Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[Raven1]

All I got to say is

 

[Bravo]

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He's gorgeous Pink!!!

 

[Ivywoods]

VERY pretty rooster, Pink! He's a looker!

Debbi-I've got some younger chickens I could probably put him in with. I was afraid he might be rough on them since he was so rough on his girls. He's so darn big, if he got the notion, I'm afraid he'd squish my young ones! I put him in with the goat yesterday. We will see how he does in there. I think just being down on the ground and being able to scratch around in the hay and "stuff" will make him happier.

I have an old, old bantam cochin rooster that I hatched. My sister had him for a few years where he had free range of her barn. He could go out into the yard, but he generally stayed very close to the barn. After I got him back I put him in a temporary wire cage. Poor thing! It was obvious to me that he went into an immediate depression. He wasn't eating much at all, and was drinking very little and not moving around much. I turned him loose in the barn and he is a happy camper once again.

I guess I need to add to my list of projects a "bachelor pad" for chickens!

 

[AyeUpChuck]

Seriously Kim

. Hope Amos looks something like him! Though I can't remember if he's Bills son...

My house smells like roasted hazelnuts, chocolate and lemon poppyseed cake right now btw!

 

[whidbey]

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He is absolutely beautiful, Pink, hes a stud,

 

[Chicnsrthebest]

Has anyone ever had a completely black roo come out of their hatches of Black Copper Marans?
My birds come from the Jeanne, Presley and Davis lines, and I've got a young roo who is about 12 weeks old and getting his adult feathers and so far he's completely black.

 

[rsarns]

Gorgeous roo....

 

[pinkchick]

Thank you very much Friends! He's my main man now and loving his new life in the "grown up coop." He is in with my Blue Coppers- Chloe & Charmin, my Splash Copper hen - Darryl and 6 Black Copper gals, soon to be less than 6 BCM because I am going to weed them out and move a couple to the laying flock and replace them with a couple Blue Copper pullets that I have been growing out since January. All 3 of them should be laying any day now.

Chicnsrthebest~ First of all Welcome to the Marans thread!

Give him some more time.....sometimes they can take a good while before showing any copper......but........sometimes they may not show any copper at all. Some birds can have alot of melanizers which can significantly darken the hackle, wing bow and saddle areas and basically cover the copper that should be there, but it is there, its just hiding, so even if he doesn't show any copper after maturity he is still a Black Copper. Chances are that he will get some sort of copper even if it is only a few feathers.
Sometimes I think that some of the males that I am growing out are never going to show copper.....then I grab them up one day and start looking through their hackle feathers and saddle feather area and low and behold, I find a couple copper feathers starting to come in.
Hope this helps and I am sure the fabulous Marans folks from 'round here will be by and give you their opinions and advise as well.

 

[Chicnsrthebest]

Thanks for the welcome and explanation, pinkchick.
I'm glad there are people like you who are able and willing to explain this stuff.

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[Debbi]

Good morning all

Pink ~ Lil Bill is looking good!! I think I'll hold onto my Myron for awhile, as he is looking very similar to your guy! Same coloring, same typ of comb, with maybe a point more, same coloring, but Myron's eyes are very orange already

His only problem are the lack of feathering on his shanks/toes. He does have stubble...

These chicks are now 16 1/2 weeks old, and yesterday I noticed a couple of the roos going after Charlotte! When I put them up last night, her comb is starting to turn red...sooooo, we may have a new egg layer in about 2 weeks or so!

I'm going to pair her off with my big boy, Roy. Should be lots of feathering and type there!

The other Bill son is still very black, so Chicnsrthebest , you are not the only one!

He has TWO, count them, two copper feathers in his hackles now, and that's one more than he had last week, so they may start pouring in any time now...I hope.

On my four that are F1s, I had thought two were roos, and two were pullets. Looking at them this morning, all of a sudden I can't see roo anywhere! Could my luck be changing??? Could I have FOUR PULLETS???

I had also though Solo was a roo too, but it is obvious to me now at 7+ weeks that she is a she! That is making my day to know now I can produce some pullets! Thank you Clyde and Roy!! Two of these girls have decent shank/toe feathering AND nice copper hackles! This was a dark x dark breeding, so I am very pleased to see this! Going to set up a summer bacherlor pad here for the boys so I can get selected breedings going on here. I feel like I am finally making some progress.