Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[gilavina]

hey Kim, do you have a good black copper boy? If you take those lighter blue girls and cross them onto him for a generation, you will darken up the blue a bit. If it is a bit too dark on those out of that cross, then cross them onto a splash male if you have one. That will back off some of the depth of the blue color, but shouldn't take away the hackle color if the girls are really light blue to begin with.

You can tell I haven't had my coffee yet, cause I totally misunderstood what you were trying to do. if you are tryin to get to lighter girls, then it will be fastest to have a splash male to cross on them. There are other things you can do, but that's the most direct way. This is why I always try to keep a male of each color and females of all three as well. I just love, love, love the way blues work.

 

[pinkchick]

Cad & Vicki~ Thanks for the comments on the girls. I do love them. They are in with that Birchen boy for test mating right now. I am willing test out this guys comb issues to see what happens as I have lots of time to play around with until the Birchen eggies in the 'bator get done cooking and maturing.
Only one of these girls has lightly feathered shanks. These are my first 2 girls ever, out of my Bill, Sr., which explains the lack of leg feathering on one and the sparsity of the other. I used these 2 girls to help rebuild my flock after I culled so drastically with carnation comb thing last year.

Know that Black Copper chick that I just hatched out that I sooooooooooo wanted to be a male??? It's a Pullet.

I know, crying over a pullet, right? How pathetic! BUT I SO WANTED A COCKEREL!!!!!

Atleast she has wonderfully feathered shanks....well right now as a chick she does anyway. Hope she keeps them and is not one of those that has them for now and then they slough off and never come back again. I really hate when that happens.

 

[pinkchick]

we must have been writing at the same time! haha

Yah, we were probably typing at the same time. LOL! Yes he has a twist in the front....... a slight twist going on in the rear with the blade (this I have been watching and it has not changed but I suspect that it will keep turning) and he has a thumbprint. I think I have another photo of him that shows the print better. I will look.


As far as breeding to the Splash for lighter color.......I have done that and lost all lacing and some copper on a couple of girls. When I first started out I didn't want anything to do with the Black Coppers.....really still feel that way about them, but must have them here to keep the lacing and stronger blue colors. I tried breeding blues to blues and splash to blues. I got some some pullets with light (not brassy or straw) colored hackles but their lacing was lacking greatly. I have photos.........will look for them.

 

[gilavina]

Cad & Vicki~ Thanks for the comments on the girls. I do love them. They are in with that Birchen boy for test mating right now. I am willing test out this guys comb issues to see what happens as I have lots of time to play around with until the Birchen eggies in the 'bator get done cooking and maturing.
Only one of these girls has lightly feathered shanks. These are my first 2 girls ever, out of my Bill, Sr., which explains the lack of leg feathering on one and the sparsity of the other. I used these 2 girls to help rebuild my flock after I culled so drastically with carnation comb thing last year.

Know that Black Copper chick that I just hatched out that I sooooooooooo wanted to be a male??? It's a Pullet.

I know, crying over a pullet, right? How pathetic! BUT I SO WANTED A COCKEREL!!!!!

Atleast she has wonderfully feathered shanks....well right now as a chick she does anyway. Hope she keeps them and is not one of those that has them for now and then they slough off and never come back again. I really hate when that happens.

haha...you aren't alone! This year I've been wishing for more cockerels than pullets in all my hatches since I have a few specific boys I'm looking for and know how much harder it is to get good cockerels. I feel better now...not being the only one doing wishing for cockerels. haha!

 

[gilavina]

Yah, we were probably typing at the same time. LOL! Yes he has a twist in the front....... a slight twist going on in the rear with the blade (this I have been watching and it has not changed but I suspect that it will keep turning) and he has a thumbprint. I think I have another photo of him that shows the print better. I will look.


As far as breeding to the Splash for lighter color.......I have done that and lost all lacing and some copper on a couple of girls. When I first started out I didn't want anything to do with the Black Coppers.....really still feel that way about them, but must have them here to keep the lacing and stronger blue colors. I tried breeding blues to blues and splash to blues. I got some some pullets with light (not brassy or straw) colored hackles but their lacing was lacking greatly. I have photos.........will look for them.

I usually will breed to a splash til the lacing is really dark and prominent, then in the next generation will cross those darkest pullets with the best lacing to the splash male and usually will retain the lacing just on a lighter blue. If you are struggling, it may be a good idea to see if you can cross some black copper girls onto a splash copper boy and derive a fresh set of blues. They should have the lacing at that point, and then can work your way forward.

(ugh!!! You can tell I'm really not awake yet. In that first line. I meant to write breed to a black til the lacing is dark and prominent)....grrr

 

[aceschix]

Quote:

 

[pinkchick]

Here is Chloe....one of my favorite girls. She had some copper but the copper lightened to almost nothing by the time she was 2 years old.



Here is "Slate" ........no lacing and no color in the hackle.

 

[aceschix]

Quote: Thank you both for the answer!

Mine does not have a twist...yet. Just the dip (thumbprint) on one side. What are thoughts on the thumb print and breeding? How big of a fault is it? How likely do we think it is to be passed?

I will continue to try to get a picture up here....

 

[pinkchick]

Oh and Vicki.....no Ma'am I do not have a Black Copper male......except that one that is very young and is showing no copper what so ever. I don't think that he will amount to what I need him to be in the copper dept., but time will tell as 2 of his older male siblings are now 6 mos. and just starting to get some lovely copper in the hackle, but it is not much. They are grand-offspring of Bill, Sr. so it could still be a long while before I know exactly how much they will get......if I keep them long enough to see it. Those boys are living the free life with my Bill Sr. out on the pasture with the goaties. The little Blue Copper boy that I posted photos of that looked barred (and still looks barred at 6 mos.)....is the friendliest little monster out there, he takes after his grand-daddy Bill. Yesterday, as I was shoveling manure for the garden from the mondo manure pile my dad brought me, that little Blue was underfoot, just as Bill was. They were picking out the yummy bugs that I was revealing after each scoop. Funny birds. The rest of the boys that are with Bill could have cared less about the goodies they were gobbling up. Wish the little Splash boy that I like so well was as friendly as the Blue.

 

[pinkchick]

Your welcome and I may be wrong here as I don't know off the top of my head, but I believe the thumb print is only a fault and yes it breeds forward.