Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[mstricer]

well 12 little BCMs hatched. I did help 1 or 2 out...for some reason, even though I never opened it after lockdown, they didn't progress and I could see them weakening. So they're all doing great except 1...who lays on it's back alot and cheeps, flails its legs...etc. Time will tell- but here is a pic for now. Please xcuse the mess...they're in there til tomorrow...

Nice hatch.

 

[gilavina]

didn't have very good luck with catching many of the birchen chicks. I did get two...only could get decent shots of one so far. All the chicks are 5 weeks old this weekend and are growing like weeds!
I like the blue lacing and birchen color coming in on this one.


he's the one in the background. The one in front promptly ran away and hid...

and one last one outside so the silver can be seen easier.



here's what I really do believe is a BCM pullet....if its a cockerel, they never make cockerel noises and has a more feminine body, but it just beefy and a half. Nice copper so far, whatever it is. Time will tell I suppose. This batch I have two or three that baffle me, mostly because they are huge, but have strong pullet characteristics, but are coloring up well....hmmmm

 

[mstricer]

Okay I have a "I feel really dumb for not knowing this" kind of question...What does F-1 and F-2 mean? If you could see my face right now, if is flushed with embracement

Thank you Michele

F stands for filial (the generation or generations after the parental generation.) The parents are represented as P. You get F1 from the parents, F2, from crossing F1 with F1 and so on.

Okay just so I have it right. So of you cross F1 to F1, to get F2. Then are you breeding sister to brother? Sorry for all the questions I just want to do this right. I just set up White Ameraucana bantam breeding pen. I started with the parents hatch out 3 chicks and put them in with the parents. I don't know if any are boys yet. I just figures that you breed daughter to father and son to mother.

 

[Debbi]

Had to go back and look at all the pics. Congrats to all of you with good hatches!!

Vicki ~ Wow! Love those Birchen babies you got at the sale! Love the feathered shanks!!

Mel ~ Loved the KFC cartoon!

 

[gilavina]

Had to go back and look at all the pics. Congrats to all of you with good hatches!!

Vicki ~ Wow! Love those Birchen babies you got at the sale! Love the feathered shanks!!

Mel ~ Loved the KFC cartoon!

Thanks. I still can't believe I found them there and got them for 9 bucks apiece! They really are doing better with people, just gonna take a bit more time. I'll try to post some more update pics here in a couple weeks. I bet by then they will be settled down a lot more!
Think they are about a month and a half to two months old? That's my guess

 

[Debbi]

Okay just so I have it right. So of you cross F1 to F1, to get F2. Then are you breeding sister to brother? Sorry for all the questions I just want to do this right. I just set up White Ameraucana bantam breeding pen. I started with the parents hatch out 3 chicks and put them in with the parents. I don't know if any are boys yet. I just figures that you breed daughter to father and son to mother.

You can, or it could be F1s from two different pens/lines. Breeding brother to sister will speed things up as far as traits go. Keep in mind, it will also speed up and bring to the fore front any really bad traits too. Not really a bad thing to do if you need to see in a hurry who may be carrying certain undesireable traits that aren't being expressed; for example, carnation combs.

 

[Debbi]

Thanks. I still can't believe I found them there and got them for 9 bucks apiece! They really are doing better with people, just gonna take a bit more time. I'll try to post some more update pics here in a couple weeks. I bet by then they will be settled down a lot more!
Think they are about a month and a half to two months old? That's my guess

Wow, 9 bucks??? Hope you got the people's name??? If I had to guess their age, I was thinking 8-9 weeks old. Hard to tell really from pics, but that would be my guess.

 

[gilavina]

Wow, 9 bucks??? Hope you got the people's name??? If I had to guess their age, I was thinking 8-9 weeks old. Hard to tell really from pics, but that would be my guess.

yeah....that's about the ball park I'm sitting at for the age....I can't wait to see how they keep developing! They have quite a few things I really like that might help out my birchen project...the biggest part is with the leg feathering...and they certainly have that haha

I don't have the people's name, but I do have a friend from the poultry club down there that is looking into finding out for me. She has access to the auction paperwork, so, until then, I'll just wait. When I talked to a couple of other people in the club down there, they were there when the people checked the crates in and said they are people who show and have raised breeding stock of several breeds, so I'm hoping that if I can get the info, they will be someone that I can get a conversation going with.

 

[gilavina]

hey debbi...what do you think about the silver coming in on that blue birchen I posted just a few posts back? I like the blue color too. He is super stocky....like a rock

 

[Mountain Mel]

Hey Mel, just come out of hibernation?

Yea....pretty much. Cold Spring around here.