Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[Illia]

If one hatched with clean legs, watch it!! You could likely have some chicks in there carrying only one copy for leg feathering. Watch for chicks with very sparse feathering.

I've got loads of 3/4 Marans chicks right now, and some of them have clean legs to just a few stubs on them. Bad bad. I obviously have some girls who are half feathered in genetics, because otherwise 100% of them should be feather legged, despite how much is there, they should have all had it.

 

[Debbi]

Sandara ~ Sorry to say, but I see lots of cock-a-doodle-doos in your near future!

That white/red chick in your first pic looks more like a Wheaten to me. Also lots of smutty coloring, brown/copper leakage all over their bodies, and clean or almost clean shanks. Sorry to sound harsh here, but if your aim is to breed towards the standard, I think I would start over. JMO

 

[HeatherLynn]

Quote:
The clean legged one is already slated for my regular coop. I am not necessarily trying to breed to standard for showing purposes but I would like to produce some high quality chicks for the backyard. Much better than hatchery stock. If I get show quality that will be nice but that isn't my goal. A healthy ,as close to standard as I can get, and beautiful dark eggs are the goals right now. The clean legged one is a nice vigorous chickie and will make a nice addition to my backyard laying flock at any rate.


Sandra I got lovely eggs from a lady out near columbia. You might check with her when looking for eggs later. Even with some 3 year olds interference I am looking at a 70% hatch rate on my 2nd try with chickens. Not sure I won't get higher. She was really helpful also letting me pick up my eggs so I could avoid the post office scrambling and losing my eggs.

 

[gilavina]

thanks Debbi and Kim for the well wishes.... i didnt make it thru my whole shift. but found someone to cover my last 2 hours. im curled up in bed and trying to rest. ive been using mint and it helped for a bit, but i keep feelin worse. im afraid i might have caught the flu goin around. i just hope restin will get rid of this

 

[Sandara]

Quote:
That was my thinking! Bought these off of ebay and were supposed to be French Black Copper marans!The guy was a real jerk when I told him I was not satisfied with the type of eggs he had sent, not just light in color, because I know they lighten as the season go on, but uneven color with some grey matte color on one. Then when I asked why 2 hatched out brown he got really defensive. I contacted several of the people he had bought from and they too had had a bad experience with his eggs! But all these people had left good feedback as soon as they received the eggs, I was the only one that waited to see what came out and his response to the situation. Oh well, this was my first attempt at hatching in an incubator and that was pretty good overall. I might wait till we move to the country to start breeding for standard, that will give me more time for learning!

Hopefully the hen will lay nice brown eggs for my egg basket!

Thanks for the advice, it's always welcome!

 

[gilavina]

Quote:
is that first pic the same boy as the background on that other pic? If not...do you have a pic of him up close from the side?

This is an older pic of that boy he hadnt got aloth of the copper (lemon) coloring in at this point.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/79188_chickens_071.jpg
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/79188_chickens_069.jpg
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/79188_chickens_067.jpg

indeed he is a birchen and like kim mentioned...i do think he's got a problem with his comb...im thinkin i wouldnt use him for any breeding. those comb problems are a killer pain...

 

[Debbi]

Quote:
You haven't eaten cantolope within the last two or three months, have you?? I just heard the other day that that Listeria can take up to 10 weeks to incubate. Get some rest if you can and get better.

 

[gilavina]

Quote:
You haven't eaten cantolope within the last two or three months, have you?? I just heard the other day that that Listeria can take up to 10 weeks to incubate. Get some rest if you can and get better.

nope....i really dont like cantaloupe.... blech. its funny cause i like most all fruits and veggies

 

[Sandara]

Quote:
The clean legged one is already slated for my regular coop. I am not necessarily trying to breed to standard for showing purposes but I would like to produce some high quality chicks for the backyard. Much better than hatchery stock. If I get show quality that will be nice but that isn't my goal. A healthy ,as close to standard as I can get, and beautiful dark eggs are the goals right now. The clean legged one is a nice vigorous chickie and will make a nice addition to my backyard laying flock at any rate.


Sandra I got lovely eggs from a lady out near columbia. You might check with her when looking for eggs later. Even with some 3 year olds interference I am looking at a 70% hatch rate on my 2nd try with chickens. Not sure I won't get higher. She was really helpful also letting me pick up my eggs so I could avoid the post office scrambling and losing my eggs.

Thanks Heatherlynn, Not looking for anymore right now. I wish I could have a hundred, but I live in the metro and am only allowed 10 hens and 2 roos

Some day I'll be in the country and watch out, I love chickens!

 

[HeatherLynn]

Sandra I got mine from egg-cellent. She was very very nice. Its pretty far out but a nice drive. I liked picking up my eggs so I would not have to depend on the gentleness and responsibility of the post office. She does ship them also and is right in Kentucky.

She had pictures from her eggs earlier in the season that were outrageously dark. Still mine were fairly dark. Its hard to tell in pictures but probably a 6 at least. maybe darker.