Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[growinupinfl]

That is awesome I love it. But after they say that, they say well you look yummy anyways.

.nomnommmnomm

 

[Lotsapaints]

Thanks Pink he's the first of my roosters to make the cut and he took 2 extra days to hatch (#7 egg) I can't wait to see his babies. It's very hard to show how nice and wide he is Splish was hatched in July and has just really began to fill out he's bigger than my #2 Delaware cock.

Don there are some great Marans breeders already working with Birchen stock any ideas on where they came from.....I heard the Netherlands. Soon I'll know myself as mine grow out if I end up with some good enough to breed I'll find out what's lurking in the background. AS for mixed up colors in lines I've had more than my share with yellow shanks, brown fluff, yellow or black eyes along with the white feathers and fluff. A big thanks to all on this thread who have shared and taught me so much. I enjoy trying things and learning from whatever come out of it I like chicken cooked many different ways....I just took a bunch of junk to the chicken sale and was surprised at what people will pay so I no longer have hatchery birds and I'm getting very choosy with what I keep and know where I can go if I make a big mistake.

 

[math ace]

Quote:
I looked at them, BUT They are for super large 200 plus hatches. .. . . I like to hatch less than 3 dozen at a time.

I REALLY REALLY like less than 2 dozen chicks running around at one time. They are such high maintenance.

I don't see me EVER doing the really big hatches that the sportsman are known for.


Of Course, if I start hatching GIRLS instead of cockerels. . . .. Maybe I would consider hatching more!

I can always find homes for little pullets - -- BUT I am going to need a BIGGER FREEZER if I keep hatching cockerels!

 

[math ace]

Quote:
I lost one chick last night that I thought would make it . ... the one I thought would die was still hanging on.
I've got another not looking good too. I had 8 live chicks at bed time last night. I was done to 7 this morning.

THIS IS WHAT IT LOOKED LIKE BEFORE WE STARTED LOOKING FOR SURVIVORS - - -

VERY GRAPHIC * * * ** WARNING * * ** * * VERY GRAPHIC



My 13 year old son helped me clean this mess up and find survivors. God bless his soul, I don't think I could of dealt with it without him

Love my boy

SKIP AHEAD PICTURE FOLLOWS and ** * * WARNING ****** it is GRAPHIC

 

[math ace]

Quote:
PINK, CPARTIST, and SNOWBIRD - -- I know you will find the humor in this

READY ???

Here goes . ..

As I have been told recently ABSOLUTELY no FLAMING or TROLLING is ALLOWED

I hope ya'll got it!

 

[VillageChicken]

Quote:
This is where you are confusing me. To breed ANY color with DQs isn't the fault of the color, it's the fault of the breeder and shoddy breeding practices. BCMs have DQs, so do any other variety/color of Marans. Neither Pink nor I were suggesting to breed a poor quality bird to any color bird, just to achieve a color. Breed type, correct conformation, egg color, and temperament should be the primary goals. Once you have two birds with the qualities you want, free of any DQs, then you can breed for the color. A black bird derived from a blue x black cross is still a Marans, and is still a black bird. So I guess here is my question; if the black bird from the previous breeding is free from DQs, and lives up to the other goals listed above, why not introduce it back into the "pure" BCM flock? I'm not being arguementative, Don, I'm just trying to see your point of view on this.

Debbi, In my old mind you would never want to breed a Black from the Blue mating into your Black Copper. Where is Village Chicken when I need him. I am sure he can explain this to you much better than myself. Don

Sorry, getting less laptop time lately, my better half is busy brooding and we're due to hatch in less than a month. She's got a cold now, so I'm doing more Mr. Mom than ever.
Debbi, I understand your question. Remember- phenotype does not indicate genotype in every case. Just because your black copper is free from DQ's, doesn't mean it hasn't picked up a few stray genes that will cause DQ's in offspring. Lots of faults are recessive. Why bring a roo of such breeding in to produce your next generation, if you're not sure of its previous 3 or 4 generations and the culling practices of the person who bred those generations? It's such a long process of breeding faults out of your flock, if you breed carefully I believe you can produce really viable healthy birds from a closed flock, provided you have space for a good number of birds. So folks with closed flocks, who have been painstakingly culling out fault after fault are going to be very cautious from whom they introduce fresh blood.

I'm pretty sure blue has always been a sport of black, and I don't think it's a question of which came first, but rather which has been in the refining process the longest. Think about it this way: if you hatch 50 from your flock and get one or two great birds, you still have a lot of work to do. Those one or two will likely pass on a lot of the genes that caused the other 48 to head to freezer camp or the laying flock. If you hatch 30 and get 15 great birds that are true to type and free of faults, you're in much better shape overall, you have a much greater chance of reducing the number of culls in the next generation.

In some ways, knowing the genetic formulas that theoretically produce good birds can be a potential handicap. Somehow the oldtimers produced show winning birds without knowing the detailed ins and outs of chicken genetics. For example shank color. It would seem that it is a simple matter of whether birds are carrying the ID gene. But there are probably other genes at work that are not yet determined. My bresse hens for example can only carry one copy of the id gene that gives them blue legs. So they should either have blue or pink legs. Instead I have 3 different shades of blue on 3 different hens, varying from steel blue (the desired color) to pinkish gray. So obviously there is something else at play besides what we know. A genetics geek could just say - "hey, if there's blue on the legs, the right genes are in there, it doesn't matter what shade they are." The other guy would say - those legs aren't as dark as they should be - I'm culling any that aren't right.

I have seen the same thing in BCM shanks, and I believe that pale shanks are not always an indicator of "wheaten influence". It's just one potential unknown inhibitor that you could accidentally introduce into your flock through an outcross. Shank color on blues is affected by the blue gene, so it would be difficult to determine if the proper genes are getting passed on (it's hard enough on BC roosters without the blue gene) to the offspring whether or not they are black or blue. After a few generations of consistently correct shank color, I could see why someone wouldn't risk bringing in a black from a blue breeding.

This is just a hypothetical situation, and only one example. Different folks have different resources, space limitations, short term and long term goals. Breeding and culling practices will always vary around these. A closed flock such as what Don talks about is a long term approach that should eventually produce more birds that approach the SOP with fewer culls.
But we can learn from the practices of all folks, whether you're doing this just for fun, or are looking to be the one to take the breed to the next level.

 

[VillageChicken]

Quote:
I lost one chick last night that I thought would make it . ... the one I thought would die was still hanging on.
I've got another not looking good too. I had 8 live chicks at bed time last night. I was done to 7 this morning.

THIS IS WHAT IT LOOKED LIKE BEFORE WE STARTED LOOKING FOR SURVIVORS - - -

VERY GRAPHIC * * * ** WARNING * * ** * * VERY GRAPHIC



My 13 year old son helped me clean this mess up and find survivors. God bless his soul, I don't think I could of dealt with it without him

Love my boy

SKIP AHEAD PICTURE FOLLOWS and ** * * WARNING ****** it is GRAPHIC





http://i1100.photobucket.com/albums/g420/cliff1801/IMG_1749.jpg

I looked right past the gore and thought, "hey... are those Christmas lights???"

 

[math ace]

Quote:

I got it Vilage Chicken the first time

I didn't have to re-read your words a half dozen time AFTER I have printed them out on the printer like I normally have to!

 

[math ace]

Quote:
yep, the old fashioned christmas lights make a great heat source . . . .
You can evenly distribute the heat source since they are on a strand . . . .

 

[marquisella]

Eggs going into incubator this weekend.

Yes, a couple are really that dark

Sue