Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[Ivywoods]

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Have a couple of comments to make on the Carnation Comb. The side Sprig and Carnation Comb are two different things entirely. The Sprig is found in most all lines of chickens if not kept in check. The Carnation Comb will only show up if there is Penne influence. The Penne influence shows mostly on the male , but will show occassionally on the female. I had the carnation comb show in some bought eggs two year ago and as usual cull all in the hatch.

Its nice to have your input still, Don. Thank you.

I am still wondering if the penendesenca influence is present in all the different BCM lines. Do all the different lines have pene influence? Mine are Wade-Jeane and I haven't mixed them. I've seen no evidence of carnation comb, but did have one chick with a small side sprig. Anyone know?

 

[snowbird]

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Its nice to have your input still, Don. Thank you.

I am still wondering if the penendesenca influence is present in all the different BCM lines. Do all the different lines have pene influence? Mine are Wade-Jeane and I haven't mixed them. I've seen no evidence of carnation comb, but did have one chick with a small side sprig. Anyone know?

The only thing that I can offer on the sprig and carnation Comb is be suspecious and test mate all that you plan on using for breeders. Once you do the test matings you can then set up just a few single matings and then you can use these sister females out of clean parents to pen mate them together with a male that has been tested. Once you do the single mated birds if something shows up later just cull the pair that produced the fault. Most only need a couple of single matings to get started and you must toe punch and later band all chicks for acurate records. It is very important to keep acurate records. The bids with Major faults should be culled regardless of how pretty they are.

 

[Hens and Roos]

Quote:
I am still wondering if the penendesenca influence is present in all the different BCM lines. Do all the different lines have pene influence? Mine are Wade-Jeane and I haven't mixed them. I've seen no evidence of carnation comb, but did have one chick with a small side sprig. Anyone know?

The only thing that I can offer on the sprig and carnation Comb is be suspecious and test mate all that you plan on using for breeders. Once you do the test matings you can then set up just a few single matings and then you can use these sister females out of clean parents to pen mate them together with a male that has been tested. Once you do the single mated birds if something shows up later just cull the pair that produced the fault. Most only need a couple of single matings to get started and you must toe punch and later band all chicks for acurate records. It is very important to keep acurate records. The bids with Major faults should be culled regardless of how pretty they are.

What about combs that aren't straight- have waves, wrinkles and such? I posted some pictures on the Black Copper Marans thread of 2 cockerals we have with funky combs in my opinion and asked for feedback on them.

 

[ChicksterJo]

My girl doesn't have a perfect comb - far from it - but I'm not breeding her anyway. I completely messed up on her age...I thought she was a couple weeks younger than she really is - she's 21-22 weeks old!!

When she squawks or clucks she sounds like a disgruntled construction worker.
Comb close-up

 

[snowbird]

Quote:
The only thing that I can offer on the sprig and carnation Comb is be suspecious and test mate all that you plan on using for breeders. Once you do the test matings you can then set up just a few single matings and then you can use these sister females out of clean parents to pen mate them together with a male that has been tested. Once you do the single mated birds if something shows up later just cull the pair that produced the fault. Most only need a couple of single matings to get started and you must toe punch and later band all chicks for acurate records. It is very important to keep acurate records. The bids with Major faults should be culled regardless of how pretty they are.

What about combs that aren't straight- have waves, wrinkles and such? I posted some pictures on the Black Copper Marans thread of 2 cockerals we have with funky combs in my opinion and asked for feedback on them.

These Comb faults are in all breeds of poultry and will breed forward if you breed them. The Comb faults are easy to breed out if you just quit breeding them forward. I see the one male has a twisted comb and will breed forward.


The hardest part of breeding poultry is being able to do the culling necessary to produce good birds.

 

[Hens and Roos]

Quote:
What about combs that aren't straight- have waves, wrinkles and such? I posted some pictures on the Black Copper Marans thread of 2 cockerals we have with funky combs in my opinion and asked for feedback on them.

These Comb faults are in all breeds of poultry and will breed forward if you breed them. The Comb faults are easy to breed out if you just quit breeding them forward. I see the one male has a twisted comb and will breed forward.


The hardest part of breeding poultry is being able to do the culling necessary to produce good birds.

so then the best thing to do is cull those 2 and start over again since they would just pass this on to any offspring... bummer but totally understandable and that is what I figured would need to be done- thanks for the feedback!

 

[math ace]

I just HAD to post this pic again. I LOVE --- TOTALLY LOVE -- it when the birds look like they have layers and layers of Crinoline under their skirt.

 

[snowbird]

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Lisa, never have to worry about a pinched tail on this pullet. Nice open full tail and the color is just great for her age, talking about the lower body soft feathering. Is this one from Kim ?

 

[math ace]

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Lisa, never have to worry about a pinched tail on this pullet. Nice open full tail and the color is just great for her age, talking about the lower body soft feathering. Is this one from Kim ?

Yep, this is one of Kim's. I managed to hatch two babies from her - - The Splash and this little darlin. My young marans cockerels are trying to mount them... so I don't think it will be long before I get my first eggs from them.

 

[gardengoats11]

I just acquired some marans today. Excited and can't wait for them to begin laying. That will be a couple months though. I'll post pictures of them soon and try to post pics of my older pairs since I now have enough posts to do so.