Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[Christie Rhae]

Wooohooo I got babies pipping zipping and hatching! Yay! The put em the incubator and forget them technique worked!! Lol

 

[Hens and Roos]

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indeed, i hadnt thought of that one

I need a visual...anyone have a pic of this they could share?

Is this what you are refering to?

 

[Hens and Roos]

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yeah babies

don't forget pictures

 

[gilavina]

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Marans and Wyandottes...and I'm also looking for a website I saw for a place in Washington state that has solid blue marans, but I for the life of me can't find it now. I saw it earlier this fall, and have not been able to find it since. They had some of the nicest looking ones I've seen. I kind of wonder if they took their website down

Was it Lisa Cree? Cree Farms?

I'm not sure...I'll have to go look.

 

[CayuseRanch]

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Diddo for me, I hope someone answers your questions and please post pics.

 

[VillageChicken]

There is a thread specifically for black copper Marans here
There is another thread for discussing the BC Marans Standard of Perfection (SOP) here
Both threads discuss the standard, potential breeding strategies, what's working, what's not, what pitfalls to avoid, faults you may easily overlook etc.

Since you admit that you're lacking information about the breed, I'd suggest starting with these two threads. You will more likely get the answers to your questions in addition to the knowledge about the breed that is lacking.

You'll also meet the BYC Marans community, which is a pretty cool bunch of folks.

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Diddo for me, I hope someone answers your questions and please post pics.

 

[pinkchick]

SO I would like to know of the four birds which one is best...ALL the eggs are REALLY dark I think they are a four from the second set... But where is this standard? the first ones are pretty dark also...I can post pics of the roos if ya'll can help me and also the eggsin the incubator...we need hens.... I also have a ton of questions... but will try to keep it simple... 1. Isnt a Copper color desired one a bcm? with no gold? that is considered leakage? 2. can someone post a standard, like they do on other threads? So that I can select my best hens once they hatch do you only select hens born from the darkest eggs?. 3. is there a way to reliably sex chicks? or do we wait like some other breeds until they grow out?

Welcome!

ALL the eggs are REALLY dark I think they are a four from the second set... But where is this standard? the first ones are pretty dark also...

Are you asking about a standard for the eggs or a reference to an egg color chart?
Please post photos of the eggs in the 'bator. We LOVE egg photos!

Posting photos of the birds is the best way we can help you or give you advise.

We LOVE bird photos!

1. Isnt a Copper color desired one a bcm? with no gold? that is considered leakage?

Copper is desired on the hackles, wing bow and saddles of the males. Copper is desired on the hackle of the females (but some females will show very little to no copper if they are over melanized or too dark) (speaking only of the Copper variety....no pure solid Black, Blue and Splash which are very rare)
No gold, straw or brassiness in the hackles.....this would be a fault and is not desired. No it is not considered leakage on the BCM or Blue Copper variety...some would suggest that the gold(straw) or brassiness may be indicitive of a Wheaten influence in the Black Copper. (Some lines of BCM carry recessive Wheaten and the influences or traits can come out in the color of the hackle, shafting in the breast, brownish undercolor of the body that is not true black and also in the leg color (white legs vs. the slate).

2. can someone post a standard, like they do on other threads?

There is a copy of the Black Copper Standard in the Black Copper Discussion Thread. I believe that it is located in the first post of that thread or it is in the SOP thread for the Black Copper. I will try to find it and post a link for you, however you can also find the Standard on the Marans Chicken Club USA.

do you only select hens born from the darkest eggs?

This is somewhat of a loaded question but will see what I can do as far as an answer for you.
Egg color should always be a factor when considering birds for breeding, but also goes beyond egg color if you are looking to breed for both egg color and to standard. Both the rooster and the hen contribute to egg color in the offspring, so selecting a rooster for breeding that has good qualities that you are looking for in your birds should also have hatched from a dark egg. Same with the female...if she has good qualities that you would like to see perpetuated in your birds and she came from a nice dark egg by all means breed them and set the eggs. Having said that.....some folks will not set eggs that are any lighter than a #6 on the color shade chart, I myself will set #4 eggs if the parent bird/s have good qualities that I would like to see in the offspring, so I may suffer moderate egg color loss in the interim (but it is not such a loss that they wouldn't be considered Marans) to get good type or color. If it worked out well I will work on regaining egg color in the next generation by crossing back to a male that I know has excellent egg color genetics and hatched from a dark egg and has also been test mated for his egg color, BUT BY ALL MEANS please remember that if they do not lay at the very least a #4 egg they are not considered a Marans.

3. is there a way to reliably sex chicks? or do we wait like some other breeds until they grow out?

The only reliable way to sex them is to wait, unless a person is trained in the highly skilled vent sexing technique, but then again, mistakes are made vent sexing as well. Some lines of Marans have been breed for a slow feathering/fast feathering trait which can produce birds that maybe considered sexable at an early age, however this is not 100% accurate either. I breed for this and I can tell you that it is pretty reliable with my birds, but there are still some little sneaky Pete's that fool a person.

Hope this helps and that others also come by and give their opinions and advise and correct me if I am wrong on any of the above.​

 

[pinkchick]

VC~

Hi! I finally logged on to The Classroom @ The Coop!!!!!! I'm no longer a lurker!

Anyway, I found a photo of that Blue Copper boys grandfather who had lighter hackles. I think what Marvin said about the Lemon Blue is interesting. Wonder if I have something in this boy that would help out in the project of the Lemon Blues.

Anywhoo this is his grandfather.

Interesting huh? I never even thought to look at the 2 of them together and compare similarities. What do you think?

 

[pinkchick]

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WoooooooHoooooooT!!!!!! Come on chickies!!!!!

 

[VillageChicken]

I saw you on there... I thought yea! She took the plunge!
I remember that pic... in the back of a pickup isnt' it? Yeah, but your boy has like double the light hackle of his grandfather and a much cleaner breast.
Your guy's color looks a lot like that picture Wieslaw posted that looks like some kind of wild jungle fowl - the only one that wasn't birchen.
Well, it's sort of official isn't it... that your roo has something special going on.

As far as the lemon blue thing - I don't know much about that project - Marvin said the red shoulders are the main problem, and your guy still has red shoulders... but it might be worth talking to the folks that are working on them.

Maybe post him as a new thread in the What's this breed/gender category and see if anyone at BYC has any suggestions? What's this genetic anomaly useful for? Or something like that! I personally like the look of the lighter "flame" in the lower hackle - maybe not on BC since I know that's not the standard, but on wild type and wheaten, I like that extra flash of color - makes it look like some exotic tropical fowl.



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