BREEDING MARANS by Freddy Bettink (NL)

BREEDING MARANS
by Freddy Bettink (NL)
Above: Silver Cuckoo Marans.
The start of the fancy
Some 14 years ago I was allowed to keep my own poultry at the farm in Lochem
where I had had the internship of my Agricultural College in Zutphen, the
Netherlands. In those days I read, as a fancier, the monthly magazine Avicultura
and I read an article by Dirk de Jong about Marans. This way I got interested in
this breed. A month later a couple of Copper Black Marans were on offer in the
magazine Avicultura. I immediately made a phone call and I got the opportunity
to purchase these birds and a few days later I could come and collect the Marans
in Nieuwleusen (In the eastern part of the Netherlands). When I arrived the
seller had put the birds on a small part of the lawn fenced by a piece of chicken
wire. Outdoors, because the stable was forbidden for outsiders, he said, because
he had unique breeding material inside.
The chickens were bought for 100 guilders (about E 50,00 in present currency). I
was inexperienced, I paid and took them home, to Lochem (in the eastern part of
the Netherlands) and I put the birds in the coop. The next day I noticed that the
birds had lice but also that they stank terribly of manure. Furthermore, I learned
that these Marans were much too small and much too light in weight.
Later the seller turned out to be a poultry trader, who was not really interested
in poultry hygiene. The birds I had bought went to a friend where they had a
very good life as free-range chickens.
A year later I phoned Dirk de Jong of the (Dutch) French Poultry Club and he
supplied me with 20 hatching eggs of Copper Black Marans. I had these eggs
hatched out by a local club member. The result: 13 chicks, evenly divided
between male and female. One chick was yellow, which later proved to be a
Fauve acajou à Queue Noir cockerel (Black tailed Buff). This one was returned to
Dirk de Jong for his breeding experiments.
Above: Gold Cuckoo and Buff Black tail hens, the rooster is a Copper Black.
The problems arose around the time they started to lay eggs: birds that seemed
to lay eggs but didn’t; birds whose eggs regularly fell down from the roost during
the night; and eggs with very bad shells. I did not know what the cause was!
Could it be caused by Infectious Bronchitis? Later I heard that Dirk de Jong had
experienced the same problems.
Right: A Copper Black rooster
with a Gold Cuckoo and a
Wheaten hen.
So again I was looking for
Marans, and who could have
guessed the solution was
nearby; Henk Oudenampsen,
who was living in Laren (very
close to me) had been keeping
Marans for some time already
and they had even been
imported from France! A few
years ago, his daughter and
son-in-law had emigrated to
France and had bought a farm
there from Jean Michel, an old
Marans breeder. Henk told me
that it had taken a while to
persuade him, but in the end he was able to acquire some Marans of Jean Michel.
Henk selected his breeding pens only on the dark brown egg colour, so his
poultry stock was not uniform in colour and type. Nevertheless, I bought 30
hatching eggs which had a magnificent dark brown shell colour.
Above: Copper Black Marans at Henk Oudenampsen’s in Laren.
Henk’s Marans strolled around in a superb environment, like real free-range
chickens along with peacocks, guinea fowls and cows. The hatching rate was
very high and the rearing of the Marans chicks went very well. The remaining
birds from Dirk and those from Henk were the basis of my own strain of Marans.
Breeding Marans the way I experienced it
My starting stock could not be used to for shows. However, by building the strain
first and later on improving the colour I was able to create a reasonable strain.
Experienced breeders, like Co
Tersteeg (former Chairman of
the Dutch Breeding Club for
French Poultry Breeds) - who
was very focussed on breeding
according the standard description, and the late Winus
van Dommelen (panel A judge)
supported me in achieving my
goals.
Right: My Copper Black and
Copper Blue Marans.
Nevertheless, you have to ask
yourself the question: do I
want birds to show or birds
laying a dark brown egg?
Unfortunately,
both
traits
together is not achievable:
therefore I chose for showing,
because this way the quality of
the birds could be guaranteed.
I accepted a shell colour 5 or 6
on the colour chart of the
Marans eggs.
