Wheaten and Blue wheaten Marans Discussion Thread

[VillageChicken]

Hens shouldn't have so much black, and it looks like you have some clean or very sparse shanks. I think quality wheatens tend to have better shank feathering than the other Marans varieties.

It's just speculation, but in the past we've discussed what happens when you use wheaten sports from Black Copper Marans in your wheaten breeding program. This could be the source of the genes causing the extra black in hens, and the restricted black in the one cockerel. The one cockerel with the all black chest could also have more black than he should. You won't know until his hackle and saddle come in. But Black Copper Marans carry extra melanizers, and often carry the Db gene that causes the very orange, restricted black coloring in the one male.

 

[berkeleysprings]

Ok vc,, chicks are slow to hatch,, i have looked again and not to sure on leg color the black/ blue chick has dark but the two wheaten marans chicks look yellow at 20 hours old but i read somewere color can change in a few days

I crossed white leg wheaten hens. to yellow leg blue laced
/wayndotte as u know
more chicks to go
il try to post

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

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So do we think I'm better off starting over with a different line or working to get the black out of this one? My experience with black in ameraucanas is that it trumps everything.

Berkeleysprings- thanks for the pictures. That's what my first one looks like and what I thought they were supposed to look like. It's this second round that doesn't look right to me. Hmmm.

 

[VillageChicken]

They will definitely change in the next couple days. The egg yolk tends to make the legs yellow for the first couple days, especially if your hens were free ranged or got lots of corn. On the darker chicks, the bottoms of the feet should be a good indicator of yellow or pink.

Was the wyandotte blue laced or splash?

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[VillageChicken]

Yes, black trumps all if they are genetically solid black. Extra melanizers are different, there are a few different genes that cause extra black in either hackle or saddle or throughout the body. I would wait til their adult moult and see if you have anything to work with, but I would also start some new ones from a different breeder at the same time. I'm not sure how promising this second batch will be, and what mystery genes they may be carrying to give them the extra melanizers.

If you're serious about getting really good stock this time around, ask your next supplier lots of questions - does their stock ever throw off-color offspring? Is the shank feathering consistently proper? Do they tend to produce better quality hens or roosters (rarely does the same breeding pair produce both SOP hens AND roos)? What line is their stock from? Have they ever crossed in blood from another line? If so, which line? When do their hens usually reach Point of Lay? How productive are their hens?

These questions will help you choose the best breeder from which to purchase your next batch of eggs.

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So do we think I'm better off starting over with a different line or working to get the black out of this one? My experience with black in ameraucanas is that it trumps everything.

Berkeleysprings- thanks for the pictures. That's what my first one looks like and what I thought they were supposed to look like. It's this second round that doesn't look right to me. Hmmm.

 

[loprettaerin]

Im excited my husband is letting me borrow his truck tommorow so I can go look at some more marans to replace the ones I lost while I was on vacation. lol Sounds like breeder has several ages for me to choose from so hoping to come back with some more decent stock. Can't wait

 

[berkeleysprings]

Ir qas a bluesplash wyandotye
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[loprettaerin]

Well I ended up dragging way to much home yesterday.

Its all good will sell the extra chicks and get most of my money back and still have what I picked up that I wanted. Brought home 3 wheaten 1 yr old hens, 1 year old wheaten roo, a couple wheaten hen chicks, and in the mess of 1-2 wk old chicks I really didn't need but new I could sell got a few more golden salmons with feathered shanks to let grow out and see if I want to add that color of marans or not already had one growing out so just kept a few more. I will post some pictures later on when they look better since they are moulting know. One adult hen may be a little to dark but really hard to tell with as many feathers as she has gone at the moment.

 

[berkeleysprings]

Do u have many adult birds ? I sure no what u mean about looking rough from molting ....
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[loprettaerin]

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Adult marans I have 3 wheaten hens and roo, 4 black marans with a blue roo. Everything else is 5 months or less right know. I have only had marans for 1 yr know. I tried telling my self I was only going to work with BBS, black coppers and wheatens but seem to be leaning towards the golden salmons also.

I finally got to see a columbian marans in person yesterday also. He was keeping it though. He said he had no clue what it was till he talked to me after I found out I was getting golden salmons from his stock also, then he did some digging and figured he better not sell any more of that color.