Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[flgardengirl]

That 3rd splash boy is really gorgeous

They all look pretty beefy too.

Sassy is such a light blue it is hard to see her silver on her hackles but it is there faintly lol. It does not go all the way around to the front though. Maybe it will later. She has some darker blue leakage on her body in a few places so she is probably almost a splash, I think.

 

[gilavina]

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Hey Lynette, Honestly....his coloring is not coming in half bad! The creamy coloring is not as hard to work with as that straight gold or buff coloring mixed in. I'd watch to see if under that cream color any buffy/goldish feathers are hiding as he grows. I found out when I was a kid helping my dad with his birchen wyandottes I always had the job of checking the feathers every week to make sure they weren't hiding that coloring.

 

[gilavina]

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Yeah...I really do love that boy....I just can't justify him with some of the other fabulous birds I have running around. If he were solid splash with no leakage of copper he would be number one on my list no question. He has good leg feathering, good comb, good attitude and decent tail set....but its just that copper that would be the death of my solid blue stock and I don't need any more cockerels for my copper stock, blue or otherwise. I think for me, I will use my nice BCM boy on some blue and splash girls to get some blue coppers when I decide I'm gonna take on that project too...haha

oh..and all my birds that stay on the place have to pass the beefy test...no matter what the breed is. I like my birds wide and hefty! I've got some photos I'm working on loading now that shows that pretty well. I love the chunks!

 

[Bravo]

I just wanted to brag. My 6 month old BCM pullet *finally* laid her first egg!! I was so happy to find it in the nesting box on Saturday!

Unfortunately, she's been culled to my city layer flock because she has a bad tail set (holds it down like a quail) but I think her egg color is promising. Oh well, nothing like dark eggs in omlettes!

I have about 8 more girls I am growing out that are about a month from POL to determine who to cull based on egg color.

So far, I think this is the darkest first egg I've ever gotten--usually they darken up the first few weeks of laying so if this happens

Can wait to find out!

 

[Keara]

Zaxby's2 :

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If her comb is single and that small, no way is she a banty close to point of lay. Even banties get the taller red comb when the are about to lay! I guess you will find out more hen she starts to lay. till then enjoy her pretty color! By the way Marans should have a dark slate colored foot.

Thanks! And about the laying age thing I had thought she's around the time when she'll start to get a bigger comb, as the one with her looked like she already had. Clearly she isn't going to lay an egg any time soon.

I'm guessing the one with her was a rooster and that they are both around 7 weeks. I think I got confused.​

yes young hen and roo sounds right from what I see in the photo! Mine get bigger combs around 17wks, so you got some time yet.

 

[kathyinmo]

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[flgardengirl]

That's a pretty egg Bravo. Congratulations!

Here is a better pic of the little blue birchen roos head. Someone let me know that the earlobes looked white in the other pics. I guess they kinda do too. Probably this new dumb camera that I don't know how to use right yet lol.
His actual lobes are red but the feathered part around his ears are more silvery white. It was hard to get his bircheny markings to show up in this pic because I had to hold him and take the pic so he wouldn't run away...little terd! His eyes are barely starting to change color now but still look mostly dark.

 

[Debbi]

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http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e259/CodeM007/Smiley.jpg

Well you stinker! How'd you do that??!

At least we have a teeny breeze here today, not much, but way better than stillness.

 

[gilavina]

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he's looking nice! I like his coloring so far...that nice silvery blue base color with that birchen marking is one of my favorites! My birchen birds seem to take a bit longer to change eye color I noticed. I think you have a real start there. One thing I've had problems with on the birchens is that they seem to run a bit on the small side, so if you have some larger blue hens to work with, that would certainly help!

 

[Ivywoods]

Quote:
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e259/CodeM007/Smiley.jpg

Okay, show-off!

How'd you do it?

I sure couldn't get it to work!