Left: Eggs of 3 years old hens.
Like many beginning breeders
I had my disappointments:
disappointing breeding results,
disappointing
reviews
at
shows, changing standard description etc.
As far as breeding is concerned
I was able to breed good
pullets, but my cockerels were
of lesser quality.
Had I created a hen strain? I
must admit that when selecting
sires I looked more for breeding
qualities than for show qualities
and sometimes this can cause
problems.
So, first I started to work on the
breed type; in a few years time
most birds I showed got at least
93 points for ‘breed type’. After
that I could start improving to
colour. That’s much harder, especially for Marans, but I had a
reasonably well established strain
and another few years later I had
good results: Best French Breed,
Best Marans and even Best Egg
Collection at the Dutch Breeding
Club for French Poultry Breeds.
In 2011 I won Club Champion at our
local club (Lochem). All these
results were achieved with females.
Left: This pullet won Club Champion
in 2011.
Colours
Except for Copper Black and Copper
Blue the following colours are
standardized in the Netherlands:
Silver Cuckoo, Golden Cuckoo,
White, Black and Cuckoo Marans.
Some breeders have other colours
like the Wheaten and the Black
tailed Buff variety. These two
colours are recognized in France, the country of origin of the Marans. Also Silver
Black and Colombia are standardized in France.
Above: Some of my Copper Blue Marans.
Although Copper Black Marans were always my favourites, I also kept, for a
while, Silver Cuckoo and Golden Cuckoo Marans. The same goes for the Wheaten
and Black tailed Buff Marans. These I had acquired from a nearby breeder and
had a very beautiful appearance. The colour of the shell was perfect.
The problem with the Golden and Silver Cuckoo Marans is that the colours are
not defined properly in the Dutch
Standard of Perfection; judges find it
difficult to judge these colours. Simply
said; these birds are Copper Black and
Silver Black birds with the cuckoo/barred
gene. So, silver cuckoo birds have a
rather ‘silvery’ neck, because the black
parts of the neck hackle are also
enlightened by the cuckoo marking. The
body of the hens is ‘normal’ cuckoo.
Right: Copper Black roosters.
Breeding Copper Black Marans
The most beautiful copper coloured
necks in hens are bred by using cocks
with some copper colour in the breast.
However, this copper colour should not
be too much, neither should it expand to
the abdomen.
Another point is the sheen of Marans
plumage, especially in the hens. This
sheen had to be absent; the feathers had to be dull black. According to me, the
only hens with dull feathering are hens which are not of the best quality and
therefore I always bred with birds with some sheen - as long as the sheen was
green and not violet. Luckily the Dutch Standard Committee lately changed this
into ‘some sheen is allowed’. Hurray, now our Marans could compete at the
shows again!
Another aspect is the leg colour of the Copper Black: this proved to be a
disputable element at shows, especially how judges treated this aspect. We know
that shanks are not allowed to have black scales, but a dark colour is allowed.
For a few years I tried to breed lighter coloured legs but this resulted in white tail
feathers and so on, also, if we look around in neighbouring countries, we see
darker legs than is allowed in the Netherlands. I visited breeders in France and
renowned breeders in Germany and they all had Copper Black Marans with dark
legs. A very valued and very sympathetic breeder from Germany, who gave
interested people the best Marans breeding stock for free, also bred the Marans
with dark legs. I also used his breeding stock. Especially the copper colour, the
type and the colour of the eyes were excellent; the colour of the egg shells was a
bit disappointing.
Hubert Wallenhorst has been
keeping chickens since he
was 6, and in 1957 he joined
the local breeders’ Club in
Osnabruck. He has been
breeding the LF Marans for
14 years now and the
Marans Bantams for 11
years. He started with only
one Marans LF hen and
rooster that were a present
to him. He hatched each and
every egg the hen laid and
already the next year he
won Champion. By now he
has won every prize that is
to be won in Germany, also
at the European Shows he
was very successful. The LF
Marans are his main thing..
He breeds with 4 different Lines, especially aiming for perfect Show birds, the egg colour
is less important to him. He enters his birds at 6 to 8 shows each year.
