Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[pinkchick]

Thank you Barb, Wynette, Donna and Christie.

 

[pinkchick]

Arielle~

I'm going to take a stab in the dark and guess that Don is referencing the white underfluff and white leg color possibly being linked to Wheaten influence.






My personnal experience tells me it is linked.

The several Black Copper males that I raised from chicks that I had shipped in to me from Florida 2 years ago all had white in the underfluff and light legs (all of them also had shafting in the breast).......all had Wheaten in them. I found this out by investigation and subsequent breedings from the females that also came from that shipment and their F1 offspring that Wheaten was there. I actually raised a couple of the F1 offspring long enough to see even more Wheaten characteristics come out in the wing triangle of the males.

 

[laughingclown]

I have a Roo that has the proper leg color per the SOP but it also has the white under fluff. And since we are on the topic of the white under feathers I want to know an important question. I was out trying to figure out my next course for breeding. Since we dont want the white I have a concern.

I have 2 4 week old Splash pullets growing out right now. Lets say theses grow out well and I wish to use them. Am I correct in the thought that the white under fluff is a nill point in Blues and Splashes. But lets say I use a good solid black male with no white, over a Splash female. I know I will get a certain percentage of Black Copper chicks from this mating.(Am I correct in this assumption?) Now by using a splash will this introduce a white gene into the Black Coppers to where I would see white feathers? Or will it be so recessive that it will not come out in the Blacks? Should I only use the Splashes with Blues? To early in the morning to be thinking genetics!

 

[marquisella]

What happened to the Marans Chicken Club webpage (not the Yahoo group)?

http://www.marans.org/ This works for me.

sorry, just read futher and saw someone already posted the website....
I guess I need to read this thread more often than every few weeks! LOL

 

[pinkchick]

I have a Roo that has the proper leg color per the SOP but it also has the white under fluff. And since we are on the topic of the white under feathers I want to know an important question. I was out trying to figure out my next course for breeding. Since we dont want the white I have a concern.

I have 2 4 week old Splash pullets growing out right now. Lets say theses grow out well and I wish to use them. Am I correct in the thought that the white under fluff is a nill point in Blues and Splashes. But lets say I use a good solid black male with no white, over a Splash female. I know I will get a certain percentage of Black Copper chicks from this mating.(Am I correct in this assumption?) Now by using a splash will this introduce a white gene into the Black Coppers to where I would see white feathers? Or will it be so recessive that it will not come out in the Blacks? Should I only use the Splashes with Blues? To early in the morning to be thinking genetics!

White feathers can show up on blues and they should not have them either, IMO.

I am not 100% sure if this is still correct or not, but at one time on the purposed Blue Copper Color Standard it read that they could have no more than 2 white feathers. When I asked why this was allowed for the blues, I was told it is because blue is leaky gene and that blue can express in so many shades that it is hard to discern some light blue feathers from white.

Take that for what it is worth and whatever you can get from it because it did not make any sense to me at the time and still does not.

IMO, Blues and Blue Copper should be just as the Black Copper and Blacks.... white should be avoided. TRUST ME when I say that white feathers on blue are very distinguishable from a very light blue feather. White on Blue is as noticeable as white on Black.

Using the Splash there really is no way of knowing if they would pass it on unless you test mate each one singly and or if you know if they came from Blue Copper or Black Copper lines or parentage that carries the dreaded white genetic crud. If the parent stock or lineage carried it, chances are it lurks in the gene pool.

All offspring from your Black Copper to Splash matings will be 100% blue...you will not get any blacks from this cross.

 

[pinkchick]

Thanks Sue! I finally got to it yesterday and bookmarked it. Link is working great for me this morning.

Good to see you and yes you should pop in more often.

How are you and your birdies doing? How is that beautiful egg color of yours holding out?

 

[snowbird]

Hey all, just waiting to get some comments from others before commenting. So lets hear what other have to say about the white and legs color.

 

[BarnGoddess01]

I have a Roo that has the proper leg color per the SOP but it also has the white under fluff. And since we are on the topic of the white under feathers I want to know an important question. I was out trying to figure out my next course for breeding. Since we dont want the white I have a concern.

I have 2 4 week old Splash pullets growing out right now. Lets say theses grow out well and I wish to use them. Am I correct in the thought that the white under fluff is a nill point in Blues and Splashes. But lets say I use a good solid black male with no white, over a Splash female. I know I will get a certain percentage of Black Copper chicks from this mating.(Am I correct in this assumption?) Now by using a splash will this introduce a white gene into the Black Coppers to where I would see white feathers? Or will it be so recessive that it will not come out in the Blacks? Should I only use the Splashes with Blues? To early in the morning to be thinking genetics!

Most of the "serious" Black Copper breeders I have questioned have suggested I keep my Black Coppers completely separate from my Blue Coppers. Black Coppers obviously will be produced in a blue breeding pen but I'm told they won't have the same quality black as those produced from an exclusively black pen. I believe it was the area around their bums I was told to look at. Truly black Black Coppers will have a blacker bum fluff. (Is that their "cushion"?) Which I am finding to be the case. (And, as you've already been told, black to splash will yield all blues.) Splash is actually not technically a white bird but a double copy of the Bl/Bl (blue) gene. Visual blue is a single copy of Bl. And I suspect white under fluff is not any more desirable in a Blue Copper Marans than in Black Coppers. I know it isn't with other blue breeds I work with. So, yes, you should only use the splashes with the blues - but even there, the "expert" breeders suggested splash can be a wildcard (unpredictable) so they won't use it once they are happy with the quality of the blue they are producing - unless they want to change something with their blue or simply get more of them. Breeds that recognize splash (like Silkies, for example - 1 of only 2!) actually use blue birds to improve splash because it tends to lighten when repeatedly crossed. But otherwise, I gather many blue breeders tend to avoid using it.

 

[laughingclown]

White feathers can show up on blues and they should not have them either, IMO.

I am not 100% sure if this is still correct or not, but at one time on the purposed Blue Copper Color Standard it read that they could have no more than 2 white feathers. When I asked why this was allowed for the blues, I was told it is because blue is leaky gene and that blue can express in so many shades that it is hard to discern some light blue feathers from white.

Take that for what it is worth and whatever you can get from it because it did not make any sense to me at the time and still does not.

IMO, Blues and Blue Copper should be just as the Black Copper and Blacks.... white should be avoided. TRUST ME when I say that white feathers on blue are very distinguishable from a very light blue feather. White on Blue is as noticeable as white on Black.

Using the Splash there really is no way of knowing if they would pass it on unless you test mate each one singly and or if you know if they came from Blue Copper or Black Copper lines or parentage that carries the dreaded white genetic crud. If the parent stock or lineage carried it, chances are it lurks in the gene pool.

All offspring from your Black Copper to Splash matings will be 100% blue...you will not get any blacks from this cross.

Thank you

 

[15littlem]

Does anyone here know any breeders in TN?