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

[Mahonri]

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Exciting. White wing tips are very common in BCM chicks and usually go away.

Any way to tell the males from the females right away?

 

[onthespot]

I only set decent color eggs. They don't always have to be the darkest three out of the day's bunch, but only the color of egg I would want to get from someone else if I bought hatching eggs from them. That way I don't have to keep track of who hatched out of a lighter egg. No one did, LOL. One less thing for me to keep track of or worry about that way. I don't do it because I am a stickler for egg color, just lazy and not one for intricate recordkeeping... I am getting some NICE color this go-round from my 09 pullets, but some of them are black. I have them in with Goody, my "best roo" and will probably incubate some this week to see if I end up with getting color back in the hackles this generation. If not... they go in the olive egger pen for some KICK BUTT blue bearded olive egger hatching eggs. The nice thing about selling really DARK BROWN eggs crossed on an Ameracuana roo is they know he will give the blue/green, and they will have proof in their hand of how dark of a marans genes they are infusing into their program. I have better hens in my olive egger pen than what a lot of people have in their best marans flocks, LOL. That way, if I ever decide to backtrack and cross them back on another roo for some reason, I still have them and it would only take a few weeks for them to become able to produce pure CBM again, instead of waiting on a whole new crop to grow out. Plus, with the roo being splash, homozygous for beards and homozygous for pea combs, you could know at hatching if one of his swimmers was a late hanger on right off the bat. No confusing chicks, even from the first minute they hatch. No need to mark them and keep them separate either. Okay, now I am just rambling to myself. I have to get out and get some fresh air and go do some good. I will catch you all later. Have a safe New Year's Eve! Look out for the turkeys and don't be one! (Don't drink and drive)

 

[geebs]

Millebantam... I don't think you are traveling in a diametrically opposed direction at all. :0 .. I think both roads will lead to roam... The scenery will be different along the way... But in the end the goal ultimately is the same... A good bird that lays a nice dark egg that follows a standard... Enjoy your patH!

Whether to cut a sandwich in half or crossways is a mute argument when you are just going to eat the sandwich... I am not out to Pervert what is here....

I am starting with what other ppl have already worked with and brought good traits out... (why reinvent the wheel) and I am working on something... Someone else will work on something else and in the end... we all benefit... It is after all a small gene pool.

Geebs

 

[kathyinmo]

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No such luck!

 

[gvntofly05]

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Yay!!! That's so exciting! I hope to be in your position 21 days from tomorrow!

 

[geebs]

I just had to post a pic of a couple of eggs from today's lay... I just found my egg cups and thought my eggs would look nice in them..

We need more pics posted to keep things interesting.. What did everyone get today???

 

[Byrdj]

I think we can all agree that both breeding to a consistent standard and for darker eggs both need to be done and there are many ways to get there. Everyone has a different method of getting there and that's what makes it a fun breed to work with and interesting discussion among us. Egg color first, confirmation first, or both at the same time. Sharing those thoughts and experiences can only help the breed. I think people are going to breed to what they think is most important, whether it be darker eggs or trying to meet the proposed breed standards. Yes, in the end both will have been accomplished. The problem is that too many people are breeding and selling them to try to make a buck with no culling or selective breeding practices. There are a lot of people who buy Marans for the dark egg and are disappointed when they start getting eggs from their pullets and they are the color of any medium brown egg laying breed. On the other side of the coin, there are a lot of people who buy dark hatching eggs and are disappointed when they grow up and are a mess compared to what they should look like. It's a buyer beware out there. I see so many people online selling Marans hatching eggs when their color is a 3 or less on the color chart, or the pics of their adult birds need a lot of work.

One thought on breeding for color and conformation and then work on egg color later. Remember it can't be considered a Marans unless it consistently lays a #4 egg or better. Theoretically you could have a show winning hen but not be able to produce an egg dark enough to quailfy as a Marans.

 

[millebantam]

I totally agree that there are often several paths to reach the same destination. In my situation, I'm taking my route for a couple of reasons. First off, I have either been lucky, or blessed, that the stock that I'm currently working with is actually very good, and achieving birds that conform to the standard is very realistic, in a very reasonable time frame. I started out with junk from supposedly reputable breeders, then eventually found the stock that I was looking for. I'm only going into my 3rd generation, but my birds are huge, and have at least my interpretation of body type representative of the breed. I have very minor, easily fixable color issues, but not many other problems that it seems that many others seem to have. I don't have any "mossyness", or any of those overly red birds, no side sprigs, fused toes, Wheaten mutts, or other major issues. The shank feathering on my birds is pretty much already "dialed in". I had 20 hens or so last fall, and have culled down to 9 that have the type that I'm looking for and lay at least consistant 6's for eggs. My plan is not to "throw egg color out the window", as others have alluded to, but to "walk the fence" in regard to egg color and overall type of the birds. Last fall and early summer I hatched out about 125 chicks from the darkest eggs that my hens would lay, and now I have culled down by type, to around 30 hens that are about 3-4 months old. I have added them to my other 9 adult hens. They should all be laying by springtime, and I will thin them out further based on overall type at maturity and egg color. I also recently hatched out 35 of my first 3rd generation chicks about a week ago. I will have a decent pool to sort through by mid summer. I have the pens and space to double my numbers if I have to, but think I'll be ok as is. I may have to dedicate additional space to develop nothing but roosters.

I enjoy exhibiting poultry, and as much as I enjoy the atmosphere, chatter, and the friends, I'm there to win. My goal is to have high quality representativesof the breed variety that will compete at any level of competition. It will be a very unique opportunity to participitate in showing these birds at such an early stage of their exhibition eligability. I believe that it's entirely possible to produce exhibition quality BCM's and still maintain "reasonable" egg color along the way. That's my story and I'm stickin' to it, lol. As others have previously mentioned, it is very possible that both "camps" in regard to their methods in refining these fantastic birds, may someday merge birds from both endeavours, to better the breed overall down the road.

 

[drom]

Quote:

Exciting. White wing tips are very common in BCM chicks and usually go away.

Any way to tell the males from the females right away?

You can tell with some in the first week by the comb color and size but also by the color of the feet.

Pullet feet:

Cockerel feet:

 

[drom]

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Just to clarify, I don't think anyone was alluding to you, as in millebantam, throwing egg color out the window. I don't know if you were referring to what I said, but I think I said I get impression that the French don't throw out their best egg laying birds because they aren't show quality stock. And, from everything I have read and heard, they don't. I'm not saying that is right or wrong. I am saying for some reason, their darkest egg laying birds are not the ones they bring to the show hall. They refer to some of the show quality type stock as " competing birds" and they don't lay the darkest eggs over there.

There is a reason for it. I don't know if there is a genetic reason or it's just an issue of intentional breeding practices.