Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[pinkchick]

I'm now actively working my Blue Copper Marans line and have what I still consider to be a "Project Pen". It has a Blue Copper male and female I got from Whitmore farms a couple of years ago but both were clean legged and the female had very little copper in her. I had used them to breed to some of my Black Copper Marans last year and got a few nice blue copper babies including another male and a few girls. They are also in this Project Pen along with a couple of my Black Copper hens that had too much red because I'm trying to get more copper in the birds than they initially had. I thought I had read that if you breed the blues and the blacks (Marans) you get either a true blue or a true black. I don't remember seeing anything about getting splash like you would when you breed other blues and blacks. Anyway, the first three chicks of this season have hatched and they look splash to me. A very light blue color. The tint washed out in the photo but you can see what they look like. I think they are too cute. They all have feathered legs just like the ones I hatched last year so I'm guessing that's also dominate. My question is - do you also get splash when you breed the blues and blacks together? I didn't get any last year but I was using black roos and this year I'm using only blue roos. Like I said, it's still in the "project" stage but they are laying like crazy and I'm hoping to end up with a nice line of Blue Copper Marans.

Tooo CUTE!

Yes you can get Splash babies from Blue to Blue matings, blue does not breed true...it will produce all 3 colors, Black, Blue and Splash. If they bred true they would produce all blue, but Splash breeds true if mated splash to splash and will produce all splash so they breed true. Black to black will produce all Black, so Black breeds true.

 

[Hens and Roos]

ruth- very cute babies!

 

[ruth]

Tooo CUTE!

Yes you can get Splash babies from Blue to Blue matings, blue does not breed true...it will produce all 3 colors, Black, Blue and Splash. If they bred true they would produce all blue, but Splash breeds true if mated splash to splash and will produce all splash so they breed true. Black to black will produce all Black, so Black breeds true.

Thanks Pink - I knew that about other blue to black pairings but somehow, somewhere I had read that Marans produced either blue or black if you paired them together. I knew somehow people were getting splash so it only made sense that the blue/black breeding in Marans would also produce all three colors. I'm guessing since I have mostly blues in the pen this year I'll be getting a lot of splash. I only test hatched a few eggs to see if they were fertile and all three that hatched were splash. I'm excited about seeing how this year's hatch turn out cause I really love the blue coppers.

 

[rsquared]

I'm now actively working my Blue Copper Marans line and have what I still consider to be a "Project Pen". It has a Blue Copper male and female I got from Whitmore farms a couple of years ago but both were clean legged and the female had very little copper in her. I had used them to breed to some of my Black Copper Marans last year and got a few nice blue copper babies including another male and a few girls. They are also in this Project Pen along with a couple of my Black Copper hens that had too much red because I'm trying to get more copper in the birds than they initially had. I thought I had read that if you breed the blues and the blacks (Marans) you get either a true blue or a true black. I don't remember seeing anything about getting splash like you would when you breed other blues and blacks. Anyway, the first three chicks of this season have hatched and they look splash to me. A very light blue color. The tint washed out in the photo but you can see what they look like. I think they are too cute. They all have feathered legs just like the ones I hatched last year so I'm guessing that's also dominate. My question is - do you also get splash when you breed the blues and blacks together? I didn't get any last year but I was using black roos and this year I'm using only blue roos. Like I said, it's still in the "project" stage but they are laying like crazy and I'm hoping to end up with a nice line of Blue Copper Marans.

Those are just too cute....great wishes on your project!

 

[pinkchick]

Thanks Pink - I knew that about other blue to black pairings but somehow, somewhere I had read that Marans produced either blue or black if you paired them together. I knew somehow people were getting splash so it only made sense that the blue/black breeding in Marans would also produce all three colors. I'm guessing since I have mostly blues in the pen this year I'll be getting a lot of splash. I only test hatched a few eggs to see if they were fertile and all three that hatched were splash. I'm excited about seeing how this year's hatch turn out cause I really love the blue coppers.

Your very welcome my friend...and I should say that I should have eloborated just a skoosh more....blue to black will only produce blue and black babies......unless....one is such a dark blue that it appears black, then it would/could produce a splash. Black to blue if it is a true black will not produce a splash. 2 copies of the blue gene are needed to produce splash.

 

[DMRippy]

5 little babies!!!! 2 still have done nothing....I'm not sure they will but I have been surprised before.
1 of the 5 has a slight crooked toe but I think she will overcome and it will straighten out. Photos later after I finish a little work outside. They are SooooooOOOOOOOOOO STINKIN' CUTE!!!!!
All have feathered legs and toes.

I love the "YES" smiley! We need one that is shaking it's head "Nooooo!"

I had one that was a week old before I found out he had crooked toes and it was kinda bad....I made him some shoes out of pipe cleaners and vet wrap it he improved a lot before I sold him.

 

[ruth]

Your very welcome my friend...and I should say that I should have eloborated just a skoosh more....blue to black will only produce blue and black babies......unless....one is such a dark blue that it appears black, then it would/could produce a splash. Black to blue if it is a true black will not produce a splash. 2 copies of the blue gene are needed to produce splash.

Okay - that's what I thought and what I had read - a true blue with a true black will produce either a true blue or black baby. Last year I only used my true black coppers with my true blue coppers and only got blues or blacks. This year I have mostly blue on blue taking place so I'm now getting splash - which is good cause I wanted some splash anyway. I haven't seen a picture of a splash copper marans - or is it even called that?

 

[pinkchick]

Okay - that's what I thought and what I had read - a true blue with a true black will produce either a true blue or black baby. Last year I only used my true black coppers with my true blue coppers and only got blues or blacks. This year I have mostly blue on blue taking place so I'm now getting splash - which is good cause I wanted some splash anyway. I haven't seen a picture of a splash copper marans - or is it even called that?

Yes, they would be Splash Coppers if they have copper anywhere in them or their background.

 

[DMRippy]

Pink, your eggs are in the bator!!!!

Some were so big I could not put them right next to each other. Had to place strategically to get them to fit properly.

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Quote:

I had an Olive Egger hatch out on Christmas Day with very curled toes on one foot. I used a Band-aid to straighten out/flatten the toes. Laid out the toes flat on the pad of the band-aid then folded the sticky parts over on top. Only took 2 days and one change of "boot". That little bird is THRIVING at 4 weeks. Both feet are just fine.