Wheaten and Blue wheaten Marans Discussion Thread

[Bigfamily4me]

Ok guys... I always keep up on the posts. I got my chicks from Bev Davis in march. They are a little over 3 months old now. I thouht i had figured out which 2 roos I was keeping. But then the whole comb discussion started freaking me out! I looked at the the combs of the ones I chose, and I didnt think springs. But theres a specifics number of points?! Crap! I think that takes out one of my boys I wanted to keep. Granted, they"re still young, but hopefully you guys can give me valid input. I am planning on breeding. I am planning on selling hatching eggs. So I'm putting up a bunch of pictures and please critique away, I want to keep the top 10% for SOP. (BTW these came from her wheaten, blue wheaten, and splash wheaten line)




may be another better shot of his comb...



the blue I wanted to keep, but according to comb talk I shouldnt...???









His tail looks weird because the wind blew just right...


All the boys pictured here all have shank feathering. I was going to keep 2. Please look them over. I know they are still growing into their grown up glory, but I would appreciate your opinions on which ones I should be keeping in mind. Thanks! (I did not include the ones with clean legs or pinched tail)

 

[Debbi]

Ok guys... I always keep up on the posts. I got my chicks from Bev Davis in march. They are a little over 3 months old now. I thouht i had figured out which 2 roos I was keeping. But then the whole comb discussion started freaking me out! I looked at the the combs of the ones I chose, and I didnt think springs. But theres a specifics number of points?! Crap! I think that takes out one of my boys I wanted to keep. Granted, they"re still young, but hopefully you guys can give me valid input. I am planning on breeding. I am planning on selling hatching eggs. So I'm putting up a bunch of pictures and please critique away, I want to keep the top 10% for SOP. (BTW these came from her wheaten, blue wheaten, and splash wheaten line)




may be another better shot of his comb...



the blue I wanted to keep, but according to comb talk I shouldnt...???









His tail looks weird because the wind blew just right...


All the boys pictured here all have shank feathering. I was going to keep 2. Please look them over. I know they are still growing into their grown up glory, but I would appreciate your opinions on which ones I should be keeping in mind. Thanks! (I did not include the ones with clean legs or pinched tail)

Ok, I'll give it a shot. Let me say this, I am new to Wheatens, so the coloring timeline may be totally different than that of the Black Coppers. Another thing is, the pics of their combs should be up close to really be able to see sprigs (not springs), and other oddities. That said, here is my opinion.

Roo 1 - Wheaten - Poorly colored on the breast and under belly, and the shanks. All those areas should be black. His comb looks to have at least one side sprig in the first pic. Take your finger and run it over the side of the comb, (between the head and bottom of points where it is smooth). If you can see or feel bumps, that is a sprig. Sprigs will get larger as they mature, and they are passed on! As far as points, it's hard to see but looks to have 4? I'd rather deal with that than too many. In the Show Ring, it is a 1/2 point deduction for too many or too few. So if you have 6 points, it's a 1/2 point deduction, out of a possible 5 points total for the comb.

Roo 2 - ??? - Black Tailed Buff??? Sure isn't anything Wheaten

Roo 3 - Blue Wheaten - Hard to tell much by the way he is standing. In the first pic of him, he also looks to have sprigs. It may be the lighting and shadows, because I'm not seeing it in the second pic. Looks like 8 points on his comb. Looks like he does not have a lot of shank feathering either. This guy is still young, so I would hold him back if he does have shank feathers. If not, they ain't going to appear overnight, now or never.

Roo 4 - Wheaten - So far, I think I like him the best, although right now he has LOTS of filling in to do! He looks a little lean to me, but again, he is young and may bulk up more once the other roos are gone! A better picture of him standing still and more upright would help a lot! To me, I like him and the Blue (if he has feathers and no sprigs). Just my thoughts, others with more experience will chime in.

