International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[winterhorses]

Weirdest thing happened to me. I had one newly hatched chick Lav. Ameraucana with wry neck who wasn't doing well in general. I gave it Nutri-Drench and Sav-A-Chick, but after a few hours, it became completely limp and was barely alive. I thought it only had a short time left, so I took it out of the brooder and put it on my chest while petting it. Well, it was still hanging on after 20 minutes and could even lift its head a little. I gave it some more vitamins and then went to bed. The next morning, it was up and moving around (unsteadily) with the wry neck completely gone! After a few days, it was as healthy as the rest.

No idea what went on there...

My daughter named it Hope, and it's really friendly, but the sad thing is that I'm pretty sure it's a boy. He'll be going to the rooster farm in a few weeks.

 

[winterhorses]

So...HELP!

I need to get rid of at least one cockerel, possibly two. I just don't have the space (or the hens for them), and they're starting to beat each other up. I *think* I know who I want to keep, but I'd really love some more opinions!

Here are my boys:

Blade
He's a horse. Huge. Comb seems too big to me, and his tail is very upright (though all of three have upright tails).

















Copper
He's the smallest, but seems so elegant and well-put-together to me. Lives up to his name with tons of copper. Tail is too big and his legs aren't feathered, though all the girls I have now are heavily feathered.












ShyGuy:
Seems to fall in middle of Blade and Copper. A little smaller than Blade, doesn't look to me like his overall conformation is as nice as the other two, though it might be a problem with getting a good picture because he's the most skittish.








Pinky Pie's still a keeper...right?

 

[kfelton0002]

it is always nice to know when your breeding chooks who is doing what ( what sort of chicks they are throwing ) at the early stage of breeding .

if copper is the cause than use him less .better for you

use Mud if his chicks are better quality at hatch .

chooks man

I plan on moving Mud in with the LA pullets soon. It will be warm next week and hopefully next weekend so I will try to get them moved then. I will probably move Mud back and forth between coops every couple of days so he can keep both groups of Marans pullets bred. He will be one busy rooster. We do that a lot with our Games with good results when single mating one rooster to more than one hen separately.

Cooper throws very big healthy vigorous chicks, but his chicks have a lot more white on their faces than Mud's chicks so far. I have several settings of Cooper's eggs in the incubator so I think I will raise more than enough from him to grow out and watch. One of Cooper's pullets throws very nice chicks, little to no middle toe feathering and not as much white on the face. I haven't been able to single her out yet, but I will be banding those chicks with a number and keeping good records. I have 3 black coppers and a blue copper from previous hatches so far, and two more Marans chicks in the hatcher now.

Not Marans related, but I also hatched my first crele/wheaten cross American Game. I'm hoping for more but the hen only lays sporadically. Once the weather warms and stays warm the games will all be laying consistently.

 

[kfelton0002]

So...HELP!

I need to get rid of at least one cockerel, possibly two. I just don't have the space (or the hens for them), and they're starting to beat each other up. I *think* I know who I want to keep, but I'd really love some more opinions!

Here are my boys:

Blade
He's a horse. Huge. Comb seems too big to me, and his tail is very upright (though all of three have upright tails).

















Copper
He's the smallest, but seems so elegant and well-put-together to me. Lives up to his name with tons of copper. Tail is too big and his legs aren't feathered, though all the girls I have now are heavily feathered.












ShyGuy:
Seems to fall in middle of Blade and Copper. A little smaller than Blade, doesn't look to me like his overall conformation is as nice as the other two, though it might be a problem with getting a good picture because he's the most skittish.








Pinky Pie's still a keeper...right?

*Swoon* Pinky Pie is such a Marans dream boat.

Take a few of his daughters and put them right back with him, reinforce those genes! He is a stud muffin.

Gun to my head if I had to chose two to keep, I like Blade and Copper. They are both nicely balanced and beautifully colored. I love how chunky and solid Blade looks. Copper can come in handy to correct any heavy leg feathered pullets. And with all that copper he will throw well marked and nicely coppered female offspring. Very nice boys!

I'm right there with you on the high tail thing. I'm hoping I grow out some cockerels this year with nicer tails and longer backs.

 

[winterhorses]

*Swoon* Pinky Pie is such a Marans dream boat.

Take a few of his daughters and put them right back with him, reinforce those genes! He is a stud muffin.

Gun to my head if I had to chose two to keep, I like Blade and Copper. They are both nicely balanced and beautifully colored. I love how chunky and solid Blade looks. Copper can come in handy to correct any heavy leg feathered pullets. And with all that copper he will throw well marked and nicely coppered female offspring. Very nice boys!

I'm right there with you on the high tail thing. I'm hoping I grow out some cockerels this year with nicer tails and longer backs.

