Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[snowbird]

Don~
While we are on the topic of the breast.......what's your take on the differences in the markings on the breast that are indicitive of Wheaten influences and those that are suppose to be copper markings?
In my opinion, the 2 markings and how they look are completely different.


Still searching for photos of the breast with copper markings to compare to the breast with stippling and shafting.

Kim, to be honest it is really hard anymore to pickup on the wheaten influence since some are cross breeding to the Welsummers to make the Golden Salmon. And all the crossing going on to make the Buff blacktail. What I would like to know is where did the Silver Birchen come from and what breed was used.

I do not have a problem as long as they are crossed within the breed but some are going to the extreme looking for the big Bucks. I guess we all have a different conscience level about what is morally right.

There are only two Marans people I would consider buying Marans stock from in the future,

 

[gilavina]

Kim, to be honest it is really hard anymore to pickup on the wheaten influence since some are cross breeding to the Welsummers to make the Golden Salmon. And all the crossing going on to make the Buff blacktail. What I would like to know is where did the Silver Birchen come from and what breed was used.

I do not have a problem as long as they are crossed within the breed but some are going to the extreme looking for the big Bucks. I guess we all have a different conscience level about what is morally right.

There are only two Marans people I would consider buying Marans stock from in the future,

Hey Don, I've done some more research on the Birchens and have found several references to people have using the BCMs and bred to cuckoos and worked their way to birchen from there. I'll be honest tho and say I don't think everyone went that route. I have bought eggs, hatched and culled all from the hatch as they have aged because they didn't end up being anything I'd use.
Sounds like a lot of people lately are taking what they have in the birchens and crossing back into the BCMs to darken the egg color. The major problem I see is not enough people know about how to cull for color to get the birchens the direction they should go, and too many of the off colored birds in the cross I'm afraid might be getting mixed back into the BCMs. Overall, this is why I am so slow to sell any of my stock, I don't want to sell someone something that's jumbled up and not breeding true.

I think we're all dying to know who you'd buy from by the way!

 

[Country Chickens]

Hello all, I am humbly seeking help evaluating my young Black Copper Marans cockerels. I have five to a flock of eight girls and plan to only keep two or maybe three. They are starting to pick on each other and I've got people interested in buying my extras...if I can decide which ones are the extras! lol

I've gone over the standards and looked at pics, but as soon as I've made up my mind which of them is best I starting doubting myself! I raise silkies for show and keep guineas, but this is our first Marans flock. They were hatched by a breeder with a closed flock from Wade Jean lines on February 27th so are almost exactly four months old in these pics, which I took today. They are all lightly feathered down the shanks, in case you can't see that in the pic. Here are the pics of my five cockerels:

Cock 1 The boss boy--he's dominant:


Cock 2 Boss's sidekick:


Cock 3 Sorry for the bad pic, he's skittish and wouldn't hold still:


Cock 4


Cock 5 Wannabe boss:


Thank you so much for your help! And my chickens thank you, too! lol

 

[stoopid]

Don, glad to see you're back. Culler just sounded evil.
Country, #1, I like his type, but the coloring is too far off.
#2, I don't like his tail, but do like the leg feathering
#3, need a better pic of him standing correctly, but poor leg feathering
#4 is eh, OK, but not crazy about his comb
#5, would like to see a better shot also of his posture.
Welcome to the challenging world of Marans!
Roberta

 

[snowbird]

Hello all, I am humbly seeking help evaluating my young Black Copper Marans cockerels. I have five to a flock of eight girls and plan to only keep two or maybe three. They are starting to pick on each other and I've got people interested in buying my extras...if I can decide which ones are the extras! lol

I've gone over the standards and looked at pics, but as soon as I've made up my mind which of them is best I starting doubting myself! I raise silkies for show and keep guineas, but this is our first Marans flock. They were hatched by a breeder with a closed flock from Wade Jean lines on February 27th so are almost exactly four months old in these pics, which I took today. They are all lightly feathered down the shanks, in case you can't see that in the pic. Here are the pics of my five cockerels:

Cock 1 The boss boy--he's dominant:


Cock 2 Boss's sidekick:


Cock 3 Sorry for the bad pic, he's skittish and wouldn't hold still:


Cock 4


Cock 5 Wannabe boss:


Thank you so much for your help! And my chickens thank you, too! lol

# 5 has real nice type except for the feathered legs are not very good. Look at the shanks and see if they are green like they look in the picture. First two have high tail set and would not use in breeding .

 

[desertmarcy]

I will look at him more closely, but I think what you are seeing as a sprig is something in the background of the photo, not on his comb/blade.

