This is EXACTLY how my mentors have been schooling me. When they bring in outside blood, they research it carefully and they don't contaminate their line with that blood until F2 has proven itself. Brother/sister may not be ideal (as one genuine Master Breeder tutored me) but it can reveal a...
One does not have to hatch thousands of eggs to develop a line or a good bird. I have seen the evidence of that with my own eyes. One DOES have to cull - HARD. On that part we agree. However, with Marans, we still have to pick our battles because we are still dealing with so many issues. The sad...
Interesting that you bring this up. The thing I think is my major weakness is that I may have come to prefer the look of a Marans bird that may not necessarily be built to the Standard. It is what I am used to and what I have come to like, right or more probably, wrong. Wynette gets on me about...
I hatched one Black Copper male with fluff between his toes. His sisters have ABUNDANTLY feathered shanks that seems to get even heavier as they age. We are talking serious street sweepers on these ladies.
In all honesty, as much as the breeder I spoke to insisted "build the bird first with no regard to egg colour", I'm betting he'll also be winning the egg shows soon too.
I thought that's what my eggs looked like. I obviously still need to train my eye. Good thing I seem to be in this for the LONG haul!!! Lots of time for me to be corrected. But #4 also looks like my eggs so perhaps I'm making some progress.
I must say, my Marans culls have been VERY tasty so far. They grow to a decent size very quickly thus remaining tender and quite roastable (as opposed to soup and stew.) Can't complain a bit about the value I get from Marans. Truly the best dual purpose bird I've ever had. I'm getting loads of...
I am a BIG fan of mentors. It sometimes takes awhile for your mentor(s) to be "brutally" honest about your birds but once they get that you really do want to learn and are prepared to cull, they'll have at it so to speak.
Takes a thick skin - warning in advance. (It helps if you have a "layer"...
I guess it all comes down to how the question was asked. And, I might add, the spirit behind the question. It is quite clear when a question is asked because someone genuinely wants to learn. But a question filled with pointing out faults. Not so much a question as a comment.
News from Newnan ... report is more than 280 Marans entered!!!
Weather in Georgia is FINE!
Ben Porter evaluating a bird
Putting the bathtub in our hotel room to good use
Beautiful Blue pullet (she was a bit stressed so we provided some love)
Stress relief worked .....
Stay...