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

[kathyinmo]

Thank you!

 

[Resolution]

Quote:
Its an opinion and one based from more knowledgeable sources on the subject. Fortunately, these old passed down secrets are only utilized by a very few and they produce the best strains for egg pigment, whilst the rest breed for body conformation. The end result can be a perfect egg producer bred to a perfect body type of the same colour strain ( sub-breed ) to produce a great foundation for successive generations of additional selective breeding. Marans are like the Araucanians in this area- the value of the birds has to be monitored and selected constantly to produce the most desired traits.
Sustainable agriculture is a model many of us are working towards. This by necessity means we can only hatch a very few eggs a year so our lineages are more manageable and maintained at the grade of our current state- versus our ideal up the road. Sell and eat the eggs that don't make the standard. Separate the stock that contributes to the ideals of the breed. Backcross to increase egg pigment -after the eight generation of backcrossing - start selecting for birds with the best conformation- but only select from those hatch from the best darkest eggs. Its a time commitment and you need to be more than just engaged -you will need confidence and a real backbone.
I've seen so many folks go in luke warm and keep stuffing their enclosures with new stock or following someone else's selection process - so they don't miss out on something else -you know the type- not enough arms much less hands to be happy or any use in the kitchen-

You need to stick to a single strategy of selective breeding and not falter from that regime- its that simple.
Backcrossing get the egg colour there in fewer generations. One could theoretically breed a new sire derived of eight generations of backcrossing from only the best and darkest eggs- to a hen of the same colour variety- preferably related to the matriarch-anyway- breed a hen of the ideal conformation and start the backcrossing process again. Simultaneously, you would need to take a full brother of the hen with the ideal conformation but with the perfect colouration and breed him to the full sister of the sire of the ideal egg line- so- two lines of backcrossing -after the 8th generation- theoretically- you could pair up the birds with the best egg, conformation and colour- in that order- dont begin to start culling until the hens start to lay- because you have to work within that reduced pool of genetic expression-

 

[geebs]

I guess it boils down to the simple... Marans are defined by the egg color... first..... and then the amazingly simple... Pick one thing and do it well... don't get carried away with too much of a bite... I think this all makes sense to me... Otherwise you will end up going in circles... I do like the idea of one pen for correct male and one for correct females though...

Question for Resolution:

If one is trying for the females to have a nice red head (a pen just for breeding good females).. Does this mean they will also be predisposed to the wheaton gene because of too much red?

 

[geebs]

I actually didn't ask enough of the question.. My apologies... The rooster being used would be predominantly red so Wheaton is a factor in the offspring. Does that mean that any nicely red headed females will carry forward the wheaton gene?.... (I hope I made more sense of it this go)?

 

[Resolution]

This is not my forte. I'd ask Bev Davis or someone with a comprehension of phenotypic genetics at this level. The only understanding I have at this level of the species is the relatedness to founders and specific genetic markers amplifying specific interrelationships.

 

[geebs]

Thank you for your candor..

another question: You made a comment on the post about the mossyness.... and it's presence in relation to the egg color in some lines.... Am I safe in the assumtion that removing the mossyness from the line will also lessen the egg color in your opinion... If so then that trait should be left alone?

 

[Resolution]

I don't know that they are necessarily linked. The presence of chestnut on the head and upper neck of Marans chicks -do the specimens with the highest expression of 'mossiness' - were they the ginger headed chicks in every batch?

 

[Knight Hawk Ranch]

I got hatching going on. Will post pics soon.

 

[berkeleysprings]

well i will be breeding the good looking davis roo (wheaten) to the good looking buddy henery (presley hens),,, in the next few weeks i will be incubating the off spring so 11 months from then i will know about egg color ...all the birds i have were hatched by me from dark eggs so i hope the offspring will be the samewhen and if i ever start to sell chicks i will let people know the history of the wheaten i work with,,,, egg color is the thing i worry about the most

 

[wing it]

my 10 week old roo