Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[gilavina]

Donna~ You are too funny.


Vicki~ I cracked under no pressure at all, (no pressure at all I say, LOL) and ordered some Birchen eggs. They should be shipped out today for arrival on Wednesday.

YAHOO!!!! And where from pray tell?

 

[gilavina]

Nice! This is the same egg color I am getting from that suppose to be Silver Black Birchen pullet.

Unfortunately more often than not it is about this color or less when I've ordered eggs from others. But there is enough color on the eggs so far that I can definitely work with. I'll see about how things will go over the next year

 

[gilavina]

Vicki~ Those boys are looking good. Love the lacing on the blue boy. I was checking out that Black Copper cockerel of mine that I am growing out and he is not showing 1 stitch of copper.....he is black as black can be. Me wonders if he will even get any copper at all. Even if he doesn't...... he is going to be a nice big chunker.



Keara~ I like that cockerel that you are growing out with the shorter back. He has great copper color and nice size. Love the broadness of him. He should make some nice babies.
Question? Does he always carry his wings this low or is he just flustered from the photo shoot? I know my guy Lil' Bill gets anxious when I come around with the camera and give him chase to get photos of him and sometimes he doesn't tuck his wings back up where they belong after a little chase and they can look funny or low in some of my photos. Just wondering if you have noticed this as well.

Thanks ma'am! I love the lacing on the blue too, its so sharp!
How old is that black copper boy of yours that has no color?

 

[gilavina]

Vicki, those boys are looking good!! LOVE the color on that BCM boy!

Thank ya! I'm well pleased with them and the ones growing out. I'm thinking I'm going to have a few to pick from this year. It will be my first year of not being desperate and holding over the best of the ok birds and etc for the boys. Its going to be good me thinks.

 

[pinkchick]

YAHOO!!!! And where from pray tell?

Rod Reeves, he is a very nice man. He has been winning some egg shows with his egg color lately. He got his birds from Charles Logan who of course in turn is very close with Tommy Culpepper, so essentially we will still have some birds of the same blood.

As you know, my only goal with the Silver Black is to make them Silver Blue so for this project his birds seem to be a good jumping off point. Nice combs, good size, good tail sets and good leg feathering. Geesh....I never thought I would be so "comb shy" but good golly....once those carnations starting blooming over here, I feel I sorta have to be.

I have Bad Betty here that I am planning on crossing to the Silver boy I have here now to see what she will throw. Also have my Splash girl, Darryl that I would like to test to him....these 2 crosses will give me the blue I need, and will work on tail set. I also have those 2 other Splash gals that are in with that silly young boy that is not showing copper. I know I just looked it up and posted about his age but I'll be if I can't recall the exact age but think he hatched in March. I know he is still very young but ususally I see some hint of color by this age. Even the edges of the hackle feather are very very very black. Usually, in my experience,if they are going to just be overmelanized the edges of the hackle will still show some signs of red, but very dark and if taken out into the sun you can see it, I can't explain it like I would like to, but, I know you know what I am talking about. This guy, even out in the sun is black....no red leakage trying to show through the overmelanized dark hackles. Did that make sense? LOL! I know I'm a little cornfused after that. I have a photo of what I am describing...will see if I can find it so that others can follow along with my blather.

 

[gilavina]

Rod Reeves, he is a very nice man. He has been winning some egg shows with his egg color lately. He got his birds from Charles Logan who of course in turn is very close with Tommy Culpepper, so essentially we will still have some birds of the same blood.

As you know, my only goal with the Silver Black is to make them Silver Blue so for this project his birds seem to be a good jumping off point. Nice combs, good size, good tail sets and good leg feathering. Geesh....I never thought I would be so "comb shy" but good golly....once those carnations starting blooming over here, I feel I sorta have to be.

I have Bad Betty here that I am planning on crossing to the Silver boy I have here now to see what she will throw. Also have my Splash girl, Darryl that I would like to test to him....these 2 crosses will give me the blue I need, and will work on tail set. I also have those 2 other Splash gals that are in with that silly young boy that is not showing copper. I know I just looked it up and posted about his age but I'll be if I can't recall the exact age but think he hatched in March. I know he is still very young but ususally I see some hint of color by this age. Even the edges of the hackle feather are very very very black. Usually, in my experience,if they are going to just be overmelanized the edges of the hackle will still show some signs of red, but very dark and if taken out into the sun you can see it, I can't explain it like I would like to, but, I know you know what I am talking about. This guy, even out in the sun is black....no red leakage trying to show through the overmelanized dark hackles. Did that make sense? LOL! I know I'm a little cornfused after that. I have a photo of what I am describing...will see if I can find it so that others can follow along with my blather.

awesome....now you're tempting me! Esp since apparently its lookin like the chicks might have fallen through. Haven't heard back when I asked about it a couple weeks back and I'm afraid the window for chicks being shipped is closing pretty quickly here with the heat. Where do I find pics of Reeves birds?

 

[RyeRanch]

I'm no expert by far but if its 7 weeks old with that much red on comb and wattles , when i compare to mine i'd say HE is a cockrel. But this is my very first flock ever so i could be wrong.

I have some BCMs that are about 10 weeks old now. The roos started trying to crow at about 6-7 weeks and had a pretty red comb going on by about 5 weeks. I think you are safe calling that one a pullet.

 

[pinkchick]

He sent me pictures via email. I will send you his email address, you should also be able to locate him through the Marans Chicken Club. He posts quite often, I wonder if he has an album there as well. Funny, I never even thought of looking there for him or his birds. I'm such a goob.
He (Rod) came recommended to my from my friend "Upthecreek".....aka Shannon, again, very nice guy. Upthecreek is also a member here on BYC and the MCC.
Hi Shannon!!!!!! I know you are around lurking every once and a while

.

 

[gilavina]

He sent me pictures via email. I will send you his email address, you should also be able to locate him through the Marans Chicken Club. He posts quite often, I wonder if he has an album there as well. Funny, I never even thought of looking there for him or his birds. I'm such a goob.
He (Rod) came recommended to my from my friend "Upthecreek".....aka Shannon, again, very nice guy. Upthecreek is also a member here on BYC and the MCC.
Hi Shannon!!!!!! I know you are around lurking every once and a while

.

good deal. I'd appreciate that. The hardest part I'm having is getting a cockerel I'm happy with, so would love to see if I might have a possibility of getting a nice beefy boy with good color and has dark egg genetics behind him. Again, not asking for much eh?

 

[Bangarang64]

Finally got my Wheatens

seven little one week olds and:


two a bit older, the one in the foreground is my roo.