Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[Hens and Roos]

Candled 1 egg from the group Pink sent us- we could see the air pocket at the top and see a darkness in the rest of the egg- we are at day 12 for them

Had to borrow an incubator from a friend so that we could move the other eggs due on Friday-of course we are down to 3 but 1 is iffy.

 

[pinkchick]

Quote:
Anyone?

Hi Duck!

I am just learning all I can about Birchens so I can't tell you what any outcomes pertaining to Birchen that will happen but I can tell you that when you breed Blue to Blue you can get all 3 colors from the pairing...50% Blue, 25% Black and 25% Splash. Blue does not breed true that is why you will get all 3 colors. Splash to Blue will give you Blue offspring and Splash offspring. Hope this helps!

 

[Debbi]

Quote:
Anyone?

I'm sure you are not being ignored, but many here may not have any access to the Blue Birchens to know off hand. Blue Birchen would be the dilute of Black Birchen, both having the silver ER gene as apposed to the gold ER gene of the Black/Blue Coppers. Forgive me, I'm still trying to choke all of this down, and you seem to have, from other posts by you that I've read, to have a far better understanding than me!

The Birchen gene is just the silver gene replacing the gold gene. BCM=gold gene; BlkBirchen=silver gene. Same for the blues. So the Andalusian blue factor would fit here as well, as long as the birds you are breeding the Blue Birchen to are TRUE blacks, blues, and splashes; NOT those mentioned with hidden copper genes. If you breed a Blue Birchen to a Black Copper that phenotypically looks pure black, you will now have a silver AND gold gene, and it may appear as a tainted silver tone in the hackle color. OK, now that I stuck my neck out here, let's here from the pros!!

This is just my take on it, and I am FAR from even beginning to understand chicken genetics!

 

[pinkchick]

Quote:
As Geebs would say:

I just can't do it like she can.

 

[Lolita]

Quote:
Haha everyone is for sale at the moment actually because I'm moving, how many boys you think?

The only pullet is the one in the last photo all the way on the right of the picture.

That's exactly what I thought too

thanks

 

[sewandgrow]

Quote:
Haha Kim, I am so glad you chimed in and said it because I was thinking it but too afraid I didn't know enough to say it......LOL

 

[VillageChicken]

Quote:
Anyone?

I'm sure you are not being ignored, but many here may not have any access to the Blue Birchens to know off hand. Blue Birchen would be the dilute of Black Birchen, both having the silver ER gene as apposed to the gold ER gene of the Black/Blue Coppers. Forgive me, I'm still trying to choke all of this down, and you seem to have, from other posts by you that I've read, to have a far better understanding than me!

The Birchen gene is just the silver gene replacing the gold gene. BCM=gold gene; BlkBirchen=silver gene. Same for the blues. So the Andalusian blue factor would fit here as well, as long as the birds you are breeding the Blue Birchen to are TRUE blacks, blues, and splashes; NOT those mentioned with hidden copper genes. If you breed a Blue Birchen to a Black Copper that phenotypically looks pure black, you will now have a silver AND gold gene, and it may appear as a tainted silver tone in the hackle color. OK, now that I stuck my neck out here, let's here from the pros!!

This is just my take on it, and I am FAR from even beginning to understand chicken genetics!

Great job Debbi, that's exactly what I would have mentioned. What's that they say about new tricks? Someone's been doing their homework!
Extended Black based BBS dominates over ER so you will lose some of your birchen hackle/saddle in offspring. Silver is sexlinked, so the hen offspring would still be silver BBS/Birchen hybrids, but the rooster offspring would be silver/gold mixes. You won't get anything pure from this combination. The genetic makeup of a pure BBS Marans is different than a Birchen. It would be like breeding cuckoo to wheaten, you don't get anything that breeds true, or that you could offer to anyone as a pure Marans.

 

[Mountain Mel]

Big Snowstorm headed our way! Snow levels down to 1000 feet & possibly lower on Wednesday night. I think Pinkchick lives at about 1000 feet

....maybe 1200. Today dumped over a foot of snow in the Cascade Mountains just east of here, and tomorrow nights storm promises to blanket the Pacific Coast Range, which lies between Pinkchick & I and the Pacific Ocean, which is an hours' drive west of us.
Now for a chicken question

....I have one bird that is laying eggs with very thin shells. I have plenty of oystershell in there, and all the other eggs are quite solid. What gives?

 

[Bravo]

Heres a few update photos on my BCM chick that had the fused toes.

1 day post op

After splinting

Started it on poly-vi-sol as well. Chick is doing great, running around and harassing its hatch mates

I'm a happy camper too.

 

[Ivywoods]

Bravo, Bravo! You have excellent surgical skills! I tell ya, though, I was laughing out loud when I saw your bandages. They are not at all what I had pictured in my mind. Who woulda thunk it? What is that stuff that looks like plastic laminate? IS IT plastic laminate? It's just plastic tape, right?

The other thing that popped into my goofy head was, "I wonder if it can paddle like a duck?"

All joking aside, it looks like a good way to handle those wayward toes.