Wheaten and Blue wheaten Marans Discussion Thread

[snowbird]

I had a small test batch of eggs in my incubator (some Jersey Giants and a couple of Wheaten Marans eggs). All hatching was complete as of yesterday morning and all 4 eggs that made it to the hatcher hatched! They were collected when the temperatures were really high (towards the end of June) and made it through a nearly 20-hour power outage. There were 6 originally from the test batch so I'm pleased with the results: 3 JGs and 1 Wheaten Marans. I checked the wing feathers at hatch and am cautiously optimistic it's a pullet. I'll know for certain in just a few weeks, though! I have had good luck with feather sexing the Marans at time of hatch. Hopefully in a few weeks I will have a lot more hatch and I can make notes about those, too. I got some spiral bandettes and a toe punch so I'll be able to track everyone over time.

Just a suggestion on the toe punch. If you bought the small one the supply places sell. make sure you wipe the punched on skin out of the hole or it will sometimes grow back. I prefer the plain old leather punch on Large fowl as it will make a larger hole.

 

[Bigfamily4me]

Since I am so new to this, I never knew getting a good rooster would be hard! My very typey Wheaten cockerel (the one on the skinny side) has sprigs I'm pretty sure. I am going to have to get some pics and post. That would leave my blue wheaten roo. As far as I understand... my blue wheaten roo over regular wheaten will give me regular wheaten 100%. My blue wheaten roo over a blue wheaten hen will give me 50% blue wheaten, 25% regular Wheaten, and 25% splash Wheaten. Does this sound correct? I'm pretty sure it is. At least all is not lost by keeping him. But I will definetly have to work on getting a better rooster from my hens in the future.

I am going to start thinning the roos. I am planning on locking up 2 roos for a week so the meat tenderize a bit. I' have very obvious specimens who aren't good for breeding, so they might as well be good for eating.

Im still waiting on my wheatens to lay. It will probably be a while yet. They are 4 months now. Although some of the roos are going after them already...

 

[snowbird]

Since I am so new to this, I never knew getting a good rooster would be hard! My very typey Wheaten cockerel (the one on the skinny side) has sprigs I'm pretty sure. I am going to have to get some pics and post. That would leave my blue wheaten roo. As far as I understand... my blue wheaten roo over regular wheaten will give me regular wheaten 100%. My blue wheaten roo over a blue wheaten hen will give me 50% blue wheaten, 25% regular Wheaten, and 25% splash Wheaten. Does this sound correct? I'm pretty sure it is. At least all is not lost by keeping him. But I will definetly have to work on getting a better rooster from my hens in the future.

I am going to start thinning the roos. I am planning on locking up 2 roos for a week so the meat tenderize a bit. I' have very obvious specimens who aren't good for breeding, so they might as well be good for eating.

Im still waiting on my wheatens to lay. It will probably be a while yet. They are 4 months now. Although some of the roos are going after them already...

Yes, post a picture and will let you know right away if you have a male with a sprig.

 

[Bigfamily4me]

(his eye isnt really milky...) I tried to get the one side most because there is rippling of sorts where he has short little feathers sticking up. I dont know if the raised rippling is considered sprigs. The other side looks fine to me, but I included it anyway.



This is my blue...







Thanks for looking and helping me out.

 

[Debbi]

I'm not seeing any sprigs there on either roo. A sprig will start out looking like a pimple, usually on the smooth side of the comb, and can turn into a pyramid looking point on the side of the comb. They vary in size, and in the location, so it is pretty important to feel for them as well as visualy inspect for them. It will get bigger with age, and it will pass on like wildfire if used in a breeding program. It is a DQ for ALL breeds of chickens and should be culled from any breeding flock!

 

[berkeleysprings]

Since I am so new to this, I never knew getting a good rooster would be hard! My very typey Wheaten cockerel (the one on the skinny side) has sprigs I'm pretty sure. I am going to have to get some pics and post. That would leave my blue wheaten roo. As far as I understand... my blue wheaten roo over regular wheaten will give me regular wheaten 100%. My blue wheaten roo over a blue wheaten hen will give me 50% blue wheaten, 25% regular Wheaten, and 25% splash Wheaten. Does this sound correct? I'm pretty sure it is. At least all is not lost by keeping him. But I will definetly have to work on getting a better rooster from my hens in the future.

I am going to start thinning the roos. I am planning on locking up 2 roos for a week so the meat tenderize a bit. I' have very obvious specimens who aren't good for breeding, so they might as well be good for eating. 

Im still waiting on my wheatens to lay. It will probably be a while yet. They are 4 months now. Although some of the roos are going after them already...

good roos are imposasble to find . i might have one or two ok roos . also on a side notw i was reading frin APA news letter that posted standard for wheaten roosters and a white feather in wings Was not a dq or listed as a dq any thoughts ?

 

[snowbird]

good roos are imposasble to find . i might have one or two ok roos . also on a side notw i was reading frin APA news letter that posted standard for wheaten roosters and a white feather in wings Was not a dq or listed as a dq any thoughts ?

Randy, you have to go to the SOP for that as it was left out on purpose. This is covered in the DQs for all breeds. If you remember Walt took this to the full committee last year at Shawnee and hey said it would be a DQ.

 

[snowbird]

Just to refresh everyone's memory the full Committe said the white in wing and tail would be a DQ. The white fluff in the tail coverts is a fault. Might of been the Washington show where they made the ruling.

 

[snowbird]

I'm not seeing any sprigs there on either roo. A sprig will start out looking like a pimple, usually on the smooth side of the comb, and can turn into a pyramid looking point on the side of the comb. They vary in size, and in the location, so it is pretty important to feel for them as well as visualy inspect for them. It will get bigger with age, and it will pass on like wildfire if used in a breeding program. It is a DQ for ALL breeds of chickens and should be culled from any breeding flock!

Debbi, I agree with you I do not see anything to worry about on these combs. The ear tufts are a good color also. Would be nice to see a full view of these males.

 

[snowbird]

Wheaten with open wing spread. Anyone have an adult wheaten that you could take a picture with the wing spred open so we could discuss the wing coloration for the new folks.