Wheaten and Blue wheaten Marans Discussion Thread

[VillageChicken]

It's interesting how she looked so normal when she was younger. I think she must have some remnants of black copper marans genes being crossed in at some point in her lineage. This is a good example of what happens when folks find wheaten in their black copper flock (Wade lines) and try to use them to create more wheatens. She's got extra melanizing genes that don't belong in standard wheaten.

 

[cukooformarans]

That pullet looks a whole lot like a couple of mine that I got from someone on this board too. If she is from the same group, I think the consensus was that there were some BCM genes still in the mix. I definitely would not use her. (I know that is discouraging.) However, I had 11 hatch and there are lots of color issues. Also, when I tried to find a rooster locally, I found one but it was way off-color like mine. Come to find out, it came from her eggs, too. Out of the 11 birds, I am hoping to have two or three that are colored ok and use them. (But I will be getting advice from the board first on which to try.) I'm afraid I will still end up doing heavy culling to work through these color issues. I thought at the time (as a novice backyard hobby farmer) that anyone who seemed very nice and advertised having nice eggs and sold them online for a pretty good price (I think I paid right at 60.00 ) was a breeder ... they are 30 wks old now, so I ordered them about 8 1/2 months ago and I have learned a whole lot since then. Ask lots and lots and lots of questions before you order eggs. Look at pictures of breeding stock (which hers looked good) and their offspring. If you are looking at a breed that is not standard (meaning not a common one or one that may be prone to issues or is still in development stages) don't go just by ratings on here because people leave those when they get the eggs and NOT after the chickens are old enough to tell if there are major issues. If you can find people who have hatched the breed from the person's eggs before that could be helpful. (If I had seen that other roo that someone tried to sell me from her eggs before I ordered mine, I would have known that there may be issues.)

Just my 2 cents but I think VC posted a while back about some questions that you should ask when purchasing eggs, so I can't be way off-base.
ETA: Also, I don't think anyone has perfected the wheaten marans yet. Based on the reading that I have done, there is still work to be done on things like white in tails and other things. In my opinion, a good breeder should be able to praise the strengths and point out the weaknesses of their line. It shows honesty and knowledge. (Some people may honestly not know the weaknesses in their line, but you want to buy from a knowledgeable breeder if you are serious about getting good stock. So I am not saying that the person I bought from was not honest, but probably not knowledgeable enough to know there was a problem. ) Again, that is just my opinion.

NOTE: The previous mentioned eggs were from someone on BYC, NOT from someone on the wheaten discussion thread. I think the people who take part in this thread are the best ones to get eggs from because they are the ones who are serious about the breed and fairly knowledgeable about the genetics. I recently got eggs from berkeleysprings (Randy) to try to get back to some good genetics. I am VERY VERY VERY excited about the hen I got from these eggs.

Possibly a lot more information/opinion than you were asking for ... sorry ... I got wordy ....

 

[cukooformarans]

By the way, Randy, I am almost sure I have a hen!

(So you were right.) If anything, her color has gotten lighter since the last pic. (Having camera issues, so can't post new ones right now.) But she is doing great! So very excited about her!

 

[berkeleysprings]

sorry about the bad hatch rate il be the first ome to come out and say it .lol. my old davis roo is slowing down
i am not in this for money or fame lol like i said just fun . but i will make sure u get a flock. i am plaming on useing the son from thw davis roo soon as wormimg is over and i light the coop. i havemt test breed the sons yet but i cam say for certan they will be looking like a average wheaten should. i thiml o have worked out the yellow leg trouble but wont no for sure till i breed sons to all me flock. there is someone else wanted eggs from me i will be sending eggs to
but like in the past. eggs are free for the most part untill they hatch and till you see the qulity of what you get

 

[rsarns]

Thanks for all the advice. Yes I bought the eggs she and a few others came from on BYC, but not one on this thread that I know of. I will be putting her in with my layers. Funny thing is I have hatched a cuckoo Marans out of what was supposed to be blue/splash eggs also... A cockerel of course.. LOL There is a couple of quality breeders up here in Washington that are on here I will try to get eggs/chicks from now. I have more than enough hatchery, and low quality hens in my layer coop already! Wait is that possible to have enough? By the way there are some beautiful pictures of Wheatens in this thread... I am jealous!

 

[cukooformarans]

haha ... I understand that, too! I hatched a blue orpington from what was supposed to be lavender orpington eggs (but only one was blue) ... You are so lucky to have good wheaten breeders close by ... I couldn't find ANY around me. But Berkeleysprings has been wonderful and I have been thankful to get eggs from such a beautiful flock and such an honest person so I will not complain too much about the lack of breeders here. And no, you can't get too many layers!

When you get too many eggs to eat, just give them away! Well some people would say sell them ... but we love to give them to people in the area who can't raise chickens for themselves ... especially the older people get so excited!

 

[berkeleysprings]

any news about crossroads?

 

[VillageChicken]

I'm on the MCCUSA yahoo group, where Bev Davis and a lot of the other breeders into showing post very often. (It's actually a bit too often for me) and there's been lots of chatter about Crossroads, but I've yet to see a post that says that Wheatens are APA approved. Just lots of folks wanting to know.

 

[berkeleysprings]

thanks vc. i am kinda of a member there but havent checked in thete in 2 years. i just dont
like how the site is run .. hard to navagate
for the most part the people are nice
.
i wonder what happened to amazon doc that used to postt here alot?

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[Lotsapaints]

Just got notice that they passed I guess a few changes needed to be made and were....my message is from MaransChickClubUSA off Yahoo