Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[Wynette]

Don, that hen to the far right? Has a mulberry face?

 

[snowbird]

Don, that hen to the far right? Has a mulberry face?

Yes,

 

[gilavina]

Wynette, Maybee they didn't have any colored the right way.The female on the right sure does have Mulberry face, The APA determines all this in the long run. I would do the dark face, The dark face to difficult for most but if we are going for it why not shoot for what is correct.

I have comments on all this as usual but am waiting for others to comment.

I was just gonna comment on the girl on the right. Definitely a mulberry faced hen. This is my concern, what will be the terms they will be accepted under. I have confidence that the APA is not making rash decisions when they decide things in the Standard and am sure there is reason for it.
What brought this about for me, is having raised birchens before in other breeds, but also seeing as I breed my birds closer to what they should be color wise, the mulberry naturally comes out. The eye color is another thing for me to consider because silver birchen in the APA come with dark eyes. My hope is to get something sorted over the next couple of months so that when hatching season comes, I'll be breeding towards what will happen here in the US if accepted.

 

[snowbird]

Yes,

Wynette, Look forward to seeing you and Barb at Columbus. Your life will be changed for eternity.

 

[gilavina]

I'm dying that I won't be able to make that show Don. I'm going to try to shoot for next year. Is it always the same weekend every year?

Also, I would love, love, love to hear about the discussion you are able to have with the modern game breeders about the birchen! You still gonna take me lots of pics? Especially of Marans and Wyandottes?

 

[Wynette]

Wynette, Look forward to seeing you and Barb at Columbus. Your life will be changed for eternity.

After meeting you?

Okay, I just don't see the mulberry you are speaking of. To me, that hen simply appears to be standing in a bit of a shadow or something. But, it's not a very close-up picture, either. This is a whole new topic for me, and I don't pretend to know a bit about it. But, I AM curious about it, to be sure!

And, I'm also not at all sure that we should be grouping all Birchen colored chickens together, of ALL breeds, to have the exact same markings/colors. I'm not saying they shouldn't be grouped all together, either. It just doens't feel right to me, somehow. They are all different breeds...why should they all look exactly alike?

 

[gilavina]

After meeting you?

Okay, I just don't see the mulberry you are speaking of. To me, that hen simply appears to be standing in a bit of a shadow or something. But, it's not a very close-up picture, either. This is a whole new topic for me, and I don't pretend to know a bit about it. But, I AM curious about it, to be sure!

And, I'm also not at all sure that we should be grouping all Birchen colored chickens together, of ALL breeds, to have the exact same markings/colors. I'm not saying they shouldn't be grouped all together, either. It just doens't feel right to me, somehow. They are all different breeds...why should they all look exactly alike?

I would love if Walt could comment on this last paragraph. I think it is a question I get asked more frequently than any at the shows or when I am talking with people getting into poultry. Who better, than to get it straight from the source?

 

[Wynette]

Agreed - I just PM'd the link to Walt. Hopefully, he can weigh in.

 

[gilavina]

Agreed - I just PM'd the link to Walt. Hopefully, he can weigh in.

Good deal. I figured it was easier for one person to PM him than all of us at the same time!

 

[fowlman01]

Agreed - I just PM'd the link to Walt. Hopefully, he can weigh in.

A typical Birchen has the mulberry face and lacing in the chest. Bev Davis has just told me that the Marans will not have the dark face nor the lacing in the chest. I don't know what is out there in the birchen Marans community, but it does seem strange for a Marans to have a gypsy face.

This is what Bev has said. "[FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif][FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]The mulbury is caused when a bird has a lot of malanizers which turns the red parts of the bird to black, it can also cover the silver in the hackles as well as make legs black"[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]

The APA can work with what the Marans Club finally ends up describing as Birchen unless it is so far off that it does not accurately describe birchen at all. I would guess that the description is still in the works from what Bev has said.

Walt