Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[DMRippy]

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What is a DQ in the combs besides side sprigs and carnations? What are some other DQ's I need to know? Like white feathers, clean shanks etc. Just looking for faults to cull with. Anything I would not want to have in a breeder.

Flopped combs in roos I think. Also pearl or black colored eyes. Haven't had enough coffee yet to think of any more!

I had a couple of roos with floppy combs and you know when I upped their protein they have straightened right up, quickly too. Just thought I would put that out there is someone is having that problem. Laying pullets and hens can have a floppy comb, what about a wavy comb? Is that more of a carnation link thing?

 

[Debbi]

Not sure if the wave is a DQ, more like a defect? I really need to get an SOP book. Not sure if it connects to the carnation or not. None of my boys with carnations have a wave. The hen does though. Heavy feather shafting seems to go hand in hand with the carnation, just one more thing to watch for.

 

[kowgurl62]

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If all you are breeding for is dark eating eggs, keep him. If you are planning on breeding towards the Standard of Perfection, and plan to sell eggs/chicks, CULL HIM NOW! Side sprigs and carnation combs are a huge problem in this breed, spread like wildfire, and are DISQUALIFYING FAULTS. A side sprig in any breed is a DQ, so as pretty as he may be, he is not going to benefit you or anyone else down the road. His offspring will either all have one or more, or pass on the genes for it. I know how sad it is, I'm culling almost my whole flock due to these problems, just trying to save you some time, tears, and money.

the good thing is i have a carbon copy of this rooster, so i guess this fella will go over with the weird "marans" i hatched from eggs off of ebay. those girls have started laying and they have the darkest eggs of all. also, i don't plan on selling chicks or eggs yet, this is the first year with the bcm's, so i need to get a couple of generations into it to see how the birds are breeding forward

 

[Debbi]

Quote:
If all you are breeding for is dark eating eggs, keep him. If you are planning on breeding towards the Standard of Perfection, and plan to sell eggs/chicks, CULL HIM NOW! Side sprigs and carnation combs are a huge problem in this breed, spread like wildfire, and are DISQUALIFYING FAULTS. A side sprig in any breed is a DQ, so as pretty as he may be, he is not going to benefit you or anyone else down the road. His offspring will either all have one or more, or pass on the genes for it. I know how sad it is, I'm culling almost my whole flock due to these problems, just trying to save you some time, tears, and money.

the good thing is i have a carbon copy of this rooster, so i guess this fella will go over with the weird "marans" i hatched from eggs off of ebay. those girls have started laying and they have the darkest eggs of all.

If your "carbon copy" is related to the sprig roo, you may want to test mate him first?

 

[chevgrl]

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Lol I'm tackling a few big projects outside also... it was 46 here and its sprinkling.
Vicki- did you here its supose to be 78on Monday?

 

[kowgurl62]

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the good thing is i have a carbon copy of this rooster, so i guess this fella will go over with the weird "marans" i hatched from eggs off of ebay. those girls have started laying and they have the darkest eggs of all.

If your "carbon copy" is related to the sprig roo, you may want to test mate him first?

he IS related, so that's why i want to do test hatches before i do the serious breeding , out of about 7 or 8 roos that i got from this breeder, only 1 roo had the sprig, the others i culled were for bad tails. also i was looking back at some pics of someone else's roosters, and i've got another question which you can probably answer... i have a roo i just put in the cull pen because of some weird curly feathers in his neck hackles, did i do right? i know i've seen a post on that subject, but can't seem to find it. is that a genetic thing, or just something going on with that one rooster? physically he is a nice rooster, but i don't like his coloring(too light) and those weird hackle feathers

 

[Debbi]

Quote:
If your "carbon copy" is related to the sprig roo, you may want to test mate him first?

he IS related, so that's why i want to do test hatches before i do the serious breeding , out of about 7 or 8 roos that i got from this breeder, only 1 roo had the sprig, the others i culled were for bad tails. also i was looking back at some pics of someone else's roosters, and i've got another question which you can probably answer... i have a roo i just put in the cull pen because of some weird curly feathers in his neck hackles, did i do right? i know i've seen a post on that subject, but can't seem to find it. is that a genetic thing, or just something going on with that one rooster? physically he is a nice rooster, but i don't like his coloring(too light) and those weird hackle feathers

Well, there's one problem I haven't had yet!

Do you have a picture of that? Sounds like you'd be better off to cull him out. On your ebay eggs, was the breeder from KY?

 

[pinkchick]

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I tell ya with all the stupid carnation combs that popped up on me this year I didn't even notice if the ones with carnation had the heaviest feathered legs. Interesting....if the stupid comb thing happens again in these eggs I have in the 'bator I will make note to pay attention to the shank feathering.

Debbi...did you notice if they also had very heavy toe feathering or if they had stubs in between the toes?

 

[kowgurl62]

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he IS related, so that's why i want to do test hatches before i do the serious breeding , out of about 7 or 8 roos that i got from this breeder, only 1 roo had the sprig, the others i culled were for bad tails. also i was looking back at some pics of someone else's roosters, and i've got another question which you can probably answer... i have a roo i just put in the cull pen because of some weird curly feathers in his neck hackles, did i do right? i know i've seen a post on that subject, but can't seem to find it. is that a genetic thing, or just something going on with that one rooster? physically he is a nice rooster, but i don't like his coloring(too light) and those weird hackle feathers

Well, there's one problem I haven't had yet!

Do you have a picture of that? Sounds like you'd be better off to cull him out. On your ebay eggs, was the breeder from KY?

i don'tt have a pic, i'll try to get one today,,,hmm, i THINK they were from tennessee, i'd have to go to my ebay account to find out,,,but i know the ebay'er you're referring to, i've seen the posts on him. i almost ordered from him. the funny thing is, just for fun i want to order more birds from these people, i know call me crazy, but i got the most beautiful colored hen out of this hatch, and her color is so different, that i just want to see if i could get more like that, not for breeding, but just because i like purrrty birds

AND the fact that these birds laying such dark eggs, just a little backyard project for myself.

 

[pinkchick]

For crying out loud......leave for a day and come back another 12 pages behind and I still haven't caught up with the 10 pages prior to that.