That was male #7, I caught him this morning and right at the bottom of the blade, sure enough, a tiny sharp point coming out!! I think I need to learn more about the various formations that constitute a sprig. I was only familiar with the sprigs coming off the sides of the comb. Basically, any bump that disturbs the smooth lines of the comb anywhere is considered a sprig (except the big bumps that are the points on the comb, of course

) ?

 

[desertmarcy]

Marcy~
I believe he is referring to the MCCUSA when he suggests the sponsoring club.

Thanks, that is the one with the Standard on their website.

 

[snowbird]

Hey Don, I've done some more research on the Birchens and have found several references to people have using the BCMs and bred to cuckoos and worked their way to birchen from there. I'll be honest tho and say I don't think everyone went that route. I have bought eggs, hatched and culled all from the hatch as they have aged because they didn't end up being anything I'd use.
Sounds like a lot of people lately are taking what they have in the birchens and crossing back into the BCMs to darken the egg color. The major problem I see is not enough people know about how to cull for color to get the birchens the direction they should go, and too many of the off colored birds in the cross I'm afraid might be getting mixed back into the BCMs. Overall, this is why I am so slow to sell any of my stock, I don't want to sell someone something that's jumbled up and not breeding true.

I think we're all dying to know who you'd buy from by the way!

Vicki, I agree with all of the above. I think anyone wanting to work on the Birchen should contact and oldtime Modern Game man and ask some questions on breeding the Birchen and Brownred together and the proper way to go about the matings.

With the Marans we just have to use some common sense and not just rely on Mendel to mate the color schemes. Mendel is fine if you know the background and have records to prove the matings.

I use the old fashion way of breeding fowl for many year and that is Test Mate before raising 100's of chicks.

If I were buying Black Copper Marans to start a Marans flock, would go to Wisconsin and Nebraska. And the first Place I would go for wheaten would be Danielle Gadd in Ohio. She has Wheaten with size and decent color, white needs to be worked on but nice Marans all around.

 

[Wynette]

Hello all, I am humbly seeking help evaluating my young Black Copper Marans cockerels. I have five to a flock of eight girls and plan to only keep two or maybe three. They are starting to pick on each other and I've got people interested in buying my extras...if I can decide which ones are the extras! lol

I've gone over the standards and looked at pics, but as soon as I've made up my mind which of them is best I starting doubting myself! I raise silkies for show and keep guineas, but this is our first Marans flock. They were hatched by a breeder with a closed flock from Wade Jean lines on February 27th so are almost exactly four months old in these pics, which I took today. They are all lightly feathered down the shanks, in case you can't see that in the pic. Here are the pics of my five cockerels:

Cock 1 The boss boy--he's dominant:


Cock 2 Boss's sidekick:


Cock 3 Sorry for the bad pic, he's skittish and wouldn't hold still:


Cock 4


Cock 5 Wannabe boss:


Thank you so much for your help! And my chickens thank you, too! lol

I am not an expert, these are only my personal opinions:

#1 - appears he may have split wing; topline way too steep, HOWEVER, he could have just been startled and standing up tall. Wish we could see his legs. His comb has some issues, but I wouldn't make a judgement solely on that.

#2 - Overmelanized (his female offspring would likely be solid black), and squirrel tail. Also, his eyes appear too light to me. Nice shank feathering, though.

#3 - split wing, and he appears a bit "dull" as in, maybe not feeling well? It's unusual for them to hang their tails like that unless they're ill.

#4 - To me, his hackles appear too light and almost looks as if he has white feathers in them. He's also a bit slight in build.

#5 - I like this male! I wish you had a side (conformation) shot of him so we could see his topline & bottom line. Shanks are light in feathering, but if he were mind, I'd put him over some heavily feathered (shanks) females. He appears stout, too. Well done on this one!

 

[gilavina]

Vicki, I agree with all of the above. I think anyone wanting to work on the Birchen should contact and oldtime Modern Game man and ask some questions on breeding the Birchen and Brownred together and the proper way to go about the matings.

With the Marans we just have to use some common sense and not just rely on Mendel to mate the color schemes. Mendel is fine if you know the background and have records to prove the matings.

I use the old fashion way of breeding fowl for many year and that is Test Mate before raising 100's of chicks.

If I were buying Black Copper Marans to start a Marans flock, would go to Wisconsin and Nebraska. And the first Place I would go for wheaten would be Danielle Gadd in Ohio. She has Wheaten with size and decent color, white needs to be worked on but nice Marans all around.

That's a really good idea about talking to the oldtime modern game breeders! I know a guy that hopefully will be coming up to the show here. If he does, you can bet I'll be chatting with him. I know the logical steps, but it would be good to talk about some of the nuance type stuff that comes along with them. I think for next year's breeding I'll be in a good place for hatching far more silvers than ever before, so of course I'm already impatient!