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

[VioletBlueIvy]

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Violet~ He looks to be a wheaten cockerel....see the cinnamomy brown wing triangle (@ the bottom of the wing) that says wheaton to me.

Thank you! That is great! That is what he should be, but the trio we bought had two that look like him and one light brown one. We figured the breeder mixed up what the male and female chicks are supposed to look like. Then the one light colored one that we figured must be the wheaten pullet developed blue legs and ear tufts, and we said uh oh?!

He has just started getting the red/ cinnamon coloring really coming out on his back, and getting the longer neck feathers, I think he is a late bloomer. Do Marans tend to develop slower than other breeds?
I wondered if he could be a black copper, then the blue coloring came out on his underside, and more red on his back, so I thought maybe a blue copper, but I just dont know the subtleties between the different colors, reading the standards doesn't really help me I am too new at this!

I am getting a half dozen Marans hatching eggs this weekend, I love all the colors, wheaten is one of my favorites though so I am happy!
His name is Marshmallow, he likes to get underneath his two pullet friends to sleep and get out of the rain. He doesnt act very rooish yet!

 

[pinkchick]

violet~ the underfluff of a wheaton is not blueish nor is it black...to me it is slightly taupeish light blackish/ brownish coloring. good luck with your hatching eggs and be sure to keep us informed. we love seeing new baby pics.

 

[Bravo]

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Geebs they are gorgeous!!!

 

[Byrdj]

Anyone venture to explain why there seems to be a correlation between mossiness and very dark egg color?

 

[Byrdj]

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Very nice look cockeral! Is he from one of the eggs you bought from me? I have a nice rooster that keeps throwing such nice roosters that I'm having a hard time parting with them. I still get the occasional mossy chicks though. They are on my hen's side though, not from the rooster. It's hard to resist hatching eggs that I know carry mossiness because they are so dark.

 

[VioletBlueIvy]

Thank you pinkchick!
So much to learn!

 

[geebs]

Byrd

Resolution did an explaination at GrEAT LENGTH as his style.. To sum up my understanding... They are genetically linked and to remove the mossy entirely is to sacrifice some of the egg color.. That is the best explaination I can give.. You can go look him up and try to find his post on it... I go blind trying... He is highly knowledgeable and I believe what he says. Everything else he has told me.. rings very true.. In fact the French carry two lines....One that produces the lovely eggs and ones for showbirds....We are trying to have our eggs and eat them too and it is my understanding that it doesn't work that way. We can get "pretty dark" but the best dark eggs are still laid by the mossies... I will tell you this... I ride the sticky wicked in this respect... If the bird is born mossy...It doesn't always stay that way... I wait to cull till they are mostly grown... I have had them born nearly brown and come out black in the end... As long as it isn't showing in the adult bird to me this is fine... Everyone chooses for themselves. I like the dark egg gene and if it comes with mossiness, well then that is the way it is...

(this is just one person's opinion) Everyone works the lines the way they like them... I have some amazing color and I am NOT willing to give up my darkies... Hold out a little and see what they look like as adults... You may want to band them because you might be surprised that they don't look like you thought they would. I have a brown roos that is losing all the brown... I am watching him as he grows so I have a good understanding of this gene and how it matures. I do reject hens with red in the breast or straw for my large fowl marans breeding project... nothing good can come of that...

I also reject too dark of eyes or flighty birds... That is a personal choice... I look for health and overall good substance and correct form...The color corrections (mild ones) I can do some selective breeding. Most of all the Rooster has to correct or compliment the hens as he stamps his genes on each one... I do single mating pens....One roo per pen... That eliminates any guesswork. I have a sterilization pen also. I breed for hens and then I breed for roos... Not at the same time... this eliminates mistakes. I hatch the roos first as in spring your roo percentage is higher early on and and the hen percentage tends to be better late in the spring.... Don't ask me why.. that is just what I have noted.

Looking at Thom Dean's pen it is easy to see why some of his matings generated the overly red males that Kathinmo got early on... There is also a possibility for greatness there as well... I don't know what method he uses, however if they are collected from that pen as a group then it is anyones guess as to which male crossed with which female gave a particular result... Again, I don't know how he does his program... This could simply be a pull pen that he houses all of them in and separates for mating in other ones.. I just don't know. You sure got a nice male from him though Bravo

P.S. thanks Kathinmo for sharing that album. It was fun to look at.

 

[crj]

Well, here are the first eggs from our 2 young hens.

The color is getting better just waiting for the eggs to get bigger. They are about the size of EE eggs.

 

[NewHen]

Hello! I just posted pix of my blue and (darker) blue marans that I hatched in June here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=4576287#p4576287

If anyone can take a look and let me know if you think I've got pullets (or not), I'd appreciate it.

Out of my previous hatch of BCMs, I ended up with ONE pullet.

Thanks!

 

[blackdotte]

Anyone venture to explain why there seems to be a correlation between mossiness and very dark egg color?

I doubt it because there isn't one.
Yes I re-read Resolution's great romantic story again, and even he does not claim any link between the two.
David​