 

[berkeleysprings]

yes I'm still around I'm watching 5 roosters grow
it looks like there's 1 out of 5 that I like he has 0 cottontail zero visible white in the wing 5 roosters are very young maybe only 3 or 4 months old I lost 1 young cockrel I think my group of old marans ate him they are vicious attack dogs what it comes to chicks

 

[Debbi]

Well there you are! Yes, I wouldn't trust my older girls with chicks either, they are like sharks! Bad enough trying to introduce an older chick to them, let alone a baby. On the other hand, my roos are all great with the little ones, go figure? Got any pics of your young males? Would love to see what's coming up the ranks for you.

My one little Wheatie is 15 days old today, and I'm pretty sure from the pics I've seen, it's a pullet! No black feathers anywhere yet.

 

[berkeleysprings]

where did your btb come fromim a firm beleaver thats the result of breeding hens that are way to daark . i beleave people do it to help roo color
but that's just my opinion yes debbie I'll get some pictures next weekend and I don't trust my hens either but I think they yanked the chick through another pen

Ok guys... I always keep up on the posts. I got my chicks from Bev Davis in march. They are a little over 3 months old now. I thouht i had figured out which 2 roos I was keeping. But then the whole comb discussion started freaking me out! I looked at the the combs of the ones I chose, and I didnt think springs. But theres a specifics number of points?! Crap! I think that takes out one of my boys I wanted to keep. Granted, they"re still young, but hopefully you guys can give me valid input. I am planning on breeding. I am planning on selling hatching eggs. So I'm putting up a bunch of pictures and please critique away, I want to keep the top 10% for SOP. (BTW these came from her wheaten, blue wheaten, and splash wheaten line)




may be another better shot of his comb...



the blue I wanted to keep, but according to comb talk I shouldnt...???









His tail looks weird because the wind  blew just right...


All the boys pictured here all have shank feathering. I was going to keep 2. Please look them over. I know they are still growing into their grown up glory, but I would appreciate your opinions on which ones I should be keeping in mind. Thanks! (I did not include the ones with clean legs or pinched tail)

 

[Bigfamily4me]

Randy... These are ALL from Bev Davis. I wondered wat that funny colored one was. But even Bev can accidentally throw in a misnamed chick. Are you telling me you have no opinion on my Roo choices?!

 

[berkeleysprings]

Randy... These are ALL from Bev Davis. I wondered wat that funny colored one was. But even Bev can accidentally throw in a misnamed chick. Are you telling me you have no opinion on my Roo choices?!

gosh I'm sorry I didn't mean to be rude the third guy up from the bottom seems to be blue but I have 0 knowledge on blue I have to say the very last rooster I don't see any white in tail or wings but he really needs to put on some weight. you need to fatten him up some I can't see his comb well enough don't be worried about number of points thank you for sharing

 

[Bigfamily4me]

Whew! Thanks Randy. I thought you were being politically correct and not commenting because they were all crap. The comb point thing was worrying me. But I thought ultimately color and shank feathering win out. I am considering keeping the blue as well because as I was understanding the genetics, just because I have a blue doesn't aLways breed blue.

I have another question. Half of my pullets are dark. More like the head color of the wheaten, but all over the top half. Should they notbe used for breeding, or do they still carry the proper genetics for wheaten sop? I also have to consider egg color when they start laying. Bev only uses the darkest eggs, and I shoud probably stick to that practice.

Thanks!

 

[berkeleysprings]

my thoughts are hwns with ti much mohogany on back will produce spotted brest and eventually turn to btb . that guy black dot that use to post here a lot he runs the club in australia for marans showing my hens on his web site2 of my hens 1 has way too much mohogany on back and 1 correct colored 1 he took the picture I posted from here .

 

[flgardengirl]

That second pic does look black tailed buff. I have a roo that looks just like that he came from a line of BCMs from bayhorsebonnie in Calif. back when she still had BCMs. Mine also has the pale shanks like a BTB should as does yours. Too bad I don't have a female for him though lol. I was calling him by the name of Agent Orange because he was so buff before I realized what he was and he almost went to freezer camp lol.