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Marans? Or something mysterious?

I was just scrolling back through to see some of @Chooks man ’s best roosters such as Conan the Barbarian. It’s such a shame we don’t have he input, I forgot exactly how gorgeous his marans truly were. They almost had an Orpington like quality to them, that’s how chunky and well fleshed they...

I’m going to use the English Judging criteria because I realised the one I used doesn’t really have a category for colour. Type, quality, table merits (40): 20 Big let down is the tail: too long and high, looks slightly wry. Coverts and main sickles don’t flow together. No white at base though...

@wrathsfarm and anyone else, would you like to suggest what should be 0, half and full points in each judging category. More minds the better. You might also have more experience with the typical American Marans so know what the average should be.

Yes the scoring is probably going to seem a bit random sometimes until I get used to it. Luckily you’ll have plenty of chicks for me to score soon. And then I will too when the cuckoos hatch. I might use the American point breakdown even for English types because it breaks down each part further...

The sadder thing is when I said halfway across the country, I meant halfway across England, not even the entire of Britain! We conquered a third of the world but now consider a three hour drive a long way!

Symmetry 3/4 Weight or size 3/4 Good big looking cockerel. Condition & vigour 8/10 Healthy looking, active boy. Comb 3/5 This may change as he matures. Beak 3/3 Nice, simple and deep. Skull & face 3/4 Not too big, nice skull shape. Eyes 3/4 Well coloured but not as bright, deep orange or...

I knew someone would say this!!! We’re not cut out for the road like you guys, it’s a bit embarrassing really! 😂

I’d say 16 weeks is a good choice. At this age you can see the colour on the males better. Posting individual pictures at 10 weeks would still allow some judgment. Any photos are still appreciated, I’ll try to give any feedback you ask for.

The difference isn’t as clear on the photo as in person, but the top left is Natasha’s egg, next to it is Chanel’s and below is Esme’s. The three are three random eggs from the ones I bought. It seems that my eggs are more red/purple rather than orange/brown. They are darker but less shiny.

The DCM eggs arrived today. All safe and I’m happy with their colour for English cuckoos. They are also good and round, something that will correct my existing stock’s longer eggs. I’ll get some photos comparing them to my BCMs’ eggs soon.

I don’t know if you can but I like to put small drinkers and feeders that the hen can reach while on the nest. This way, she’s healthy but you might need to kick her off every couple of days so she doesn’t make a mess of the nest.

The breeder seems really helpful and knowledgeable. It was nuce to be in contact with someone else who is dedicated to marans in England, whose bird are actually show quality unlike most of the ‘show quality marans’ that get sold on Facebook or eBay that have not been bred well. The eggs he...

Bought the eggs today £45 for 10, a little pricy but it’s an investment. I won’t be complaining when I have plenty of marans pullets. And I think I can probably get £5 a hatching egg once the Golden cuckoos come along.

That’s a nice looking coop.

I agree, I wish he was here, I’m worried what could have happened but really it isn’t my business. For the face I look for comb evenness, evenness of serration, size and colour, as well as texture. The earlobes should be almond shaped and not twisted or white, and the wattles should be round...

These are the parent stock of the eggs I’m looking at. Tails seem low (the English standard asks for high tails compared to the French standard, but not squirrel or anything like that), face seems good enough for me to work with and the type seems nice (Chanel’s genes will improve this...

my two silkies who were not looking after the chicks have both gone broody. I think I’m gonna give one some silkie eggs and buy myself some cuckoo marans eggs. If I get Cuckoo marans, I think this is my plan: Grow the best cockerel and all the good pullets. Introduce the pullets but not the...

Definitely hatch more if you can. I don’t really know why cracking the egg open to check fertility is worth it when hatching your own eggs. If it’s fertile you’ve wasted one and if it isn’t nothing will happen anyway. If she can fit that many eggs under her, I’d hatch them all. I know they are...

I think that comes from the misconception that the darkest egg genes are sex linked. Chooksman always argued otherwise. If you know the roo is from an exceptionally (eggceptiinally) dark egg, you are certain that all the offspring inherit it, but if all your hens lay dark eggs, this is just as...