Wheaten and Blue wheaten Marans Discussion Thread

[berkeleysprings]

i am not sure what your asking , i was out country dancing (my girl friend dances not me ) and i had a few beers lol i never drink lol ... but i dont know what there is besides size shape and color unless i miss-understanding the word traits , but if anyone has any reading please post a llink. to me traits are the road u get to to get conformation

some traits i look for
nice balance in color in roosters ,because last year i had out of many roos the same but one that was verry verry dark upper and lower saddle and dark was as can be , and did not come close to the color inthe front end of the bird (hackles ) and it should almost match to conform also cotton tail fluff i look for in roosters only now .. and by shear dumb luck i saved the nicest looking roo i thought but knew nothing about flluff when i kept him now i do
what i would like to look for is 3 dark distint colors mostly wheat and cream , and its the wheat we need to improve i think and the black is ok the same
i went on a rant and im sure missed your queastion

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[geebs]

My question is this:

When selecting stock....besides the shape of the bird what are the culling points one would have in making a selection for what to keep and what to cull as both young birds and juveniles... (complete beginner even looking at wheaton)... I understand the shape aspect but for a male what would be a reason beside conformation that I would delete a prospect .......and the same for female.

 

[berkeleysprings]

thats out of my league and skills , sorry im no help , i would love to read up on that but i cant tell what im looking for till birds are older older except the basic beginner stuff .
young birds look for more leg feathers then less feathers
and roos, ballance and similar colors matching in hackles and saddle and not to dark mahogany and not to light or wheat looking you can tell in younger birds as well
and younger hens look for wheet color and not mahogany backs
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[geebs]

Berk... thanks... I will remember the mahogany thing... I really appreciate it..

 

[berkeleysprings]

10 inches of snow on the ground , the outside run is hard to clean snow off with out getting covered with snow ,our outside run spacee thats 20x30 foot and 7 foot talll the marans have half and the general population has half the top and sides are cattle fence 2inches by 4 inches wide covered in deer neeting and the snow collects on top and we have to bang it off with a broom wish it would melt and the wheaten marans are fine in the cold after i insulated it better than last year, i know we still have some cold nights comeing

 

[Debbi]

Well Randy, hang on to your hat! More of the good stuff is coming your way!

Here in MO., we are supposed to have a major ice/snow storm. They are talking about 1/2" of ice first, then a foot or better of snow!

I am sooo ready for SUMMER! I bypass the spring due to severe storms and tornados...I've got to move

 

[snowbird]

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geebs, the wheaten standard for USA is even more screwed up than the BC marans standard. The wheaten standard is a rough draft and they might get around to finallizing it before october.

I want a male to have golden-red head and hackle and Mahogany back and saddle, I cull for white in wing and tail just like BC. The Male should have a grey undercoat. The biggest challenge will be breeding to get rid of the cottontail on the male. Lot of the wheaten male and female have a very bad comb. I have been lucky as my wheaten have a nice smaller comb. My male do show white in wing and a little in the tail, After the juve molt I cull them just like I do the BC. Don

 

[berkeleysprings]

thanks debbi , i am crazy and started heirloom tomatos seeds and gunna load the green house i am so ready for spring , we donot get hit to bad each year with snow but 12 inches at one time in this part of west virginia /eastern panhandle is a good one and last few years the trend is on the deep side and cold 38 day time 18 night tomarrow dont remember it being thi s bad as a kid
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[berkeleysprings]

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[snowbird]

Randy, I think your male is just right and would like one just like him. He matches the description I gave of what I thought the proposed standard for wheaten. Just keep raising some like him and you will be ok. Don