Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[snowbird]

I've heard very bad things about split wing and will definitely look into that. These were taken shortly after our OEGB broke into his pen and had him hiding in the corner. The scuffle had one of his wing feathers sticking out - but that shouldn't affect how he carried the wing, right?

Thank you for the feedback!

Again - I'm new to this, so bear with me please.

He's my rooster. If I use him to breed with my hens, can I look at the offspring to improve on these faults or will they just continue into his offspring? I understand it has to do with the hens I breed him with, but can I start with him?

I do not see white ear lobes, shanks are ok, do not see split wing, Tail will be ok, Do not worry about the comb points yet, The hackle and saddle are not wheat color, they are lighter copper as you will see in most Black copper. He has very nice broad back and will get better with age,

I see nothing that would keep this male from being a good male for a start up breeder flock. From what I see would think his weight would be ok also.

 

[SIMZ]

That's great news and I really appreciate your feedback! Thank you!

 

[Wynette]

This is Yukon, a 16-week-old BCM. He's a very nice, big boy!

Could I please get some comments and pointers on him? I don't know exactly what to be looking for yet! Thanks!

First, pretty boy regardless of wether he fits the SOP or not. Here are a couple of issues you may want to look at. Its hard to tell. You may want to get in some more close up shots of the issues. Its difficult looking at smaller photos.

Head: Nice size. I can't see the eyes. Beak is nice. Comb is nice and erect. Way to many points on it though. You need to strive for closer to five. Its hard though, you usually get 6-7. My roo doesnt have 5 either. But the SOP says 5.

Neck: To light color hackles. Looks straw to me.

Legs: Ok. You want a little more pink in them. Nice leg feathering.

Wing: Look into split wing. I had a roo that carried his wing like that and I had to get rid of him.

Im still learning so if someone else can correct me your not hurting my feelings.
Saddle: To light, straw color. Nice long back though.

Body: Good

Tail: To low. Also shoot for a more open tail. To long of a tail.

I'm not in complete agreement on the coloring of this male; his hackle coppering may be a bit light, but it's not straw (staw hackles look exactly as you would think from the word - the color of straw; almost a faded, dusky yellow). What is missing in the hackle coloring are the....shoot, what do you guys call them, lighting? That's probably not right, but they should have a black stread running down the center. It appears he does have a tiny bit of that, but he needs more, in my opinion (and I am not an expert - this is just my personal opinion).

I would say the biggest issue is his tail angle being too low and it's a bit too long.

I agree with clown on shank feathering being good, and shank coloring - should be "slate over pink" - typically, you see some pink coloring under the slate. Of late, I am seeing more pink than slate, and I am hearing from genetics folks that this is what we want. I don't understand why, being fairly new to genetics, though. I believe Roger...I don't recall his BYC name....did some research into this.

Wing carriage is nice - should be horizontal, and it is. I don't see split wing, but admittedly, I'm not an expert on this. Always good to check for and if he has it, I would not use.

I think this male, overall, is pretty nice. I would be curious what he would throw on dark females, though. I wonder if they might not be overmelanized? He appears to be good sized, and I like the picture from the back, showing the width across his back.

(ETA - check under the hackles to be sure you don't see the white underhackle feathers)

 

[laughingclown]

I do not see white ear lobes, shanks are ok, do not see split wing, Tail will be ok, Do not worry about the comb points yet, The hackle and saddle are not wheat color, they are lighter copper as you will see in most Black copper. He has very nice broad back and will get better with age,

I see nothing that would keep this male from being a good male for a start up breeder flock. From what I see would think his weight would be ok also.

Wow, my computer color must be way off then. His coloring looks yellow to me.

 

[Wynette]

Here is a straw hackled Black Copper Marans picture that I found on Google Images:

It's a small pic and not the easiest to see, but the hackles are light yellow - this is the "straw hackle" that we want to avoid.

 

[pinkchick]

Simz~

I like this birds broadness and agree with Don that he will get better and more broad with age. I have raised many males that are built like him,but only one of them had a lower tail set like his. I did not experience any negative tail sets or undesirable qualities in offspring produce from using the male I had with a tail set like you males, infact, the offspring from the male I had and used produced birds with nice tails.I like the looks of his tail as it appears to be pretty wide and open.
Put him over a hen that has similar qualities and I bet you get some nice wide beefy and stout birds with good back lengths and nice wide open tails.

I like his leg color.

I wouldn't too much about his copper, it is a tad light and is not straw colored. IMO, it is something that can be worked with.

 

[pinkchick]

Hi Wynette!

 

[RyeRanch]

I got my first marans egg over the weekend!! Wahoooo! It is a good color probably a 6-7 and quite petite. The hen that laid it was hatched at the end of March, so I was surprised that she laid an egg so soon. I feel like I have been waiting forever - but it was soo worth it. I am over the moon!

Also, said hen still has a white feather on her outside toe. Is it a permanent fixture at this point (21-22 weeks) or is there still a chance it will molt out. The whole feather was white when she was younger and now it is about half white. the part of the feather closer to her skin is dark, bit the tip is still white.

Thanks - Kristin

 

[pinkchick]

I got my first marans egg over the weekend!! Wahoooo! It is a good color probably a 6-7 and quite petite. The hen that laid it was hatched at the end of March, so I was surprised that she laid an egg so soon. I feel like I have been waiting forever - but it was soo worth it. I am over the moon!

Also, said hen still has a white feather on her outside toe. Is it a permanent fixture at this point (21-22 weeks) or is there still a chance it will molt out. The whole feather was white when she was younger and now it is about half white. the part of the feather closer to her skin is dark, bit the tip is still white.

Thanks - Kristin

Congrats your egg!

She is still young and has yet go through her first adult molt and the white could change up until then. If it is still white after her first molt chances are it probably will not ever change.

 

[Wynette]

Pink -

Leg color of Simz cockerel; is too dark. Should be "slate over pink" I don't know if I have any close-ups of what that would look like...okay, here's the best I can do but you really can't see that well. This is a young (9 week old) cockerel - can you see the slate colored scales over the pink base?