Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[bwalden]

Pic of my BCM rooster (7 months)

 

[bwalden]

BCM rooster & pullet

 

[Ray from PA]

I've read many discussions about white feather appearing on mature birds, and now one of my Roos is showing a partially white tail feather and a white tip on one wing feather.

Seeing this, I decided to take a close look at the other two, one of which shows no white feathering, but does have white bases on his underfluff on his neck feathers, and some white underfluff on the feathers at the base of his tail.

Is this white underfluff as big of a concern as an entire feather being white ????

Rooster #3 shows no white feathers or underfluff, although he does not have the substance the others have, he's shorter in the back, and he's a bit lighter in color on the neck feathers.

There is a 4th Roo that I thought I would stop using since his waddles have grown quite large in the past 6 weeks,,, ever since he started being a breeding rooster,,, any relationship to that and increased hormone levels ???

Any input / opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Don,,, Wynette,,, anyone ........... ???????

Thanks in advance

 

[snowbird]

I've read many discussions about white feather appearing on mature birds, and now one of my Roos is showing a partially white tail feather and a white tip on one wing feather.

Seeing this, I decided to take a close look at the other two, one of which shows no white feathering, but does have white bases on his underfluff on his neck feathers, and some white underfluff on the feathers at the base of his tail.

Is this white underfluff as big of a concern as an entire feather being white ????

Rooster #3 shows no white feathers or underfluff, although he does not have the substance the others have, he's shorter in the back, and he's a bit lighter in color on the neck feathers.

There is a 4th Roo that I thought I would stop using since his waddles have grown quite large in the past 6 weeks,,, ever since he started being a breeding rooster,,, any relationship to that and increased hormone levels ???

Any input / opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Don,,, Wynette,,, anyone ........... ???????

Thanks in advance

Ray, The only way I know to breed Marans without the white in tail, wing and under the hackle is to not breed these Marans as it will surely breed forward. I have found if you cull these with these faults you can correct the problem real quick. Some of the lines just have a large comb and large wattles and I do not like them myself as it is just more things that can go wrong.

 

[DMRippy]

I've read many discussions about white feather appearing on mature birds, and now one of my Roos is showing a partially white tail feather and a white tip on one wing feather.

Seeing this, I decided to take a close look at the other two, one of which shows no white feathering, but does have white bases on his underfluff on his neck feathers, and some white underfluff on the feathers at the base of his tail.

Is this white underfluff as big of a concern as an entire feather being white ????

Rooster #3 shows no white feathers or underfluff, although he does not have the substance the others have, he's shorter in the back, and he's a bit lighter in color on the neck feathers.

There is a 4th Roo that I thought I would stop using since his waddles have grown quite large in the past 6 weeks,,, ever since he started being a breeding rooster,,, any relationship to that and increased hormone levels ???

Any input / opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Don,,, Wynette,,, anyone ........... ???????

Thanks in advance

anyone here.....

White underfluff is just as bad as white feathers.

 

[vebyrd36]

Ray, The only way I know to breed Marans without the white in tail, wing and under the hackle is to not breed these Marans as it will surely breed forward. I have found if you cull these with these faults you can correct the problem real quick. Some of the lines just have a large comb and large wattles and I do not like them myself as it is just more things that can go wrong.

Oh I had the same issue with my solid blacks, I had to cull three of them. VIVI

 

[snowbird]

anyone here.....

White underfluff is just as bad as white feathers.

Donna, I agree , but the SOP only faults the under hackle white. I had Walt take it to the full committe last year and he came back and posted that the white in wing and tail was a DQ, but the white in under hackle and tail coverts was only a fault.

 

[Debbi]

Ray, this all is still a mystery to me. I don't know how old your roos are when you say "mature", but here, my boys are all over 2 years old. I have two very melanistic boys with mahogany coppering, and one weirdo roo with that two tone hackle coloring, favoring more of a Wheaten influence. Now, the two dark boys when younger would only get a white tipped feather or two, usually a sickle feather, right before a partial molt. The weirdo roo never had any white until this past summer, then he started with the white sickles too, and also developed some white in his wings. He also sprouted 2 cinnamon primaries, convincing me of his possible Wheaten lineage in there somewhere. Since he molted, the cinnamon and all white is gone, except for one stray bedraggled sickle feather that won't get out of there. The other 2 dark boys have not finished molting yet, they seem to molt at a very slow rate compared to everyone else here. Both of them are now displaying ample amounts of partially white feathers in their wings! The white does not show when the wings are folded, but when they flap, they look like a pied bird!

It remains to be seen if these feathers will finally molt out and return to black or not. The only offspring I have are from one of the 2 dark boys, and they are all pullets/hens. Interestingly enough, none of them show any indication of white at all, nor have they ever. All 3 of these roos have never had what I would consider a full blown molt, until this year! They had all, up to this point, only dropped individual feathers, mainly from their tails and primaries, but now they are literally blowing their coats, as we would say in the dog world. So I give, how long do you have to keep them to really know what is going on with them and what they are going to pass on??

 

[vebyrd36]

Oh babies are hatching in the bator looks to be splash. Oh how Im crossing my fingers for blacks (solid). VIVI

 

[DMRippy]

Quote: I didn't know that but I will cull for that like I did middle toe feathers this year.