Do I want to learn about genetics? Yes. Is it very intimidating and scary? Yes.

[NatJ]

Question.... (Sorry if this has been asked) If I cross a Wheaten Marans Roo to a Blue Copper Marans Hen can I work toward Blue Wheaten?

I was told the project should look like this...
F1 Wheaten Marans Roo to a Blue Copper Marans Hen
BC1 Leaky Blue Hen Back to Dad
BC2 Blue Wheaten Hen Back to Dad
BC3 Blue Wheaten Hen Back to Dad for clean up

I do have access to a Splash Marans Hen if that would be better. And I'm assuming I select the best Hen for APA and Egg Color.
TIA

Yes, that should work. If you have access to other Wheaten Marans roosters or hens, you have the option of breeding to one of them instead of just backcrossing to the original father, but the basic idea is the same in either case.

If you start with a Blue Copper Marans hen, half of her chicks will have blue and half will not. If you start with a Splash Marans hen, all of her chicks will show blue. So it makes a small difference in how many chicks you need to hatch for that first generation.

If one hen is much better than the other in egg color or laying abilities or body shape or temperament or anything else, I would use her. Otherwise, I don't think it will make enough difference to matter very much.

 

[altballard]

The splash I know are from a different line...no copper....and they were hatched this past spring. My friend said the eggs were small. But I think that's because of the feed they were using. I suggest they switch because that fixed my girls from their small eggs.
I just have to figure out how im gonna quarantine her before introducing her to the flock or if it would be better to just get a chick the next time I get chicks. But I still have a project for the blue wheatens as I can't find the locally.

 

[The Moonshiner]

I wouldn't use the splash.
If she's from a BBS line she could have melanizer genes.
I wouldn't want to bring those in if blue wheaten is your goal.

 

[altballard]

.I wouldn't use the splash.
If she's from a BBS line she could have melanizer genes.
I wouldn't want to bring those in if blue wheaten is your goal.

They don't have copper so I'm guessing they may cross with the birchin line or it's just pure splash now from a BBS line originally.

 

[NatJ]

I wouldn't use the splash.
If she's from a BBS line she could have melanizer genes.
I wouldn't want to bring those in if blue wheaten is your goal.

Good point that I forgot to consider.

 

[The Moonshiner]

They don't have copper so I'm guessing they may cross with the birchin line or it's just pure splash now from a BBS line originally.

I'd just stick with the blue copper hen and the plan you laid out is correct.

 

[altballard]

I'd just stick with the blue copper hen and the plan you laid out is correct.

Would the leaking blues from the first cross be good to cross back to the blue copper hen to get more blue coppers? Just asking as a thought....
I think that's the only 2 chickens I have to work with as for pure breed Marans.
My Ameraucanas im still wating to figure if I have 2 hens or not....if not I'll have to part with one.....one is splash the other is lavender and I know those should not be mixed.
Wheaten Roo and Blue Copper Marans Hen pics they just turned 9 weeks on the 14th Oct. 2024.

 

[NatJ]

Would the leaking blues from the first cross be good to cross back to the blue copper hen to get more blue coppers? Just asking as a thought....
I think that's the only 2 chickens I have to work with as for pure breed Marans.

If those are the only two Marans you have, I don't see much to lose by trying. Cross back to the Wheaten to develop a line of Wheaten and Blue Wheaten, meanwhile crossing back to the Blue Copper to develop a line of Copper and Blue Copper (with Splash Wheaten and Splash Copper turning up at some point too.)

If you aren't fussy about standard colors, you can build a flock with quite a few attractive but off-color birds from that starting pair. Or you can work toward specific colors, and have plenty of culls to sell or butcher along the way. The "cull" hens should make fine egg layers, just not good breeding stock for a single-color project.

Starting with just two birds means you are likely to have inbreeding issues eventually, which will probably show up as reduced fertility before they cause any other problems. So I would bring in some fresh blood when you can. But I would guess you can go several years before that happens, so it's not an urgent problem right at first.

 

[altballard]

If those are the only two Marans you have, I don't see much to lose by trying. Cross back to the Wheaten to develop a line of Wheaten and Blue Wheaten, meanwhile crossing back to the Blue Copper to develop a line of Copper and Blue Copper (with Splash Wheaten and Splash Copper turning up at some point too.)

If you aren't fussy about standard colors, you can build a flock with quite a few attractive but off-color birds from that starting pair. Or you can work toward specific colors, and have plenty of culls to sell or butcher along the way. The "cull" hens should make fine egg layers, just not good breeding stock for a single-color project.

Starting with just two birds means you are likely to have inbreeding issues eventually, which will probably show up as reduced fertility before they cause any other problems. So I would bring in some fresh blood when you can. But I would guess you can go several years before that happens, so it's not an urgent problem right at first.

I can get a Splash Marans Hen for some added genetic diversity but someone said that could be a bad idea.

 

[NatJ]

I can get a Splash Marans Hen for some added genetic diversity but someone said that could be a bad idea.

For general health and genetic diversity, there will be no problems.

For making correctly-colored Blue Wheatens, yes it will be a bad idea (too much black or blue in the Wheaten pattern, probably worse than what you will get from starting with a Blue Copper.)

But depending on how much space and patience you have, you could use that hen too and keep track of which chicks are descended from which hens. It won't take many generations for you to know which chicks are turning out to be better for your purposes. You might find that chicks from one hen are better layers than from the other hen, or have darker eggs, or some other traits that you consider important. Some people decide that the "right" feather color is less important than some other traits. Other people want the feather color and the other traits, but focus on them in different orders (color first or other traits first or several things at a time but slower progress on each of them.)