chickens being around before we turned the chickens loose to free range. (I have 9 roosters that free range, and go into an open shed at night.) None of the GP's bother the chickens. IN FACT.... recently we had another dog attack one of the roosters. Our german wirehaired dachshund got ahold of one. Sophie (the dog pictured in my Avatar) ran the dachshund off and sat with that rooster between her front legs until we got there. At first I was afraid she was going to hurt it, but she was protecting it and licking it.

Unfortunately we cannot trust that dachshund around the chickens at all. He is such a hound. Sometimes a young GP pup will chase the chickens for fun and play. If you stop them and scold them right away, they seem to learn pretty fast. Our pup did it twice, now he is totally trusworthy around the chickens.

For me, our great pyrenees are woth their weight in gold. We live where there are bobcats, tons of coyotes, raccoons, possums, skunks, even an occasional mountain lion and we have not lost any of our livestock to predators. The GP's do what they do very naturally and we sleep better at night because of them.

 

[pnp4kidz]

Hi all,
i'm new to this thread, I'm Beth from n. Ca, and I have just a few kinds of chickens..
I have a trio of Cuckoo Marans, they are quite old now... about 7 or 8 I think,
and then a pair of Black Coppers.
the roo was from the Gabbard lines, and I got him as a mate to a 'error' egg I got with my Welsummers, and the man told me it was a Black Copper, his only other birds... and that was a hen....
here was my surprise...

anyway, I'd love feedback on whether they look like anything keepable... I like em, but ya know...
here is Harley, and his hen...

and a few other shots of just Harley... not the greatest, it was cloudy and they were on a camera phone, sorry...

Here is Freckles, my Cuckoo roo...

and one of his hens, speckles, or dot...

they lay wrinkled eggs sometimes now... lol...

who knew...

I love my chickies... I have a pair of Welsummers too, and a spare red hen and frizzle black roo....
thanks for looking!!
Beth

 

[Mountain Mel]

Are the wrinkled eggs because of all the earthquakes you have there, or are they just waterlogged from all the rain? Darnedest lookin' egg I ever saw!

 

[pnp4kidz]

Quote:
LOL... well, one could say earthquakes... that shook up all the water... and caused waves! LOL!
but truth is, an older hen often gets wrinkled eggs it turns out... because as they sit in the uterus for too long, they get minor defects in the shell, which are 'mended' and make waves...
they are completely like that picture too! totally wrinkled....
amazing... I thought maybe my hen was gonna die! or her eggs were laid soft and smooshed!
but no.... she is old...
no face wrinkles but her eggs are!

 

[dldolan]

Got 4 new fuzzbutts BCM's. Whatcha think? This is my first time with this breed... (Mama Cochin is doing a great job!)

Looks like one chick has feathering. Is that recessive?

the Fab Four!

On their non-black areas, why do some look more "white" and some more "yellow"?

 

[math ace]

Quote:

to the Marans thread.

Harley has issues with saddle and hackle color if the photo color is true. . . . . His color doesn't look balanced. The wing is way darker than the hackle and sadle feathers. It is different from what I am use to seeing. I don't think it is straw . . . . just not balanced. His back is really long. This would be good paired up with a short back hen. The tail is a higher than it should be. A few pictures of Harley standing - - not leaning over would help with a better view. . . I went back and looked at his back and I am not sure if his back is long or not because 2 of the 3 pictures have him leaning over which is elongating the back . . . ..

Harley's hen - - - needs feathering on the feet if she is going to be breed for the american BCM standard. She looks like her tail might be pinched. However, to say much more about her - - - I would need more pictures showing the side, back, and chest. I am not seeing any coppering to her hackle area. How old is she? Some lines of marans don't show coppering until they are older . .. where as the line I have shows it as soon as they start getting their real feathers - - - around 3 - 4 weeks old.

