Marans temperament? (MPC?)

[Cyneswith]

Everything I've found says that Marans are typically friendly, docile birds - except MPC's breed info on them, which lists them as not especially docile. Which has me worried. I ordered a blue splash marans cockerel from MPC. Anyone know about their splash Marans temperament? Marans in general?

Should I just roll with it?

I know temperaments are highly individual, but my Orpingtons were as sweet and friendly as I could've asked for, just like they are known for - I'm inclined to trust the breed reputation when selecting birds.

 

[Creteloc]

I only can speak for my Cuckoo Maran and she's the cuddliest little thing. She's very docile and sweet.

 

[Cajun_MikeR]

We don't have a lot of experience with Marans, but we do have 2 younger BCM roos (just under a year old). We've put them into breeding quads (1 roo & 3 hens) with some of our mixed girls (doing a little breeding project). The roos are fairly calm, good to the girls, and generally fairly docile. One is a bit flighty (had to catch him the other day to check out something on his neck), the other seems more confident and bold...which is funny, because when they were in their bachelor group (while in quarantine) the flighty one was top bird, the bold one was 2nd.

 

[Cyneswith]

The roos are fairly calm, good to the girls, and generally fairly docile.

I appreciate hearing about a real person's being calm and good to the girls - that's my aim for my rooster.

I went by Cackle Hatchery's mating ratio when choosing which rooster to get. My husband wanted an Orpington based on our first flock, but the boys are middling "gentlemen." Of breeds with reputations for being sweet birds to humans (I didn't check others), Marans, Brahmas, and Faverolles rated best. Faverolles, my top choice, weren't available, splash chickens are just plain pretty, and my husband vetoed a rooster who could end up bigger than the kids.

 

[Cajun_MikeR]

Cyneswith, just keep in mind, our experience is just with those 2, we have no other Marans. What will blow your lid is...

Our best rooster is a RIR from hatchery stock. He's VERY attentive & gentle to his girls, always makes sure they get treats first (taking treats to them if they don't come and get them when he calls) before helping himself, likes people, and is SUPER protective of all the birds not just his girls (tried going through chain link fence to get at a hawk that was attacking an A frame containing young birds in it AFTER he rounded all his girls into their coop). The only thing he doesn't care for is buckets, apparently they are from the devil and must be attacked. Again, small sample size and it goes against the grain on everything we've heard about RIR roo behaviour. His sons show the same attentiveness, people friendly-ness, and aggressive protection instincts (against predators) that he does...that's why we keep him around (and he consistently produces sons that are larger than him by 16-20wks old, regardless of which group of our hens he's bred to).

 

[flgardengirl]

I have been raising Marans for a while. They are generally docile friendly birds. Sometimes males can get testy when getting their hormones and starting to mate the girls. They get protective of their girls which is normal. They usually mellow out considerably after a year of age. I have only had a few males out of many, which remained nasty. 3 to be exact. One pure Blue Marans and two Black Copper males. Most are nice but not always cuddly. Many of the females are cuddly if handled a lot.
I kept my nasty roos because they happened to be very very nice looking and in the case of the Blue roo, rare. Lol. Their offspring were not nasty whatsoever, soooo, so much for that theory about some people saying nasty roos produce nasty offspring.
If you have small children, always watch them when they are around Marans roosters unless you know for sure that rooster is not going to challenge them.
Marans roos respond very well to treats and positive reinforcement for good behavior with treats. They are actually very smart birds and I have seen the older males teach younger males (even unrelated ones) how to call girls for treats and be good daddies to their chicks.

 

[Fairview01]

I raise wheaten marans but the OP is talking about a cockerel. No matter what breed fraternization with a cockerel is a bad thing. my marans hens are great. They gently eat out of my hand and if I had handled the more they would probably be lap chickens. my roosters respect me, maybe out of fear, maybe for another reason but honestly fear works for me when it comes to roosters. my roosters give me and everyone else on 2 legs a wide berth. When I open their run for free range the hens will rush out and the roosters will just back off.

A rooster that is not respectful of fearful of people a is bad juju. For these guys it's not a matter of if but a matter of when they will sneak up behind you or a child and spur and flog their victim. It will just be a matter of time before the OP starts a thread asking what to do with a rooster that attacks people.

Been there, done that and won't have any part of it again.

 

[Ruralhideaway]

I have a one month old splash marans pullet from mpc. I'm finding her to be as calm as the Faverolles(nearly dull) and as friendly as the cochins.

 

[oldhen2345]

Anyone know about their splash Marans temperament?

I can only speak for my Splash Marans Flora (see avatar). she is curious and friendly. She likes to sit on the arm of my chair ( or on me) and visit for a few minutes every day. She clucks along with the other girls discussing the day - she doesn't get loud.
The only questionable thing about her- her leg feathers. I thought they would just grow on the legs- she has feathers growing out of her feet. It always looks like she stepped in something- is this usual?

 

[Cyneswith]

Well, what I do with an ill-behaved cockerel/rooster depends on his age. At a young, tender age? Strips, maybe roast. Mature? Soup. My dad wants the hackles for fly-tying. Replace with a chocolate Orpington from a local breeder. Repeat until I agree with you on roosters.