International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[Chooks man]

Many of the my pullets have begun laying, egg color is promising with everyone so far. They are 23 weeks old, I believe almost all of them have laid at least 6-7 eggs. I want to start penning them up individually for a week each, this should help me determine egg color and give me a chance to observe each girl in a relaxed environment. The poor girls; the cockerels have gone mad with all these pullets running about.

I have an idea for pictures so I can save them for myself (I will also share some with all of you). I'm going to take a picture of each girl and the egg she lays, I am a very visual person. I tend to recall images better than words on paper, when it comes to things I write down haha.

It's been so muddy/rainy lately that all my chickens are rather filthy, I need to get some sand in their pens so they can clean themselves up haha. They should be ready for their photos at that point.

I have around 5 cockerels in this bunch, 3 are rather poor looking (not pretty haha). One is my favorite, I will keep his brother, the "runner up" safe and sound in case I encounter any health issues with my first pick.

it is good to know your chicks are adult now and start laying .
23 weeks ,they are early maturing strain you have there .good for you .

do not leave the cockerel with a pullet before you start breeding them .
you have to keep them away from them ,so they can continue they growth .other wise you end up with hens lucking mass .

my pullet to get with a cockerels tell they are 10 months old , almost fully mature .

I can t wait to see some photos of them soon .

well please with what you done .BRAVO .

some sand will help in they pen .

chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

I only have 3/4 of an acre here, so space is determined by the land rather than how much I can build. Some day we will have more and I will be able to have a larger flock, along with other animals I'd like to get!

Chooksman, (I hope I spelled that right!) I contacted the breeder I got my birds from and she said that their parents were from the 2015 Greenfire Farms line, which were imported birds...that may be why they have the pointy tails.

I could tell they are not American marans .

they looked too correct to me with all the french traits .especially a pointed thin tails .

thank you for the info .and good luck with them

chooks man

 

[3riverschick]

[quote name="Chooks man"

I could tell they are not American marans .

they looked too correct to me with all the french traits ....

–--------
That's a sad State of Affairs for Marans when somebody from another continent can say this about the breed in the USA . I wish people would stop creating new colors and start/keep improving the colors that we already have approved. Marans don't need 12 colors approved . they just need the colors that are approved... improved.
yeah I know this isn't a popular point of view but it's mine based on watching the breed for 10 years. Cheerleading in breed as one thing but just spending time getting colors approved is quite another. maybe someday things will change.
Best,
Karen

 

[winterhorses]

Hi there! I'm so far behind on posts but have been ridiculously busy. Just got NPIP certified and have been working on a FB page.

Quick survey:

I'm looking for some high quality Birchens, preferably black but will take blue. Sexed pullets or laying hens are much preferred, though I have a feeling the best I'll get is SR chicks. I'm not interested in hatching eggs at this time.

Anyone have some or can point me to a good breeder?

I'm sort of unhappy with GFF right now because, though they boast about their lack of red leakage in their DL Silver Barnevelders, guess what mine has! I probably wouldn't be so irritated if they hadn't specifically mentioned it on their site, though I know there are no guarantees, sigh.

Thanks!

 

[baunlee]

Hi there! I'm so far behind on posts but have been ridiculously busy. Just got NPIP certified and have been working on a FB page.

Quick survey:

I'm looking for some high quality Birchens, preferably black but will take blue. Sexed pullets or laying hens are much preferred, though I have a feeling the best I'll get is SR chicks. I'm not interested in hatching eggs at this time.

Anyone have some or can point me to a good breeder?

I'm sort of unhappy with GFF right now because, though they boast about their lack of red leakage in their DL Silver Barnevelders, guess what mine has! I probably wouldn't be so irritated if they hadn't specifically mentioned it on their site, though I know there are no guarantees, sigh.

Thanks!

Where to find Black Birchen Marans:​

• Brian Jules Prevot ( 6 chick min $45 flat rate shipping) I'll sell eggs for $7 each, chicks $15; Half will be blue and half will be black

• April Howington: “texas marans” They are $25 each straight runs. Shipping would be about $50 for express and the box.

• Sweet Pea Farms, CT $65/half doz or 95/doz hatching eggs https://www.sweetpeafarm.net/birchen-marans

• https://www.carolinararechicks.net (and blck coppers) $95/doz, 20 per chick +s/h

• http://www.brinkhavenacres.com/

• gifttwinsmom ebay Heather Gift

• Rachel, Oklahoma, http://www.gypsyhen.com/ (918) 704-4555

• H D Quality Marans Kansas Harvey Mooré

Would love to hear what people have to say about their experiences with these!

 

[winterhorses]

Where to find Black Birchen Marans:​

• Brian Jules Prevot ( 6 chick min $45 flat rate shipping) I'll sell eggs for $7 each, chicks $15; Half will be blue and half will be black

• April Howington: “texas marans” They are $25 each straight runs. Shipping would be about $50 for express and the box.

• Sweet Pea Farms, CT $65/half doz or 95/doz hatching eggs

• https://www.carolinararechicks.net (and blck coppers) $95/doz, 20 per chick +s/h

• http://www.brinkhavenacres.com/

• gifttwinsmom ebay Heather Gift

• Rachel, Oklahoma, http://www.gypsyhen.com/ (918) 704-4555

• H D Quality Marans Kansas Harvey Mooré

Would love to hear what people have to say about their experiences with these!

Thanks so much! I checked out some of these sites and would love to hear about others' experiences, too!

 

[Bantambird]

Harvey Moore has an invite only Birchen Marans Facebook group. He seems pretty nice. From what I understand, my Birchen Marans from Rodney Reeves also became part of the lines for sweet pea and April Howington, but I'm not sure. I can say my hens do have the nice pointy thin tails, good shanks, and pretty good color, with an occasional great color popping up. I have had sprigs show up in a few birds, but I'm working with it, because that's honestly their only big flaw.

 

[Bantambird]

I noticed one of the Birchen chicks had some copper/red mottled flight feathers growing in! This is on the shipped chicks. Everyone else looks pretty good so far. Should I mark this anomaly?

 

[Bantambird]

here is the mossy wing chick

 

[chickengr]

here is the mossy wing chick

hard to tell from the pic but it does not look red to me. I know nothing about birchen marans but I had 1 mossy chick who turned out to be a beautiful cockerel.