Breeding Options

A large portion of the hen's offspring would have feathered feet if you used a roo with feathered feet.
The pinched tail in the offspring can be addressed through the use of a roo that is really wide in the tail area too.
The lack of coppering can be fixed by using a male that is heavy on the Mahagony . . . .

I think I have a date for your girl. He is a little young - - - but he might just have what your girl needs - - -

NOW that I have said all this - - - Here is my disclaimer. . . .
I have only been at this for a year and am truly one of the more ignorant ones so I suggest you wait for the pros with
years of experience and many more hatches under their belt to reply.

They can let you know if I am right on the money or totally out in left field. Either way it is all good - - - because you know you weren't ignored !

Oh I don't know squat about cuckoos

EDITED for comments on Harley

 

[math ace]

Quote:
not recessive - - dominant . . .
The american standard calls for leg feathering so you want it.

Awwwww, love the cute little chickies !

 

[aussieheelr]

I got to agree with Math Ace on this one... Harley that is. And I think I might be seeing som feathers on his inner left toe too which is a no no (not sure if it's a DQ or Fault) and his tail is what I think people refure to as a "squirrel" tail... how it curls so far over. As well as his comb has too many points, but that's VERY common to see.

If you're looking to breed for standard I'd look for another roo, but if just for some darkies he should be just dandy

On your CMs, I don't know much either. I have some in my layer flock, infact that what my layer flock roo is. Your's looks a lot like mine and has some gold leakage too. Can't really tell you what that means other than it has another color genetic in the line somewhere. Maybe golden cuckoo or wheaton, I don't know but something.
How do you like your Cuckoos? I've found my roo to be a gentleman to the ladies and at 8 months he has yet to challenge Me to a "duel."

 

[abhaya]

I am looking for marans in NE tenn anyone know a breeder between nashville and knoxville? I am not looking to show I want dark eggs lol so culls or birds with faults would be fine it will be a back yard gal

 

[pinkchick]

Quote:
If you get one, make sure they are from stock that is used to chickens, and that it is a pup, and raised with the stock they are to protect. I've seen too many Pyrs guard sheep and goats well, yet tear the chicken/duck/ goose flocks to shreds!! They will only guard what they have been raised with, and even then, some are still not reliable.

Good advice

I have heard that some people will raise thier pups with the chickens having them sleep in the coop with them. Our two dogs, a pomeranian and a lab let the chickens walk all over them..literally. Well except when the buff orp boys get rowdy and try to mate the pomeranian LOL! He takes offense to that.

My cat "Oatmeal" sleeps in the nest box in the Welsummer coop...does he count as a guardian for the chooks?

I have pop doors on all my coops but ya'll know what..........I NEVER CLOSE 'EM! I used to but what a pain in a$%, everynight and waiting on the scragglers to finally go in or chase them.....no way man not me. We have a family of bald eagles that lives in a near by snag...no problems, there is a hawk squeeching over head almost every other day, an owl that lives in the trees above the coops and a mountain lion that lives in these parts and has for over 10 years. Pert near every Thanksgiving we get a glimpse of the mountain lion as he has a path that includes directly through my front yard to where ever he is going, we also have Black bear but they are not normally an issue. No issues with the goats or chickens from wildlife......neighbors dogs, yes! Only predators that have ever attacked my chickens is the dogs, oh and one time I found a opposum on a very wet rainy night inside the coop run.....I took care that quick fast and in a hurry. My chooklet get to get up when ever they want and they can go to bed whenever they want and yes on occassion someone will lay an egg out in the coop yard, probably because she was booted out of the nest by someone else who had more seniority than she did. But I will say that I have no intentions of ever stopping an owl, hawk or eagle if they try, sounds horrible but they were here before I was and if they get an occassional meal on me I don't lose any sleep over it. Never had an issue with coyotes or wolves (yes we have wolves around here.....you can stand out on a rock ledge on the edge of the property and hear them bay from one ridge to the other talking to each other. Am I crazy or what? Probably but I kinda like it that way.