Wheaten, BIRCHEN, Columbian, or black copper Marans?

[Toon]

I know what you mean about wheaten and the leg feathering, I have been trying to find some more hens to add to my stock and give the gene pool a bit of a boost, but I can't find any good quality ones, they are all just garbage that has been crossed with everything under the sun and then I am being asked to pay £40 to £50 for it with them claiming it is a complete purebred!

Ridiculous right? Furtunately i was able to find some really good quality breeders and i just set 10 eggs of top quality breeding stock in my incubator. I'm not keeping all of them and would love to get you some of them but i live in belgium, and don't have a shipping permit, so that's not going to work i'm afraid

 

[Toon]

I would prefer hens without leg feathering since they are supposed to be really hard in terms of upkeep

Am I correct?

I haven't experienced any difference in upkeep, but if you want clean legged hens, you should find a different breed than marans. All marans are french and all marans should have leg feathering. A clean legged marans is not a true marans

 

[Toon]

Most marans with leg feathering it is very thin not like a pekin or silkie so it doesn't really matter if you do or don't unless they have lots of feathering but that is rare.

Marans aren't supposed to have heavy leg feathering, only a bit. (not like cochins and brahma's, just a few good leg feathers is enough

 

[Folly's place]

I'll add that my Belgian d'Uccles, who have a fair amount of foot and leg feathering, do just fine running around on my farm. They don't have to wallow in mud, but there is some, especially in spring.
Marans, as has been mentioned, aren't feathered much at all.
Mary

 

[A & H]

I haven't experienced any difference in upkeep, but if you want clean legged hens, you should find a different breed than marans. All marans are french and all marans should have leg feathering. A clean legged marans is not a true marans

Ok not worried about feathered legs anymore, just wondering now if anyone knows what shade of brown birchen marans lay... if it's not dark, I would get a black copper or a wheaten or something like you guys said

 

[A & H]

I just really want birchen because I think they are beautiful and I like their feathering

 

[Silkie2005]

Marans aren't supposed to have heavy leg feathering, only a bit. (not like cochins and brahma's, just a few good leg feathers is enough

I ment it as if they were hybrids with something else like a cochin, you never know what you are actually getting these days!

 

[Folly's place]

@A & H , if your heart is set on that color, go for it! From a hatchery, you likely won't get much actual information (pictures!) of the egg colors produced by their stock, but from a private breeder, you should get good feedback. Be careful about getting birds from private breeders, from a biosecurity standpoint though. Ask about what testing they do, at least.
Then, let us know how your birds produce!
Mary

 

[A & H]

@A & H , if your heart is set on that color, go for it! From a hatchery, you likely won't get much actual information (pictures!) of the egg colors produced by their stock, but from a private breeder, you should get good feedback. Be careful about getting birds from private breeders, from a biosecurity standpoint though. Ask about what testing they do, at least.
Then, let us know how your birds produce!
Mary

Thanks for the support!

 

[Toon]

Ok not worried about feathered legs anymore, just wondering now if anyone knows what shade of brown birchen marans lay... if it's not dark, I would get a black copper or a wheaten or something like you guys said

Black birchen are like wheatens most of the time, really depends on the bloodline