Wheaten and Blue wheaten Marans Discussion Thread

[Runawaylobster]

I need some opinions from the experts.

I just hatched my own Wheaten Marans for the first time.

I bought chicks last summer from two sources, and I've had hatching eggs shipped to me.

The chicks I got last summer are the ones that produced the eggs that hatched two days ago.

Two of them have spots. Is that normal? Also, several chicks have a reddish cast to them. The Wheatens I raised before these were almost white IIRC.

Here are the two with the spots.








Those pics were taken when they were fresh out of the incubator. They are two days old now and the spots are even more defined. I can take more pics if anyone needs to see them.

My splash chicks have spots like that on them... but not the wheatens OR my BTB's.. I have to be really
careful not to mix the wheaten and BTB chicks because the BTB's have so many strange things going on
with the wheaten gene...

actually just sold my 4 younger BTB hens, still have the two older ones and one up and coming rooster so he will
get to move in with his Moms...

I did not create my BTB's I purchased them from a person who did create them. When i breed them i get LOTS
of wheaten looking babies and just a few that are a BTB phenotype. SO, if the Db is dominant would it not appear
in all of the babies. Actually it appears to me to be a partial dominance because some of them come out looking
like half wheatens. One of my breeding goals is to get them to breed true, but i am having a very hard time getting a
BTB roo. The sources i have tried for the most part don't sell hatching eggs and don't ship chicks and they are all very
far away. I really don't want to go to the original source because i don't think i will gain anything...

 

[ladycat]

My splash chicks have spots like that on them... but not the wheatens OR my BTB's.. I have to be really
careful not to mix the wheaten and BTB chicks because the BTB's have so many strange things going on
with the wheaten gene..

Thanks.

I need to get a pic of the entire group from above. Some have a distinct reddish cast. I think the reddish ones and the spotted ones need to be culled out. But I want an expert opinion first.

 

[ladycat]

I had to take a lot of pics trying to get them to all show well, they were moving around so much. These are the 3 best.

 

[Runawaylobster]

I had to take a lot of pics trying to get them to all show well, they were moving around so much. These are the 3 best.

the ones in the bottom picture that have the darker hue do look more like BTB's but they seem even darker than they
should be for that. I would grow them out and then look because there are SO many changes going from chicks this
size to see what should be culled is really just something i do when it blatantly obvious, not a subtle thing like you have
here. Either way i bet they will be lovely it always truly amazes me how those little yellow things turn into black
and brown roosters...

the BTB's have caramel colored leg feathers, and i learned that right here ..

 

[ladycat]

the BTB's have caramel colored leg feathers, and i learned that right here ..

Thanks for reminding me, I forgot I need to watch for the leg feathers to come in so I can check the colors on those.

 

[ladycat]

the ones in the bottom picture that have the darker hue do look more like BTB's but they seem even darker than they
should be for that.

BTW, I have some BTB eggs in the hatcher now, I'll be able to see the color differences in the down between the wheatens and the BTB. They will only be a few days apart in age.

 

[nicalandia]

BTW, I have some BTB eggs in the hatcher now, I'll be able to see the color differences in the down between the wheatens and the BTB. They will only be a few days apart in age.

in the Down color? No, as BTB are Wheaten also, BUT once their little feathers start showing on the tips of their wings you will see the difference

 

[Runawaylobster]

this article has some interesting stuff on BTB's and how they relate to wheaten

http://frenchmaransclubaustralia.yolasite.com/notes-on-breeding.php

 

[CarolinaSkies]

this article has some interesting stuff on BTB's and how they relate to wheaten

http://frenchmaransclubaustralia.yolasite.com/notes-on-breeding.php

This is just an excellent overview of the Marans genetic makeup for all varieties. Includes reasoning behind the addition of Ml melanotic, Mh, Id...really excellent. Thank you for posting.
I don't mean to offend anyone, but, as usual, after reading the Australian and the French/European standards I always wonder why the wording on the US SOP for eyes is Reddish Bay instead of orangey-red. I think of the color of a bay horse when I read reddish bay and not orangey-red. Bay is listed as "to be avoided" on Aust/French standards. Just saying that the addition of the word bay adds confusion. IMO

 

[Runawaylobster]

This is just an excellent overview of the Marans genetic makeup for all varieties. Includes reasoning behind the addition of Ml melanotic, Mh, Id...really excellent. Thank you for posting.
I don't mean to offend anyone, but, as usual, after reading the Australian and the French/European standards I always wonder why the wording on the US SOP for eyes is Reddish Bay instead of orangey-red. I think of the color of a bay horse when I read reddish bay and not orangey-red. Bay is listed as "to be avoided" on Aust/French standards. Just saying that the addition of the word bay adds confusion. IMO

I noticed that too, on the eye color...