Marans Thread for Posting Pics of Your Eggs, Chicks and Chickens

[amazondoc]

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I think this part is absolutely right. For instance -- I have three wheaten pullets from Ron Presley birds. All three pullets are clean legged. But that doesn't mean that Cottage Hill birds are ALL clean legged, or even that a large percentage of them are. It's just the luck of the draw. OTOH, all three of these pullets are also wimps -- they are even bossed around by my bantam araucanas. And since I've seen Ron say that his birds tend to not be the most friendly birds in the world, I suspect that their temperament probably is something more typical for his line.

One has to be careful when generalizing from two or three birds to an entire line. I can say from my personal experience that Cottage Hill birds *may* be clean legged and *may* have poor temperaments, but I can't state with any certainty that all or even many of them do.

 

[monarc23]

my two first ever bc marans from the wonderful ninjapoodles

very dark im guessing pullet:

im guessing cockerel:

THE END:

i am hooked on these guys! soo affectionate and trusting i wish i would have gotten into them sooner lol

 

[Solsken Farm]

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So see? We are saying the same thing.....

Monarch, your babies are adorable. You'll know for sure in a few weeks. And you might just have the sexing correct. Oh you added some pics. The panda really does look rooish. What great shots. Thanks for sharing!

I am really struggling today, as I have to send a lot of roos up to an auction tomorrow. My husband refuses to ever eat them, even though he never goes near the barns or coops. We rarely eat meat anyway, so I do understand. I just feel so badly casting off these beings that I held and fed and yes, even loved.

 

[ninjapoodles]

OMG, that series of pics is tooooo precious!

As to the current discussion, what I don't understand about all the drama that a few people involved in this breed perpetuate (no one I'm thinking of here and now, but on various lists, etc.) is this odd accusatory attitude about undesirable traits.

It's genetics--living beings. We are NOT in control of what expresses, what lies dormant, and what dominates. We can educate and inform ourselves, and learn a certain family of animals inside and out, but unless we have a recombinant DNA lab out behind the henhouse, we can't dictate what gets hatched. We can only cull aggressively and increase our odds of getting what we want and eliminating what we don't.

So, I guess my point is, even IF Breeder X's birds occasionally produce odd coloration, sprigged combs, or polka-dotted tailfeathers...so what? That's part of the process. Take it, learn from it, and share it. Move forward. To me, coming from the world of show dogs, when the process of evaluating a single generation takes about 4 years, and learning what's lurking as far as recessives can take decades or longer, the possibilities inherent in breeding chickens are exciting! The potential to really make a difference quickly is so encouraging. Of course, you could also really mess everything up quickly.

There's nothing shameful in producing a sport or a flaw--the test then becomes, what do you do with it? That flaw expressing is priceless, as pure information.

The only time I would see a problem would be if someone:

A.) Knowingly and purposely deceived buyers as to what a family of animals has produced, i.e. "hiding" those specimens with a certain flaw and then representing their line to be free of that flaw.

B.) Represented themselves as having comprehensive knowledge of a family of animals' genetic history, when actually they just bought some starter birds and let them reproduce. The temptation to wholly rely on someone else's breeding can be great.

 

[Solsken Farm]

Those are excellent thoughts, NP. I couldn't agree more.

Bye ya'll.

 

[monarc23]

Quote:
So see? We are saying the same thing.....

Monarch, your babies are adorable. You'll know for sure in a few weeks. And you might just have the sexing correct. Oh you added some pics. The panda really does look rooish. What great shots. Thanks for sharing!

I am really struggling today, as I have to send a lot of roos up to an auction tomorrow. My husband refuses to ever eat them, even though he never goes near the barns or coops. We rarely eat meat anyway, so I do understand. I just feel so badly casting off these beings that I held and fed and yes, even loved.

Thank you thank you, compliments to the breeder

. Yeppers I'm happy to wait to find out if my guesses are correct or not. I have fun guessing seeing if im right. So far on several breeds i've been pretty good at guessing so far now to sit back relax and enjoy them while i wait to find out for sure!

As for your babies....oh i know im gonna be where you are now eventually and it's going to huuuurt so bad! LOL! I think I'll try to sell my roos to people interested in crossing marans with like ameraucanas and such for olive eggs. They're wonderful birds so I can completely understand ALREADy why its' so hard.

People who dont want to get into the so called "marans fad" have no idea how wonderfully sweet this breed is. I'm seriously considering focusing on them completley and only having other breeds as pets. I love that when I stick my hand in the brooder the marans stand there and happily peep at me, while everything else in the brooder shreeks and runs to the other side of the brooder like im death itself

 

[monarc23]

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This is what I'm loving also about the marans breed, soo many breeders dedicated to the breed and not wanting to hide anything that their stock may have as far as little flaws and what not. That's what makes a good breeder IMO ones willing to explain, "....well i've seen this or that a few times....and this has happened before...." and more than happy to explain what to do in this or that situation to help others. I'm new to this all, and I'm sure I'm going to make mistakes, I have MUCH to learn, but as long as I keep honesty on my side, and ask ask ask... I think im going to be quite happy with this breed...I already am and they're just fuzz butts.

I'm sure too i'll intentionally breed flaws now and then to focus on a certain thing, but I also did that when breeding rabbits as did many other breeders when focusing on one area. I was always told, to focus on ONE area at a time when breeding rabbits and I plan to do the same with my birds.

I now understand the love for this breed, it has nothing to do with a fad or profit, it's true melt your heart love.

 

[amazondoc]

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I never said otherwise. You're the one who decided we were having an argument.

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EXACTLY. The problem isn't the genetic flaws themselves -- it's the emotions some people invest in hiding and/or discussing those flaws.

EVERYBODY has flaws in their birds. There is NO SUCH THING as a perfect line. Somebody who has a certain flaw or trait isn't automatically unethical or dishonest or bad because of that trait -- it's just THERE. It's ridiculous to go around insulting or being condescending or whatever just because somebody else has a flaw that you don't -- and it's ridiculous to do the same if you happen to buy a bird with a flaw. The essential thing is to be HONEST about your birds.

I just have to laugh when folks on a certain board go around rhapsodizing about French birds and how perfect they are, and scheming to import those birds so they'll have the best of the best. Well, guess what? Birds from France are going to have flaws too. That's a simple fact of life!

 

[everythingjane]

Hello.. Yesterday I brought home my first ever breeder chickens and they are 5 week old copper Marans! As far as we can tell, this little group of five is made up of a pair of black coppers, a pair of blue coppers and a splash (is it called a splash copper or copper splash?) whose gender is a mystery.. Any ideas if this is a pullet or a rooster?
They are from Wade Jeane and Mari Krebs lines. The black copper rooster is huge, while the splash is a bit of shrimp- I think this is why it's harder to tell its gender. The two that I'm pretty sure are roosters were doing some fighting.. The blue one went after the black one, who retaliated by pulling three feathers out of the blue...I've never raised roosters before- guess I'll have to expect more of these shenanigans...

Above is the whole group.. The splash is in the back.. The black copper pair is in the front and the blue copper pair is side by side in the center.

Black Copper rooster in front.

Pair of blue coppers.. From what I understand, the blue coloring gets lighter as they age?

Above, the splash and the blue copper hen.

 

[monarc23]

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they are gorgeous!!!

eta: that splash does kinda have rooy features (im no expert tho).