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

[natrgatr]

I was missing a hen when I went to put them up for the night. I found her on the hay pile and apparently I didn't get my first egg yesterday!

OMG!

 

[keithallen1965]

Drom, et all,

Thanks for starting this thread. I am new to the Marans breed I have read this thread from the beginning to now and have learned a lot. I have the following Marans, 2 Wheatens hens and 1 chick just hatched hopping for a Roo, about 30 BCM chicks to weed through just hatched in the last three weeks, 3 blue hens and 1 roo (roo is clean shafted). 4 Cuckoo and 1 roo, and 1 golden roo and hen just hatched, and 4 new BCMs just arrived purchased from JamesA and also 1 roo. My wife and I love the Marans breed and our desire is to enhance the qualities already there in this breed. Thank you for all the info so far. keep it up. Here are a few pics not the greatest will upload additional pics this week.

keith/Julie
Olive Farms
Chicks, Blues, Wheatens, and maybe a BTB?

Our first marans eggs from our Blues the top three the second three are Austraulorps and the botom is Ameraucana.

 

[evonne]

Quote:
lol.. grats on all those eggs!! what a great first egg hunt...

so one of your girls was about to go broody on all those huh???

do marans make good broody hens??

 

[roostercruiser]

Question to all Maran breeders? Why is everyone so worried about the olor of the egg and not the standard of the bird? It really makes no difference what color the egg is if you can't get the breed into the standard because they don't judge eggs.

 

[hcammack]

Quote:
Rooster Cruiser The Marans Standard demands that the birds egg color be a 4 or better to even qualify as a member of the breed. You could have a hen that is perfect according to the standard in all other ways but if she doesn't lay a 4 on the color chart she isn't even a Marans! It defines the Marans breed also. In an age where dual purpose birds have fallen out of favor a bird that is as heavy, slow maturing, and consumptive as the Marans without having a high lay rate would be considered usless. Why would someone want to own a bird with nothing "speacial" about it. I would get orphingtons if the Marans didn't lay dark eggs they are just as big and beautiful and lay twice the eggs! The Marans breed is defined by the dark eggs and without them I doubt they would ever have gained any amount of popularity. For good Marans breeder its a constant balance between type and egg color and its very difficult to reach. Many irrisponisble or inexperianced breeders have bred only for egg color and the type and color has fallen apart in there birds. Marans breeding is basically an art form. The inexperianced breeders are what caused the Marans to not be accepted there first go around. Anyway exceptance for any breed or new color varitie is a very long and time consuming process.

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

Quote:
Rooster Cruiser The Marans Standard demands that the birds egg color be a 4 or better to even qualify as a member of the breed. You could have a hen that is perfect according to the standard in all other ways but if she doesn't lay a 4 on the color chart she isn't even a Marans! It defines the Marans breed also. In an age where dual purpose birds have fallen out of favor a bird that is as heavy, slow maturing, and consumptive as the Marans without having a high lay rate would be considered usless. Why would someone want to own a bird with nothing "speacial" about it. I would get orphingtons if the Marans didn't lay dark eggs they are just as big and beautiful and lay twice the eggs! The Marans breed is defined by the dark eggs and without them I doubt they would ever have gained any amount of popularity. For good Marans breeder its a constant balance between type and egg color and its very difficult to reach. Many irrisponisble or inexperianced breeders have bred only for egg color and the type and color has fallen apart in there birds. Marans breeding is basically an art form. The inexperianced breeders are what caused the Marans to not be accepted there first go around. Anyway exceptance for any breed or new color varitie is a very long and time consuming process.

Just curious as to who the "inexperianced breeders" at the "first go around" are..... do tell.

And I have never seen an APA show where a shell color sample is needed for entry, and if the bird has to lay a "4" on the color chart how do they show roosters?

Steve in NC

 

[hcammack]

Quote:
I am trying to sell some CULL Marans pullets that I was going to keep for eggs but I need some room and I have been contacted by four or five local chicken "breeders" wanting them for breeding. I have explicitly said these birds are culls not to be used for breeding. Those are the "inexperianced" more like irresponsible breeders. I don't breed Marans so I am no expert. I honestly don't see any way that you could argue that anyone would want a Marans that doesn't lay dark eggs. That is in the Standard it is the very gene this entire breed has built its succes and popularity on. Maybe the APA should require egg shell samples for all Marans hens and pullets obviously (thanks for letting me know roosters don't lay eggs I am astonished). I firmly believe that Marans without dark eggs might not even be in the United States today.

 

[greathorse]

Quote:
Rooster Cruiser The Marans Standard demands that the birds egg color be a 4 or better to even qualify as a member of the breed. You could have a hen that is perfect according to the standard in all other ways but if she doesn't lay a 4 on the color chart she isn't even a Marans! It defines the Marans breed also. In an age where dual purpose birds have fallen out of favor a bird that is as heavy, slow maturing, and consumptive as the Marans without having a high lay rate would be considered usless. Why would someone want to own a bird with nothing "speacial" about it. I would get orphingtons if the Marans didn't lay dark eggs they are just as big and beautiful and lay twice the eggs! The Marans breed is defined by the dark eggs and without them I doubt they would ever have gained any amount of popularity. For good Marans breeder its a constant balance between type and egg color and its very difficult to reach. Many irrisponisble or inexperianced breeders have bred only for egg color and the type and color has fallen apart in there birds. Marans breeding is basically an art form. The inexperianced breeders are what caused the Marans to not be accepted there first go around. Anyway exceptance for any breed or new color varitie is a very long and time consuming process.

Yes I am close to giving up on the breed for many of those reasons. I have birds from a very prominent knowledgable breeder who has been very helpful, but frankly they are poor layers, type is not great, I think the breed in general has the worst combs I have seen and some eggs are dark and many not very dark at all. I am so tempted to go a different route.

I am not questioning anyone just stating that I may not be the person to put the kind of work in these guys that they for sure require. I agree that without the dark egg they would be "just chickens". I do get excited when I get that dark egg though it is pretty cool

 

[Krys109uk]

Dark eggs are a breed characteristic. If the bird does not lay a dark egg or have dark egg laying sisters, female offpring etc...then it is not a Marans. Those people who frequently question the characteristicsof the breed ought to take it up with the French as it was they who set the breed characteristics. As dark eggs are not only a required characteristic but also a characteristic which seems to make the breed particularly popular it would seem silly to try to claim that egg colour did not matter.

 

[hcammack]

Quote:
Ya I am selling off most of my pullets and hens they are all culls but I was going to make olive eggers. I am very frustrated with the lay rate. I am not keeping them as breeders so I really should sell them all and buy wellsummers who lay twice the eggs without sacrificing to much color. Will Marrows Wellsummer eggs are really hard to tell apart from his BCM marans eggs. I keep them because I like there personalaties and I exactly like you I get excited when I see a really nice dark egg even it I only see three a week.