Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[flgardengirl]

Meet Luna the Cuckoo Maran. She is so sweet, calm and beautiful. I picked her up 3-4 days ago and I can not believe how calm she is for being 4 weeks old.
I think she was beginning to develop wry neck when I first got her. When she sat down, her neck would twist back like I've never seen in a chick. I gave her poly vi sol in the beak and she stopped doing this by the second night

What a cutie!

 

[flgardengirl]

sounds like you have lots of different eggs going into the incubator! How far along are those silver sussex eggs now?

I gave the SS eggs to the broody on the 7th so about 1/3 rd of the way cooked now. she is sitting tight so far

 

[gilavina]

So not looking forward to the weather today and tonight. I'm praying that everyone stays safe and sound. Looks like its gonna be a rough one. I'll be battoning down the hatches and covering plants the best I can and getting all the birds locked away for the night, nice and early.

 

[laughingclown]

I have recently acquired some Black and Blue Copper Marans and would like to breed for French standards. May I please get a consensus as to what everyone does with their culls? Do you eat them? Sell them (if so what do you charge)? Or give them away? I have read a bit up on disqualifiers. I'm not necessarily into shows but I just want top notch birds. What about the feathered legs. I have a couple chicks that are a little lacking on feathered legs( they do have some fuzz )? Do they get more or should I just not plan on keeping them if I want feathered legs? I love my chickens don't get me wrong but I am trying to get in to more of the serious side of chickens now. Trying to make sense of genetics and the quality that customers want.

 

[Debbi]

So not looking forward to the weather today and tonight. I'm praying that everyone stays safe and sound. Looks like its gonna be a rough one. I'll be battoning down the hatches and covering plants the best I can and getting all the birds locked away for the night, nice and early.

Please be safe Vicki! They keep calling for "High Risk Severe Weather" for tonight and tomorrow morning here. They usally never say high risk. According to their maps so far, it looks like most of the bad stuff, at least for tonight, will stay to the west of me. Tomorrow morning may be another story! Stay safe!! It's been raining and thundering here for the last two days, finally got a brief respite to join the rest of the world!

 

[Debbi]

I have recently acquired some Black and Blue Copper Marans and would like to breed for French standards. May I please get a consensus as to what everyone does with their culls? Do you eat them? Sell them (if so what do you charge)? Or give them away? I have read a bit up on disqualifiers. I'm not necessarily into shows but I just want top notch birds. What about the feathered legs. I have a couple chicks that are a little lacking on feathered legs( they do have some fuzz )? Do they get more or should I just not plan on keeping them if I want feathered legs? I love my chickens don't get me wrong but I am trying to get in to more of the serious side of chickens now. Trying to make sense of genetics and the quality that customers want.

Welcome aboard! First, since Black Copper Marans, and now Wheaten Marans have been accepted by the APA, you will want to breed towards the American Standard! That is, unless you plan to show in France? Read up on the SOP here: http://marans.org/sop.html

As for the culls, lots of folks do different things, including all of the above that you mentioned. I have sold a few hens, but only as dark egg layers, as they were absolute culls. Roos I've given away, but the next round will be butchered. I won't sell any of my birds as Marans, unless they conform to the SOP, period. They are supposed to have "lightly feathered shanks on the outside, and extending down to the outter toe." No toe feathering is allowed on any other toes. And if they don't have any signs of feathering at hatch, chances are they never will. Hope this helps?

 

[Petvet12]

I would love to get some Blue Copper Marans. I don't even care if they are culls. I mainly want a few roosters. If you decide to get rid of any more, let me know.

 

[laughingclown]

They all have feathering down the outer toes, just some barely have it. Kinda like peach fuzz. Its there none the less. So total I have, 10 Black Coppers and 9 Blue Coppers. All hatched right around Easter Weekend. Im pretty pumped to do this! I may be getting another 15 or so in a couple of months from a different breeder. I want to try and refrain from inbreeding if I can. It will be difficult though as Im starting from scratch and I am limited on room.

Welcome aboard! First, since Black Copper Marans, and now Wheaten Marans have been accepted by the APA, you will want to breed towards the American Standard! That is, unless you plan to show in France? Read up on the SOP here: http://marans.org/sop.html

As for the culls, lots of folks do different things, including all of the above that you mentioned. I have sold a few hens, but only as dark egg layers, as they were absolute culls. Roos I've given away, but the next round will be butchered. I won't sell any of my birds as Marans, unless they conform to the SOP, period. They are supposed to have "lightly feathered shanks on the outside, and extending down to the outter toe." No toe feathering is allowed on any other toes. And if they don't have any signs of feathering at hatch, chances are they never will. Hope this helps?

 

[gilavina]

Made it through the first wave of the worst storms....still have more cells coming through, but seeing clear skies to the west for the first time all day finally.

 

[gilavina]

Debbi....how are you doing down there? Just took the last chick out of the incubator....so 64 is the magic total for this hatch. Not too shabby!