Hubert Wallenhorst always devoted himself to improve and increase the spread of the
breed. This he does by giving top birds to interested breeders without asking any money
for it.
The Good Qualities of Marans
The Marans is a vivid bird and docile at the same time; precocious and easy to
raise. Broodiness is a common feature, but can also be seen as a minus point, as
I find that the hens turn broody again after 2-3 weeks. That is why they are
often used to incubate pheasant and peafowl eggs. On the other hand a plus in
my view is that the hens lose their broodiness in 2 to 3 days of being set apart
and prove to be good layers again in a week’s time. The birds of my strain were
– especially for an exhibition breed – good layers. 5 to 6 eggs per week was not
unusual. They lay well, even in winter, especially when some extra light is
provided. The egg shell is perfect.
As to diseases Marans are not susceptible for Marek and Coccidiosis. I have to
say, this is also influenced by the housing and care.
The Minor Problems of Marans
Each breed has some negative points. The Marans have some too. Since they are
precocious they (the pullets) need, as youngsters, to be fed lean. Otherwise they
start to lay eggs too soon and this influences their weight. Also the eggs will be
too small for a long time.
I always hated feather pecking most. I had them free range and bored fowl were
not an issue. After the banning of animal protein in the feed, the feather pecking
seems to be stirred up even more.
The only complaint I experienced regularly were respiratory diseases; I understand that other medium weight and heavy weight breeds are also more
sensitive than light breeds.
Also the fighting spirit amongst the cockerels is a negative point; they keep on
competing for being ruler of the roost. Each year I also had some cockerels that
were aggressive towards me. However, in my case this could be an aspect of my
breeding policy, because these aggressive cockerels were often the better ones
and thus chosen for the breeding pen.
Above: Some of my Copper Black hens.
The Marans in the Netherlands
Many Marans are on sale on the Internet. However, I know by experience that
good breeding stock is seldom offered. Often the extra dark brown colour of the
eggshell is alright, but the type and – very often – the eye colour are wrong; it
makes it hard to hatch good quality birds.
Apart from the large Marans there are Marans bantams too. These are
standardized in France in the same colours as the large ones. In the Netherlands
the Marans bantams are only recognized in Copper Black, although some
breeders have bantams in other colour varieties.
The eggs of these bantams are less dark compared to the eggs of large Marans;
some breeders see it as their challenge to improve the eggshell colour of the
bantams.
If you want good quality Marans you can best try via the Marans Specialty Club
in your country. Many Marans Clubs have a website.
Above: Marans bantams (and a large rooster) at Hubert Wallenhorst’s.
In Summary
Marans are hardly seen at shows. For judges this makes it difficult to compare
and evaluation takes place strictly according to the written standard, with often
disappointing outcome for the breeders. Luckily there are judges who know how
to judge Marans; W. van Dommelen used to be one of them, Wim Voskamp is
one of them now. This motivates breeders! My honest advice: Don’t give up, how
hard it will be to achieve your goals!
Right: Copper
Black Marans LF
hens at Hubert
Wallenhorst’s.
His chickens are
too heavy
according to the
Dutch Standard.
All chickens in
Germany are
larger and coarser
than in the
Netherlands.
Left:
Many roosters at Hubert
Wallenhorst. All surplus
chickens go to other breeders
and the rest are shared with
the family to make good
meals.
Unfortunately I no longer have
opportunity and space to keep
chickens and I had to end my
hobby. For now! Luckily I was
able to hand over most of my
Marans to other breeders.
Some will go to shows, some
have them just for fun. So my Marans have been dispersed, in the same way I
started; birds from here and there to start breeding this special breed.
Below: Once upon a time I started with hatching eggs from various breeders,
later some of my Marans went to other breeders, one of them is Jan Bannink,
here in the photo.
Copyright ©2013 Aviculture-Europe. All rights reserved by VBC.
This is a publication by the online magazine www.aviculture-europe.nl You are not allowed to copy,
distribute, send or publish these texts or photos without our prior permission in writing.