I was thinking the same thing about Blade and Copper. I just wish I had some hens for them. Due to some losses, I've got more cockerels than laying pullets right now! The oldest of Pinky's daughters are only 10 weeks old, so it'll be a while before I can put them in with his little flock.

I went crazy with different, fun breeds these past few weeks and got some Silver and Gold Laced Wyandotte, Silver and Brown and Blue Double Laced Barnevelder, and Chocolate Orpington chicks. They're just to make my group look prettier, as I'm concentrating on BCMs, Lav Marans, Lav Ameraucanas, and Lav OEs. The Silver DL Barnevelders are from GFF, though, so if I end up with a decent pair, maybe I'll work with those next year.

 

[kfelton0002]

Here are two Marans chicks I just pulled out of the incubator that were good and fluffed up. Both are blue coppers from Mud. One is darker blue than the other and nearly looks like a black copper. I haven't hatched any eggs from my FRF pullet x Mud yet because her eggs were very small at first, but I do look forward to seeing a black copper chick from Mud.



blue copper chicks from Mud
the one on the right is darker blue

darker blue chick



lighter blue chick

 

[kfelton0002]

I was thinking the same thing about Blade and Copper. I just wish I had some hens for them. Due to some losses, I've got more cockerels than laying pullets right now! The oldest of Pinky's daughters are only 10 weeks old, so it'll be a while before I can put them in with his little flock.

I went crazy with different, fun breeds these past few weeks and got some Silver and Gold Laced Wyandotte, Silver and Brown and Blue Double Laced Barnevelder, and Chocolate Orpington chicks. They're just to make my group look prettier, as I'm concentrating on BCMs, Lav Marans, Lav Ameraucanas, and Lav OEs. The Silver DL Barnevelders are from GFF, though, so if I end up with a decent pair, maybe I'll work with those next year.

I hear you on the fun breeds. I am growing out my brood stock of Jil Rees Cream Legbars and I love them so. I just adore a barred autosexing breed, and the cute crests and blue/green eggs.. I'm so excited to have them. I have 3 cockerels to cull down to 2 as they grow out, and 3 really nice pullets so far.

To keep my egg basket interesting, I also have an easter egger pullet and my speckled sussex and white leghorn girls. I love variety in a laying flock.

My main focus this year is my Marans, they are the most cherished birds I own. But I can see the Legbars coming in a very close second.

 

[winterhorses]

I hear you on the fun breeds. I am growing out my brood stock of Jil Rees Cream Legbars and I love them so. I just adore a barred autosexing breed, and the cute crests and blue/green eggs.. I'm so excited to have them. I have 3 cockerels to cull down to 2 as they grow out, and 3 really nice pullets so far.

To keep my egg basket interesting, I also have an easter egger pullet and my speckled sussex and white leghorn girls. I love variety in a laying flock.

My main focus this year is my Marans, they are the most cherished birds I own. But I can see the Legbars coming in a very close second.

I really like my Legbars, too! I bought two laying hens from someone local. He said they're from the Rees line. I managed to hatch a boy and girl from their eggs before my own roo got to them, lol. My order from GFF arrived last week, and in addition to the pair I requested, they included an extra male chick and two females! I never planned on having this many Legbars so soon, but it was a nice surprise.

I was bummed that GFF only sent 3 of the 4 BCMs I ordered, but they were great about giving me a quick refund when I told them. Blade, Copper, and ShyGuy are all from a GFF roo, so hopefully I get at least one girl out of my new chicks.

 

[winterhorses]

Here are two Marans chicks I just pulled out of the incubator that were good and fluffed up. One blue copper from Mud, and one black copper from Cooper. The black copper has a yellow leg band. I really like this particular black copper chick most of all Cooper's chicks I've hatched so far. It has very little white on its face and nicely feathered legs with no middle toe feathering. I will be keeping an eye on this chick and any more like it I hatch.

The blue copper is lovely also, this is only the second chick from Mud this year unfortunately. I have had difficulty hatching his eggs, even though fertility seems to be improving. I'm hoping to get better hatch rates from them.



left blue copper, right black copper
left blue copper, right black copper (yellow band)

Cooper's chick (black copper)

left blue copper, right black copper

Mud's chick (blue copper)

What cutie chicks! I hope they grow up to be good ones!

 

[kfelton0002]

I stand corrected on my post about my last two chicks. I just got into the incubator and both egg shells from the chicks that hatched yesterday were both blue coppers. Both shells were clearly marked "Mud." I only assumed the darker chick was a black copper because it looked darker.

But during the night a late LA black copper chick hatched from Cooper. Side by side you can clearly see the difference in the two roosters' offspring. And the blue coppers can come a darker blue that nearly looks black until you see them alongside a black copper.

Sorry for the miscommunication. I will correct my previous post.