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

[geebs]

Hey Resolution... Can you pm me and send me some information on your formulated feeds? I was reading a past thread and I would like to try it... I see that it is formulated with DE which brings me to a question. Do you feed it to marans and have you noticed any changes in the pigment after feeding it??? I would like to sample some of the product for my own flock so if you could send me some of the info I would appreciate it.

 

[Germaine_11.20]

Resolution, that is wonderful news that you are importing hatching eggs. What an adventure! I would love to see pictures! The history behind the Marans is facinating and I am really enjoying reading and learning, thank you.

I am a little confused on the last paragraph of your post. Are Black Coppers and Brown Reds different. I thought they were the same?


Getting back to Marans of western France, the Poutiou region was famous for its Black Coppers. La Rochelle for its Blacks a product of outcrossing with (Géline de Touraine), Marans famous for Cuckoo and Black Copper, though there were also many Salmons about. I hope I'm not misremembering here but Lyon, on the other side of the country, celebrated its Black Breasted Red (a product of outcrossing with Gauloise dorée) and Alsace was famous for its Brown Reds which are considered to be by far the darkest egg producers, followed by Black Copper. The Swiss developed the Gold Cuckoo and Birchen, the latter from outcrossing with Hergnies during WWII.

 

[berkeleysprings]

I am brand new to chickens only around 4 years and new to Marans only 1 ½
So I was wondering,,, how do u increase the egg color in a closed flock , I would imagine you breed the hens laying dark eggs back to the darkest egg hatched rooster you have ?
The reason im asking is I have 3 hens and 2 rosters full grown and from 2 great and wonderful
breeders a roster an hen from bev davis and roster and 2 hens from back woods pountry .
My next question might have many complicated answers but a few tips would be appreciated because i am a novice …
Whats the best way to better what I have (only 3 hen and 2 roo)….
I only have room for 2 rosters and 8 hens or so and I have room for another 6 or so to raise from chicks to swap out or cull and pick from … is the easy answer breed all the dark laying hens to the original roster for a generation or two ?

 

[Germaine_11.20]

Per Resolution, link: https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=278349&p=6

The gist of what has been written is this. If you want to increase the egg pigmentation of your Malay ( should produce darker redder eggs than it does, due to incorrect breeding) Penedesencas, Marans, Wellsummer, Barnsevelder you need to practice Backcrossing. * as defined in earlier writings on this post.

Start with a female line that you know absolutely are full sisters. Save one or two of their full brothers.
Locate an unrelated rooster that you have personally hatched from a dark egg.
Pair this rooster with the first female from your well represented female line.
Select out the darkest eggs from her first clutch.
Hatch them. Select the rooster from this clutch that has hatched from the darkest egg.
Breed him back to his mother.
Repeat the process again and again for 8 consecutive generations.
If for some reason the original matriarch dies, replace her with her closest relative.
Her full sister is the best candidate but remember- you are taking two to three steps back everytime you outcross to even a related female.
Once you have arrived at the eighth generation, you can now breed the progeny interse, that is brother to sister.
Or, better yet, breed them to the close relatives of the mother. You can keep any of the birds not used for breeding but I would send them off to save room and prevent confusion.
You really want to just be as conservative as you can be. This means you set up separate enclosures. Your breeders don't get to run loose. You have to feed them like wild junglefowl and care for them as if they are delicate hot house flowers. This means no crumbles, no mashes no pellets- just whole grains and an animal protein infused pellet.
Mazuri makes an exotic pheasant extruded kibble and of course my company makes an extruded zoo pellet that's 70% more nutritious.
The French feed cockles as their mystery ingredient and lots of crustacean meal- pieces of shrimps and such left over from cooking -so close to the sea.
But for you - inland its too risky to put out material that may become a disease vector. Great genetics help. You can nevertheless, select breed towards that point using blegh stock.
We've experimented with different breeds and it is almost always the same result. We end up with better egg shell colour when we backcross- provided that is what our founders -that's the trait we are isolating and encouraging through selective breeding.
http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a83/Pi … breast.jpg
Yes- each generation of roosters is another generation bred back to the original matriarch. By the 8th generation his mother will also be his great great great idk how many grandmother.

 

[drom]

[b :

Resolution]

Reticulate scales in every Marans, regardless of colour variety should be vermillion pink to salmon red.
The one exception is going to the black but even that sub breed exhibits the 'rouge stripe' in many lineages.

Thank you for the diagram. Ok I understand. My Black Coppers have very red reticulate scales and slate colored scutes. The hens, not so much.

To be clear, these "poule crêtée de coucou de Bordeaux" are not the darkest egg layers of French breeds and as I've just been informed, not to be considered genuine Marans chickens by many snobbish poultry breeders in France. They do produce what could be defined as the most spherical egg of the Marans Clan and this is a very russet red colour.
Additionally, a single Estaires cockerel, four salmon Faverolle hens and two Pictave bantam hens were brought over to the farm from a neighboring estate late in the war or during reconstruction. She believes that they too contributed their genes to their locally celebrated strain of red egg layers.


That's right my fault, you did say the birds you saw in Bordeaux did not lay the darkest eggs, but the most vivid ones with deep pigment.


The whole village received their eggs from this estate farm for a very long period and there is considerable pride of this flock by their original caretaker. The birds are mostly cuckoo and heavy set, perhaps a bit large and lanky for a Marans, their combs have an odd thickness to them and of course they have the tiny tufts of a crest. Madame claims that a white feather in the center of the rooster's tail is a sign of purity. They have feathered shanks and wide breasts. "They are graceful on the foot and not dull and plodding." I am told the roosters make unusually good fathers, brooding the chicks at all times of the day and night.
I'll get some photos of the birds and post them here.

Wonderful story, would love to see the pictures of the poule crêtée de coucou de Bordeaux

The Swiss developed the Gold Cuckoo and Birchen, the latter from outcrossing with Hergnies during WWII.

Oh, is that perhaps why the Birchen stock in this country came from the Leurquin line birds?​

 

[drom]

Quote:
lildinkem,
Have you hatched any chicks from your Birchen trio's yet? Bruno is very nice.

 

[lildinkem]

DROM, Not yet. Too cold for the girls and their about ready to start laying. I really like Bruno. He is just turning two this spring. I am making sure I hatch out a few dozen from him as the sire for myself, and the rest is for sharing with the dedicated Marans fanciers.
Bruno fathered about a half dozen chicks last spring. I have 2 pullets around 4 to 5 months old.. So for this breeding between the Valentine girls and Bruno will be a first time. I VERY much am looking forward to what comes out. I also have a male from the Ray's side. I plan on taking him to the younger Bruno girls. I hope to keep raising Birchens for a while.

 

[drom]

Quote:
I think that's great. So few people have the Birchens and the ones you see aren't often as nice as he is. I would love to see some pictures of your chicks this spring as they grow. I hope you will keep everyone well informed on Project Birchen.

 

[heritagehabitatfarms]

Quote:
do the girls have the salmon color on there breast like other breeds do??? i really caint tell in the pics... they do look real good tho...

 

[lildinkem]

heritagehabitatfarms: As I remember the only coloring other then the hackle feathers being Silver, are the slightly colored silver lacing on the wings. I need to get out there with a full sun. Good luck here in Indy, we officially had one sunny day all month. I also have two younger pullets that I am putting with a Ray V Birchen cockerel this summer. The two pullets are 5 month oles. The Ray V cockerel is a big boy. No where near the quality of Bruno. Still should make some neat babies.