10/14/2026
While I was at the show this past weekend, I had the opportunity to talk with a few exhibitors and fellow Marans breeders about a genetics project I've been working on. Since the cat is kind of out of the bag now, I figured I'd share it here!
My long-term goal is to maintain five varieties of Marans: Black Copper, White, Black, Black Silver, and Cuckoo. All of these are very much works in progress!
So, how did this project start?
I've been struggling with hatchability in my White Marans. The eggs were fertile and developing, but I was consistently losing chicks late in incubation before they ever pipped.
What made this interesting was that the issue was isolated to my whites. I had excellent hatchability across my other breeds and varieties this past year. Since all my White Marans came from one breeder, I started wondering if limited genetic diversity or some degree of inbreeding depression could be contributing. I can't say for certain, but it was something I wanted to explore.
A friend had given me a flock of Black Silver Marans, so I decided to put my White Marans rooster over the Black Silver hens. Hatchability improved considerably, and every chick that hatched was cuckoo!
My White Marans are recessive white, meaning they can carry other color genetics hidden underneath their white feathers. Cuckoo is caused by a sex-linked barring gene, and since my Black Silver hens weren't barred, the barring likely came from my White rooster. Because every chick was cuckoo, I suspect he carries two copies of that gene.
Another part of this cross is leg color. White Marans should have pinkish-white shanks, and introducing other varieties can complicate that. So far, my cuckoo offspring have maintained pale pink legs, which is encouraging, although barring itself can lighten leg pigmentation.
So, what's the plan?
White Marans: Breed the cuckoos back to my whites to recover white offspring while hopefully improving hatchability. I'm also interested in maintaining a silver genetic background to help suppress unwanted gold or red leakage. I also greatly need to improve tail angle.
Cuckoo Marans: Breed cuckoo to cuckoo and work toward a consistent line. Since both parents carry recessive white, I should also get some white offspring from these pairings.
Black Marans: Breed my cuckoo cockerels back to some of my Black Silver hens that express little to no silver. This should produce some nonbarred offspring that I can begin selecting toward solid black.
Black Silver Marans: Continue working on correct silver expression, type, and overall quality.
Black Copper Marans: Maintain and refine my existing line, which I'm currently pretty happy with.
One of my biggest challenges is overall body size, particularly in my Whites and Black Silvers. Crossing the two isn't improving that, and any Blacks I develop from them will likely need the same work. Color is only one part of breeding to the Standard of Perfection, and I have plenty of improvements to make across these projects.
For this coming year, I'm really scaling back and focusing on only my very best birds. My priority is building up quality breeding stock, so I don't anticipate offering many hatching eggs or chicks while I work through these projects.
Also, if anyone knows somebody working with quality White Marans who might be willing to share some breeding stock and help get them to Utah, please let me know! I'd love to bring in some additional genetics.
If you're interested in following along with these projects, stick around! I'm excited to see what the next few generations bring.
