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

[ninjapoodles]

everythingjane, I'd bet the farm the splash is a rooster. Of course, I owe a bunch of money on the farm, so...

 

[ninjapoodles]

Quote:
It's ridiculous. You can tell, even from the rough English translation of the French Marans Club website, that this is just a breed that will NEVER be simple or straightforward, and the black copper variety has all these extra challenges built in, just on COLOR alone! Too much color, not enough color, the need for separate programs to produce the ideal specimens of each gender, for crying out loud...it's just a difficult breed.

There is a voluntary public online registry for my breed of dogs, where you enter not only the pedigree and any OFA-registered information, but also pictures and any health-related information that is not included in the public registries. It is a fabulous resource for any sincere breeder...and only a tiny percentage of breeders participate.

 

[Krys109uk]

I don't believe the Marans is any more difficult than any other breed. What is so difficult about them?
Most breeds have common faults. In fact the plumage colour genetics of just about all of the colours of Marans is exceedingly simple; much more simple than colours of many other breeds.
IMO the biggest problem with the Marans in this country is that they're a relatively new breed in USA. Another problem is that the male copper blacks & wheatens look similar enough in adult plumage that people have sometimes got them confused & bred them together.
Back in 2003 & earlier, before many French birds were here in US & most people in US had English type or just plain crosses, there were hardly Marans that one could actually look at & recognise as a real Marans, French type or English type. They were a mess. I used to read many posts with bizarre statements such as "My Marans Roo has a pea comb". There were hardly any birds which laid eggs much darker than a RIR. To be considered to be of a breed to needs to look like that breed; it needs to conform to some extent to an accepeted standardin some way otherwise it is just a cross breed.
Marans in US have come a very long way in the last 5 years. A lot of hard work has gone into improving Marans type in US. That & with the addition of some French birds there are some good looking Marans in US these days.

 

[ninjapoodles]

Quote:
Bear in mind that I'm looking at this as a newcomer to the breed, so I have fresh eyes, but also inexperienced eyes.

The first thing that makes them, to me at least, "more difficult" than other breeds is the issue of egg color. Without proper egg color, you don't even have a Marans to begin with. So, that right there is a significant challenge, especially if your darkest egg-layers are totally inappropriate as to breed type, or if your typeiest birds lay light eggs.

Then, with black coppers, I have just seen breeder after breeder (I'm talking about the experienced folks here, not us newbies) talking about the delicate balance between too much color and not enough color, and also advising that, in order to have really good examples of both hens and roosters, you need to have one family of birds that concentrates on producing hens, and another that concentrates on producing roosters.

All that juggling, and you still have to maintain or improve egg color!

I didn't say they were ridiculously difficult; I just said that they are challenging. I stick by that assessment.

 

[tgcole]

Beautiful birds, Monarch and Jane!

Regarding the Wheatens from the Wade Jeane line, I have hatched close to 500 Black Copper chicks from Jeane birds that I got directly from Charles Logan.

Of that 500, I hatched 2 beautiful Wheaten hens and 1 Roo. I got my first very dark eggs from the Wheaten pullets last week. I'll know shortly if the Jeane Wheatens breed true. I also hatched 2 roos that look like Black-tailed buffs. All 5 chicks hatched last summer and were fathered by a redbreasted roo that I no longer use. I still have all 5. 495 of the 500 were textbook black and white Black Copper chicks and I haven't seen a nonstandard chick since last summer. This is close enough to breeding true for me.

I am into 3rd generation Jeane birds and couldn't be happier with the line. The eggs from generation 2 are darker than those of the parent birds.

Greg

 

[monarc23]

Quote:
thanks and WOW... i'd love to see your birds, they're probably on this huge post somewhere ill have to look

 

[Krys109uk]

Ninjapoodles wrote

The first thing that makes them, to me at least, "more difficult" than other breeds is the issue of egg color. Without proper egg color, you don't even have a Marans to begin with. So, that right there is a significant challenge, especially if your darkest egg-layers are totally inappropriate as to breed type, or if your typeiest birds lay light eggs.

I see your point. The egg colour thing is an extra issue to worry about & it does not seem particularly easy.
As far as I can ascertain there are genes at more than one locus which contribute to the red brown egg colour...... I have an idea that certain birds from different lines carry different dark egg genes & when together in one bird can give a darker egg colour.​

 

[ninjapoodles]

Quote:
I see your point. The egg colour thing is an extra issue to worry about & it does not seem particularly easy.
As far as I can ascertain there are genes at more than one locus which contribute to the red brown egg colour...... I have an idea that certain birds from different lines carry different dark egg genes & when together in one bird can give a darker egg colour.

To me, it just seems crazy hard! I am humbled by the process.

 

[drom]

Quote:
Hi sorry I missed this, I was off line this weekend some.

Jennifer, there are some people out there who believe that all red breasted roosters carry for Wheaten. While I am reading information that suggests the opposite of that on the French page, I do not believe that it is unusual for Wheaten genes to show up in some black copper lines.

I agree with Amazondoc and it's pretty clear to me, the way some people go on and on about the Wheaten influence in some Black Copper lines, that they think it is the worst thing in the world.

I think the most experienced breeders see it for exactly what it is; no more, no less.

I have three roosters. One is a black-breasted, show quality. One has a too red breast and one has a color fault (he is going to go in with my EE). All three have very correct confirmation and good tail angle. All three have feathered shanks. All three have orangey red eyes. All three have solid red shoulders. None have white feathers. None have any physical defects.

I have three pullets. One is top show quality. One does not have quite enough copper on her hackles to be top SQ. She also has a very slightly listing comb since she started laying. I have one pullet who has a color fault- copper color is a wee bit too light and a little too much color- some faint markings on her wings. All three of them have very correct confirmation. All three of them have feathered shanks. All three of them have deep orangey red eyes. None of them have white feathers. None of them have any physical defects.

All three of my pullets are laying very nice dark eggs. The one with too much color, incidentally, lays the darkest reddest ones. They placed 2nd in their first egg show and I couldn't be happier with them.

But they are not all perfect. I have been breeding animals for 18 years so I would never expect to get all perfect animals with no faults from any bloodline. Because no one's bloodline or breeding program is perfect. They have different problems, but they do definitely all have problems.

 

[onthespot]

amen sista