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

[snowbird]

I have no idea where you got the comment that the APA said quit mixing bloodlines, This is not true, Dave Anderson said they should be bred more uniform in color and body type.

Most of the males you have in the pictures are not up to the proposed standard and you are wasting feed to keep feeding them. I have the Jeane bloodlins and what you are showing is what they will look like. We have to be able to cull rel deep to accomplish anything with this breed. Don

 

[Debbi]

Got back from the feed store a bit ago. Went straight to the bator, no progress. Unloaded the truck, got a cup of coffee, and went back to look again. "Look here chickies, time's a wasting! Is anyone in there or not??" HA! I got a quick response, this time NO question!! Six very strong chirps coming from the tiny pip, followed by a few faint chirps from someone just getting into the air sack!! Should have at least two of them coming into the world!

Keep your fingers crossed for me, please!!

 

[kathyinmo]

Quote:
I agree with you Don. Why the heck would the APA even care about HOW they are bred???? Certainly one would want to breed out obvious squirrel's tails, and the straw coloring, wouldn't they? Rather than keeping every single rooster hatched, I cull down to keeping only the best (in comparison to the proposed APA standard). Don, is that what you do? I culled every single one of my roosters that came directly from Jesse's line (with no crossing or mixing), and kept only the one I have from Wynette's stock. Wynette has wonderful stock and fabulous (consistent) egg color, that's for sure!

 

[ruth]

There has been so much debate (often heated) over this breed and I, for the most part, have stayed out of it. I have a successful business that, thank the Lord, pays well and I can have a farm and raise chickens as a "hobby". I do not live, eat, sleep, breathe chickens and APA standards. I wanted FBCMs and when someone offered one of the original flocks for sale, I bought the whole flock. While many breeders and a number of Marans clubs (also rivals) are working to get this breed approved by the APA, the fact remains they are NOT approved. If you look back over 800 pages you'll find some of the discussions. From what I've read, the most common reason for "deferring" the breed and not approving it at the show last year was because the birds were not consistent. They were not consistent because every breeder had different lines and had mixed multiple lines and thus, the birds varied from one breeder to the next. You'll have that same "issue" again since there are still so many variations out there. APA calls for a 5 point comb on most large fowl but for a 6 point comb on other breeds of large fowl. If most Marans don't have a 5 point comb, why would that be the standard? (Just an example of one of many questions I have.)

I bought my birds for fun, I enjoy their beauty. I can afford to feed them (thank you very much) so I allow them to live on my farm till I decide otherwise. I posted the pics to show the variety that can come out of just one line of birds. BTW - Those are very young males in the last pics and I find they can change as they grow. I keep the variety because who knows just which "standards" will finally get accepted by APA. Besides, if I ever start a serious breeding program, I can use the good qualities of one to bring out the not so good qualities of another - one with too much red to bring out the red in ones with too little.

Peace to all my fellow BCM owners/breeders. You're all doing a great job. Keep up the hard work. Cull, cull, cull. Kill, kill, kill. Keep logbooks and leg bands and data to fill the Library of Congress. And, when you finally get that perfect bird, I'll buy it. But, you know what, it will still be a chicken.

*****Legal Disclaimer - this post has been my own personal, ever so humble, opinion and in no way reflects the opinions of BYC staff or fellow members.

**********

To quote a famous radio personality: "Lighten up America"

 

[le neige homme]

Flock of (sea)culls is all I see. Caveat Emptor.

 

[snowbird]

Quote:
I agree with you Don. Why the heck would the APA even care about HOW they are bred???? Certainly one would want to breed out obvious squirrel's tails, and the straw coloring, wouldn't they? Rather than keeping every single rooster hatched, I cull down to keeping only the best (in comparison to the proposed APA standard). Don, is that what you do? I culled every single one of my roosters that came directly from Jesse's line (with no crossing or mixing), and kept only the one I have from Wynette's stock. Wynette has wonderful stock and fabulous (consistent) egg color, that's for sure!

Yes, I cull real hard on the Males and females. I hatched off 176 BC in december and had 87 males and culled down to 23 and will cull a few more. I have started culling my younger fowl and will be very hard on them also.

One thing we must remember that when breeding BC you will get Straw color, Copper color, and Mahogany color. It doesn't matter which line you are breeding you will get all three colors. Don

 

[Wynette]

Anywho...surely no one can argue about THIS picture:

I think he's saying, "Okay, guys, move on, and work together to bring this breed to where it belongs!"

 

[Germaine_11.20]

I understand that "straw" is out but are we aiming for "copper" or "mahogany"? I would love to see a picture that has the actual color we should aim for, maybe even a comparison shot (?) I do have some of each and I need to narrow it down.

Wynette, I love the picture of that chick!

 

[jeremy]

Quote:
Wynette, this picture makes me want to order eggs from you!

 

[Debbi]

Ok, I have a question about all of this. Mind you, this is all new to me, and I've never been to a chicken show in my life! My question then is, why is there this seemingly urgent need to have the breed become APA approved at all, or at least, right now? Is it a monetary thing? A status thing? What? I showed dogs for many years, and to me, showing amongst your peers, as in a Specialty Show, where only that particular breed was represented; that a significant win there meant far more to me than at an All Breed Show where the judge may or may not really know the SOP. Everyone is going to have their particular areas of likes and dislikes. All breeders are going to have faults. All birds, no matter how good they may be, are going to have faults. Would it not be better to hold more specialty shows until a consistent, sizeable gathering of good birds be shown all at once? And I'm not just talking by the "big" breeders, I mean this to trickle down to the little guy, who because he could go to specialty shows, and see the good stuff, and maybe purchase some of the good stuff, and talk to the breeders big & small, he will get an idea of what to aim for in his breeding practices. I read some show results on one of the club's site, and the wins were repeatedly by the handful of bigger breeders, seemingly darting from one show to the next. I would think, the APA would like to see the wins spread out to a bunch of different folks with a wider range of consistency, instead of the handful winning and showing only their lines in representing the SOP. I'm sorry if my point isn't coming across, I am not as eloquent a writer as most of you here. Maybe, if the approach of the APA approval was put off some more, given more time, that maybe some of the folks who are hoping to jump on the "rare breed gravy train", will grow tired of waiting for approval, and the chances for lesser quality birds will dwindle. Heck, the hatcheries are starting to sell them now! You all know what that will mean; poorer conformation, poorer feathering, poorer egg color, more poorer birds out there contributing to the masses and showing up at the shows! Maybe if all breeders stepped back, took a breath, did their best to get their line toward the SOP in quiet without all of the politics of showing, then the breed may come further faster?? Breeders are always going to see the good and bad qualities of their fellow breeders. Some will prosper, some will drop by the wayside. Natural selection, with hopefully, the better birds and their qualities rising to the top. Only then, should the time be right to get the APA approval. I'm sure at this point, they (APA), feel like they are being pecked to death by a duck, and a sub-standard one at that! JMHO. Go ahead, jump on me now, I can handle it!