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

[drom]

Quote:
Yes, we do all seem to excel in that area, don't we-

 

[Krys109uk]

I would personally much rather have a hen that laid a 6 for most of the season than one that laid a very beautiful 8 at the beginning of the season and a 3 at the end of the season.

Have you ever seen that happen? I didn't think it was possible.

I've got reasonable type on most & passable egg colour on most......but many of my colours are a mess.

But it will be fun sorting them out.

 

[drom]

Quote:
Have you ever seen that happen? I didn't think it was possible.

I've got reasonable type on most & passable egg colour on most......but many of my colours are a mess.

But it will be fun sorting them out.

I saw pictures of your eggs you posted awhile back. They look beautiful-dark.

Well, I probably need to buy a color chart. I'll bet your idea of a 6 is darker than mine. Because you are over there. ahhaha.

But I do have one hen whose eggs in September were about the same color as the first eggs she laid. In June and July when it was 105 degrees here, all their eggs were lighter. But, of course, she is my hen which is the least correct. Her hackles are not a dark enough copper color and she has some markings on her back.

 

[Sillystunt]

this thread is getting good

 

[lildinkem]

Really appreciate the comments DROM. I think Wheaten has to be in my bird. Even though they come from a breeder who had imported his lines, he has little control what they did over in France. And from what I heard, most all the true Feathered French lines had to be resurected after WWII from what the English preserved. English don't like a feathered shank bird. And 55 years later we are still trying to restore the breed to a stable standard.

 

[drom]

OH my, my. It's a beautiful morning in California

And because of the beauty of technology, I am on a chaise lounge underneath the eucalyptus trees with my laptop and 3G air card watching the horses and chickens enjoy their sunny morning on the grass.

So, everyone has been pretty obsessed with the type of the birds and how they measure up to the French standard and the proposed American standard. People haven't been talking as much about the eggs. Millebantam mentioned that she felt it was easier/better to start with a very correct bird that has the right phenotype and then work on improving the egg color rather than the reverse. I haven't bred many birds so I don't really have any idea of how many generations it takes to improve egg color and how successful/easy it is to simply select your darkest eggs for hatching. I'm curious about what other people have experienced and curious about how to preserve and improve egg color.

Here are some eggs from two of my hens. The eggs at three o'clock and six o'clock are from one hen and the ones at nine and twelve o'clock are from another. The eggs at nine and twelve are the kind I am after. They are rounder, redder and have a nicer finish/bloom. The other two are more oblong, and have a matte finish. Both these girls consistently lay their own individual type of egg.

 

[Krys109uk]

OH my, my. It's a beautiful morning in California
And because of the beauty of technology, I am on a chaise lounge underneath the eucalyptus trees with my laptop and 3G air card watching the horses and chickens enjoy their sunny morning on the grass.

They don't seem to a smiley for green with envy. I'm freezing in Minnesota....looks like snow.

.....I hate midwest winters.

Nice eggs Drom.

 

[drom]

Quote:
They don't seem to a smiley for green with envy. I'm freezing in Minnesota....looks like snow.

.....I hate midwest winters.

Nice eggs Drom.

OH-ahahha. I didn't think you were in the states. Not sure why. Are you a transplant? I thought you mentioned you were in the UK. Perhaps at one time? It's nice here now, but the middle of the summer here is way too

Well, I am interested in anyone's secret formula for preserving and improving egg color. And what they have noticed with changes from one generation to the next.

 

[Krys109uk]

I didn't think you were in the states. Not sure why. Are you a transplant? I thought you mentioned you were in the UK. Perhaps at one time? It's nice here now, but the middle of the summer here is way too

Well I first used the name when living in UK. But yes, I'm now, since 2005, an ex-pat.

I first joined BYC last summer when I was back home for 6 weeks.
I think California sounds great, sun, sea, & warm weather....who could ask for more?

Well, I am interested in anyone's secret formula for preserving and improving egg color. And what they have noticed with changes from one generation to the next.

Regarding egg colour (& everything else with Marans really), I've been trap nesting & recording which female laid the egg. When removing from the hatcher all birds are wing banded with a number; both parents, down colour & condition of chick is recorded along with anything which seems significant as they grow.

At present I'm putting the sons of my very darkest egg layer of onto the darkest layers of their colour group. As my very darkest egg layer in the ER group is, at present, a bird which does not lay the typically huge egg of the marans, I shall also put the same group of females to the nicest son of darkest layer of the very large egg layers (if that makes sense).

Another thing which I have been trying as an experiment, is to mix the son of the very darkest egg layer of one colour group with the very darkest of a different colour group. The logic behind this being......There are, supposdly, in the region of 12 genes involved in brown eggs, some of which are sex linked. It seem logical to assume that the birds from two different lines will not necessarily be carrying the same genes for brown eggs. By crossing two totally unrelated lines (in my case from different colours) one might hopefully pick up a combination of all of the genes. At least of all those whch are dominant or incompletely dominant will show in the F1. Sure enough some of my F1s laid darker eggs. Unfortunately the non shiny seems to be dominant over shiny.

In the next stage, presumably genes were segregating out. Some of he experiment birds of this generation still laid darker eggs than either starting line but at the other end of the scale some of the generation laid lighter eggs than either starting line. So I used the same F1 males on the darkest egg laying females & that's where I'm at right now; witing for the offspring to come into lay.
Apart from that I'm doing other experiments with colour & type.

Sorry I didn't mean to write a book.

 

[Zuesdude]

Look at me! Witch end came out first?