Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[BarnGoddess01]

I think one thing that really hit home for me at Crossroads ... we all have a picture of the perfect bird in our own heads but the reality is, that bird will never exist. We can only keep working to get close to that picture.

 

[ChicksterJo]

Wow, thank you for those pictures!! I love the pic of the table full of eggs. Those mahogany-colored ones always take my breath away

Thanks again.

 

[gilavina]

Quote:
amen! my dad has bred, raised, and showed Wyandotte bantams since before I was born and he still had to work every year to improve his stock. I think that is one of the things I really love about raising and breeding poultry to the SOP...they are challenging in any breed, but the Marans are a whole nother level of challenging.

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Quote:
Gilavina .... I think this is what we would ALL like to know.

There were some birds at Crossroads that certainly seemed to be "well" feathered from a sparse point of view for at least a couple of us but Edgar still suggested it was TOO sparse. Even in person, we still had questions.

yeah....it seems like everyone has a viewpoint on several factors, I'm hoping at some point someone will peg down the "sparse issue"....and this is the first I'm hearing about the cuckoo pattern. I remember reading as well before I got into the cuckoos about how their pattern is not supposed to be the same as a barred...so i'm just confused

Maybe this could be a starting point? I'm not sure...
this is my cock Claude Hopper...I'd love to hear in comparison to where the cuckoos "should" be with their coloring where he fits? I'm a very visual person, so I'm just trying to figure out how to understand all this.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/77986_img_0780.jpg

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/77986_img_0772.jpg

here is some patterning one of the pullets from this years hatch out of him.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/77986_img_2395.jpg

I think Edgar would have liked your Cuckoos. I know I do!!! That, to me, looks like cuckoo barring. Well defined, barred - but cuckoo. And very good looking birds irrespective of the barring. (I hope Edgar comments here .... ) (I REALLY like your girl ...

)

 

[gilavina]

Quote:
thanks for being patient with all my questions and such! I have another one

On the Marans egg table. I was wondering if the eggs were divided into color varieties? I also was wondering if you knew who's eggs in the front row on the far side that are so stinking dark? and what color bird it came out of??

 

[Debbi]

As far as the shank/toe feathering goes, in MY mind, it should be a solid, unbroken line of feathers (full feathers, not fuzz type) down the outside of the shank, and onto the outside toe. To some, they consider this "heavy" feathering, but to me, it is just right. My two boys have the full feathers, most of my girls have either very light/fuzzy/interupted stripes or none at all. This will be one of my main corrections, along with the combs. Then hope to improve on body color, and egg color, while all the time trying to maintain type!

I'll just keep on plugging along...

 

[gilavina]

Quote:
yeah....it seems like everyone has a viewpoint on several factors, I'm hoping at some point someone will peg down the "sparse issue"....and this is the first I'm hearing about the cuckoo pattern. I remember reading as well before I got into the cuckoos about how their pattern is not supposed to be the same as a barred...so i'm just confused

Maybe this could be a starting point? I'm not sure...
this is my cock Claude Hopper...I'd love to hear in comparison to where the cuckoos "should" be with their coloring where he fits? I'm a very visual person, so I'm just trying to figure out how to understand all this.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/77986_img_0780.jpg

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/77986_img_0772.jpg

here is some patterning one of the pullets from this years hatch out of him.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/77986_img_2395.jpg

I think Edgar would have liked your Cuckoos. I know I do!!! That, to me, looks like cuckoo barring. Well defined, barred - but cuckoo. And very good looking birds irrespective of the barring. (I hope Edgar comments here .... ) (I REALLY like your girl ...

)

thanks...I've been culling for the pattern that pleased my eye the most and have had great luck this year with good solid patterning, so I was starting to kind of go into a mind melt down so to speak

....I don't usually love barred type patterns, but I do love the cuckoo on these birds. They are still a work in progress and the offspring cockerels have much better combs than he does and am presently working on the feathering. The older gentlemen I got my stock from was working to breed out the leg feathering...so now...I'm working on developing it back and have to say I'm doing pretty good. Here is the best feathering in just my F1 set of chicks. This cockerels coloring is fantastic too....

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Quote:
The eggs were well marked and in colour varieties. The most "stinking dark" were Bev Davis (Black Copper) and Jesus Llano (Black Copper and Cuckoo). As you can see from the table, there were LOADS of stinking dark eggs at Crossroads from ALL colour varieties.

 

[gilavina]

Quote:
The eggs were well marked and in colour varieties. The most "stinking dark" were Bev Davis (Black Copper) and Jesus Llano (Black Copper and Cuckoo). As you can see from the table, there were LOADS of stinking dark eggs at Crossroads from ALL colour varieties.

I was trying to make going to crossroads work...but couldn't get out of work...had I been able to go...I'm sure I would have stood in front of that table for a LONG time....trying to just soak in the reality of what I was seeing!! I'm so thrilled to see such lovely eggs, even if they are in a photo! haha

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Quote:
Debbi, the thing that was curious - both Wynette and I thought the feathering looked great on a couple of them - full line, uninterupted, looked even, including the outside toe and still, Edgar said it was not enough.

So I hope he does educate us.

I did enjoy the birds that had countable leg feathers. Mine are like that!