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

[ninjapoodles]

Well, THAT was an exercise in frustration!

My copper black babies are wild as jackrabbits! There is NO photographing them when they're out running around. I had a 300mm zoom lens on, and still could barely get anything. They just kept hiding, and not EVER standing still in good light. Grrrrrr. Anyway, here's what I got. These guys were hatched mid-July.

That cockerel on the left is probably a cull, for me. If anyone wants him, gimme a shout.

Bad light, and more bad light:

Maurice, the hatchery cuckoo cockerel, is MUCH more obliging about posing for glamour-shots.

 

[tfpets]

I was laughing so hard at your pictures work, they're sure Im off my rocker! (I am right now anyhow) I can tell by their posture they didnt want any part of it, but you got great pics, and they are awesome!! I hope you're okay though! If my yard had any obstacles and my birds were that reluctant, I'd have killed myself trying to get those shots! You're good!

Thank goodness for Maurice, and isnt he a beauty? Hatchery whatevery, he's a nice looking guy, huh?

Great Shots there, pretty birds, thank you!

Tina/tfpets

 

[ninjapoodles]

Oh, man...I was chasing those little turds up and down the hill, along the fence line, in and out of the turkey pen (that's the chain link fence you see in the background sometimes--these guys LOVE the turkey pen), through the bushes, you name it. And could NOT get a decent shot.

That hatchery cuckoo...I have to admit, he's won me over. I had NO plans on keeping any of those cockerels (the rest of them are in the soon-to-be-dumplings pen), but Maurice has saved his own skin through sheer stylishness, plus the indications of being a great flock guardian. And I guess, if I'm going to lose a flock guardian to any kind of attack, better if it's one that I'm not depending on for breeding, right? (Don't tell Maurice I said that--he considers himself terribly attractive and important.)

 

[tfpets]

I love hearing about the eggs I have sent out hatching! Thank you! I got a pic of two little ones that I have to share, say hi to the litte Cuckoo Marans, it's amazing to me that these eggs were layed at my house in California, and hatched in New Mexico?? (Thank you ChickenFanatic) You guys are AWESOME!

Tina/tfpets

 

[Solsken Farm]

Very sweet pics, and Tina, it is really nice of you to share your eggs with people.

Okay, here are a couple of my Copper Black babies. This breed is such a calm, friendly bird, don't you all think? It is so interesting how their coloring is so different as chicks.

 

[onthespot]

There certainly is a wide variety of color distribution in the chicks. The white varies from "a whole lot" to just some, to almost none at hatching, and some have a lot of brown on their feathers, some have zero, some have white flights and lose them, some keep a few white feathers on their wings and feet. I have not had any "sports" yet, but I hear they are not uncommon in the marans.

 

[tfpets]

Quote:
That, and I havent noticed the early feathering having alot to do with the eventual pattern or coloring of their final patterning - it seems rather random...Are yours consistent?? Except for the Cuckoos, who are lighter in the males, and darker in the females, they are just, well, random. My black coppers I had the whole lot vs some, it wasnt until there was actually color, feathers, and now, SHAPE, that I could see a difference?
Tina

 

[drom]

Quote:
Wow, look how much they have grown up. They're beautiful!
Some of your cockerels look exactly like mine do. Mine all have the red mottled breast rather than the solid black. I was actually thinking mine were not keepers because of it.

But I have been reading the posts on the Yahoo Marans clubs forums and it sounds like both the solid black and the red mottled breast are accepted in the French standard. In fact some lines have a tendency toward more of the color than others. Someone was saying that the Wade Jeane line birds display more color. From what I can tell, the solid black breast is more of a personal preference/opinion among some of the breeders rather than a requirement of the standard. Those forums are a great source of info.

 

[Wynette]

Here's a picture of a copper black pullet at 4 weeks to the day - she'd already begun to get her copper feathering in her neck, and I was told that's earlier than most and I should consider it a good sign that she'll be a keeper for me

Coincidentally, she DID have more white than the other 2 from that hatch:

 

[drom]

Quote:
Yes, I had the one chick which actually had lots of white wing feathers. What ended up happening was not what I had expected. I assumed that maybe they would drop off and if I was lucky they would grow back in black. But you know, those exact same feathers slowly turned from gray to black. Now she has some with white tips, gray middles and black shafts and some are all black now. Weird!