Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[math ace]

Quote:
I KNEW my friends weren't flaring

but you guys know how sensitive others can be WHO do NOT KNOW us a regular basis...
NOW, I feel horrid having said anything!

I really am grateful to see this discussion going on !

I've checked my birds ( hens and roos) for issues before, but by God I am going to go out there and do it again - - -THIS TIME WITH MY FINGERNAIL and all the to the base of the comb! I am thinking I will put my reading glasses on too!

LORD, I feel old having to wear reading glasses

 

[Debbi]

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Don, Correct me if I'm wrong here, but wasn't there an allowance of a 1/2 inch of white feather allowed??

Roberta, Take a red marker and mark the white feather in the middle. See if you can find the feather when he molts. So far, none of my roos have done a "full blown" molt, gees, not like the hens! They seem to molt more on a regular basis, a little at a time, and throughout the year. I have seen quite a few white feathers come and go with my boys. Clyde, mine

, in particular, will get in white feathers about 2-3 weeks before he molts them out. Check the feathers to see if they are white in the quill and all the way down to the skin. That may be a permanent white feather. Clyde's get white in the middle of the feather, black on the tips and at the base by the skin. They always seem to molt away. Don's gonna have a field day with this remark!!

 

[stoopid]

What I am asking, is if the white feathers USUALLY moult out of a younger bird, he would automatically be DQ, even if he has everything else going for him, and it is known to "go away" in time?

 

[Debbi]

Quote:
I KNEW my friends weren't flaring

but you guys know how sensitive others can be WHO do NOT KNOW us a regular basis...
NOW, I feel horrid having said anything!

I really am grateful to see this discussion going on !

I've checked my birds ( hens and roos) for issues before, but by God I am going to go out there and do it again - - -THIS TIME WITH MY FINGERNAIL and all the to the base of the comb! I am thinking I will put my reading glasses on too!

LORD, I feel old having to wear reading glasses

Don't feel bad about the glasses! I either use a jewelers loupe, or my magnified lamp to make sure I'm seeing what I'm seeing! And that's WITH reading glasses!!

 

[BarnGoddess01]

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Depends on the judge and the show. At Crossroads (i.e. a high end show), he would have been DQ'd. The judge has to judge the bird he sees on the day even if he KNOWS it will be the better bird down the road.

 

[stoopid]

I have noticed that the white ones seem to fall out easier than the darker ones. He also had that foot fungus thingy going around, was discussed around a month? ago.
I have been using neosporin on his legs, getting better...

 

[snowbird]

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A proper APA judge is supposed to make himself familiar with the breeds he will be judging. I believe they are all aware that the Black Copper Marans have just been accepted to the SOP and do try to educate themselves prior to judging although mistakes do happen at this point.

The main thing is that in all but the large shows the judge will not know until Judging day what breed they will be judging. When I have showed in the past I always looked to see who was judging and if someone on my list was one of the Judge I did not enter birds. I go to shows and see Marans with White wing and tail feathers placed first.

 

[stoopid]

So is the Poultry Congress considered a "high end" show?
I have plans to go.

 

[Debbi]

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Not sure what you are asking here?? I don't discount anyone here, UNLESS they have an obvious DQ that I know isn't going anywhere or changing with age. White feathers, at least here, come and go.

 

[BarnGoddess01]

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I believe it would be considered a "high end" show.

I was also told "a little bit of prep goes a LONG way" and "winners know how to prepare and show their birds". Make sure to print off a copy of the SOP from the MCCUSA website just in case the judge needs it as the SOP doesn't appear in the book yet. At Crossroads, for example, I believe the judge was given an "old" copy of the SOP and some judging mistakes were made. But that was corrected at the show. It is up to us at this point, those of us promoting the SOP within the breed, to make sure we do our best to meet that.