Who Has the Best Marans?

[3riverschick]

Maran's are a meat bird that also happens to lay an egg . Stop raising them like layers! raise them like broilers. raise them like a meat bird that also happens to lay a dark egg! this is what so many people don't understand.
I see the same problem in Sussex. people say my Sussex lays eggs . no, Sussex are a Meat breed that happens to lay an egg. raise them like a meat breed . raise them like broilers...
that can also lay eggs.
Karen

 

[gojira]

Oh yeah that's right it is Arkansas not Tennessee. Her birds are all descended from a Pure French line. there is no US, Canadian ,British, or any other blood in her Birds . they are pure French.
Brenda offered me some of her Birds one time but I was breeding trying to breed Golden salmon at the time.
well if you're familiar with her birds why are you asking me ? I'm not in Marans anymore .
Frankly, I love the depth of her Birds. I love the color of her Birds. I especially like the silhouette of her Birds . It is rare enough in Marans. The simplest answer is that I would be breeding on what I like about her Birds.
The Marans breed can do a lot worse than to look at the depth and the station of her birds and copy it.
I am tired of looking at shallow breasted, poor stationed Marans of every color while people (that don't know what they're talking about ) extoll how wonderful a silhouette the bird has.
Best,
Karen

If her birds are in the US, they are a US line. Saying otherwise is just misleading marketing, much like English Orpingtons. All Orpingtons are English. You are the one saying you would breed birds from her, but never say what you would be breeding on. So in other words, you would not be breeding to the Standard. Her birds have a distinct look, but it does not completely fit the standard.

 

[3riverschick]

Gojira,
Yes I understand middle-of-the-road can meet mean mediocrity.
However, we use it in a different sense here. In the Heritage Large Fowl thread , Bob Blosl ( who was a legend in Rhode Island Reds before he died) taught us to "start small ,go small ,and go down the middle of the road."
what Bob meant was don't do breedings that range wide in type. pull virtue from both sides of the pedigree in a small balanced fashion. don't let your gene pool swing wide from one side of the road to the other trying to correct faults . correct small faults as you see them. always keeping balance in your gene pool and staying in the middle of the road .
He called an individual efforts "kicking the can". So he would exhort us often to "keep kicking the can down the center of the road.".
You will read folk on BYC saying this and it came from Bob.
that's what a lot of a small breeders mean when we say "stay in the middle of the road" Our gene pools, the number Birds we have, aren't wide enough or enough birds to handle large swings in breed type while we're trying to correct faults.
We must consider the whole bird and the balance in our gene pool ( the middle of the road) as we work to add virtue and remove faults.
Best,
Karen

 

[gojira]

Maran's are a meat bird that also happens to lay an egg . Stop raising them like layers! raise them like broilers. raise them like a meat bird that also happens to lay a dark egg! this is what so many people don't understand.
I see the same problem in Sussex. people say my Sussex lays eggs . no, Sussex are a Meat breed that happens to lay an egg. raise them like a meat breed . raise them like broilers...
that can also lay eggs.
Karen

If I raised Marans or Sussex as broilers, I would end up culling them all, or take years to improve them, and end up moving away from the Standard. I am not sure a cock coukd be shown, as it would come close to being twice the weight in the standard.

 

[3riverschick]

Hum. We seem to have a semantics problem. Yes, her birds reside in the U.S. but their genetics are pure French in origin.
Take my Light Sussex. They came from U.S. and Canadian sources. But the genetics in the gene pool are pure English coming from English birds not Sussex of other countries.
Brenda's BCM do have a distinct look however it is not distant enough to prevent APA showing. In fact , she has won some nice awards with her birds. Frankly, I think it is because of their depth, station, and color.

 

[gojira]

Gojira,
Yes I understand middle-of-the-road can meet mean mediocrity
However, we use it in a different sense here. In the Heritage Large Fowl thread , Bob Blosl's ( who was a legend before he died in Rhode Island Reds) taught us to start small ,go small ,and go down the middle of the road.
what Bob meant was don't do breedings that range wide in type. pull virtue from both sides of the pedigree in a small balanced fashion. don't let your gene pool swing wide from one side to the other trying to correct faults . correct small faults as you see them. always keeping balance in your gene pool and staying in the middle of the road .
that's what a lot of a small breeders mean when we say "stay in the middle of the road" Our gene pools, the number Birds we have, aren't wide enough or enough birds to handle large swings in breed type while we're trying to correct faults.
We must consider the whole bird and the balance in our gene pool ( the middle of the road) as we work to add virtue and remove faults.
Best,
Karen

Why would one want wide swings in type anyway? That is probably one reason poultry people rarely make progress. They make things too difficult. Being middle of the road won't improve anything. No matter if one gas many birds or a few, they should try to have consistency, and to maintain high standards.

 

[3riverschick]

you can raise them like broilers and still stay within the SOP. not a problem. you just end up with birds with more breast , better depths, and a better station.

 

[gojira]

Hum. We seem to have a semantics problem. Yes, her birds reside in the U.S. but their genetics are pure French in origin.
Take my Light Sussex. They came from U.S. and Canadian sources. But the genetics in the gene pool are pure English coming from English birds but Sussex of other countries.

Most every other Marans in the US are pure French. Again, it is misleading marketing. If she is in the US, she has a US line.

 

[3riverschick]

Yes you are right high standards and consistency . I don't know why some people have wide swings in type. I guess that's their thing.
for myself I'll take a balanced gene pool and pull virtue in from both sides of the pedigree everyday of the week. hopefully removing fault as I do that.
The phrase " balanced gene pool" is "the middle of the road".

 

[gojira]

You can bring you can raise them like broilers and still stay within the SOP. not a problem. you just end up with birds with more breast , better depths, and a better station.

So it would be ok to show a 15 to 20 lbs. Marans? I thought that woukd be a dq. Depth and station affect type, so how would changing those characteristics meet the same standard?