International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[Chooks man]

Yes, You do know how to breed chooks. I hope to know a 1/4 of what you know about Marans. Maybe one day.

come with practice and time ,
chooks man

 

[Old Man Tom]

@Old Man Tom
pullet in the middle front ,complete hackle marking .she is stunning too ,equal to the first pullet I like , every thing about her is alright and correct .true marans type 100%

you should be very very proud . BRAVO
chooks man

Thank you Chooks Man!

@Old Man Tom
pullet in the middle front ,complete hackle marking .she is stunning too ,equal to the first pullet I like , every thing about her is alright and correct .true marans type 100%

you should be very very proud . BRAVO
chooks man

Thank you Chooks Man! Your encouragement and continued educational instruction is why these pullets look great! I look forward to hatching many chooks this coming spring. I will be needing a lot of " help from my friends" on this thread. Spring is coming. TOM

 

[Chooks man]

Thank you Chooks Man!

Thank you Chooks Man! Your encouragement and continued educational instruction is why these pullets look great! I look forward to hatching many chooks this coming spring. I will be needing a lot of " help from my friends" on this thread. Spring is coming. TOM

we will be here. looking forward to see more of those gorgeous marans .
keep posting when you can .we like photos of marans .

chooks man

 

[kfelton0002]

for me personally I don t need any cockerels .I have already selected my future line by eggs shape/size/colour.. the hens who lay those eggs are matted to 4 different rooster from 2 different line . so there is a healthy mix in there . each eggs are marked ,the chicks from them are tagged . chicks from each hen will be bred together as half sibling to start a line . many many lines will be formed .
3 BLC hen liza s
3 BC hen Lz
4 Birchen hens Lz
1 Splash hen mine
2 BC hens mine
3 DW hens mine
1 solid black hen mine
2 Recessive white hens mine
2 Clay Wheaten .Don s
1 BTB hen .Philip
1 Golden Salmon Phil
1 Columbian hen PHil

those are my future hens families .they will be worked differently recording to they need .
plus I have roosters/cockerels from different sire lines .Avgen ,Matice .Day Walker etc.........

I know what I m getting when those eggs { last lot} will hatch . I have seen the first hatch and second hatch and what they are lucking .the second pairing I have correct that . so the chicks should be big ,long ,wide ,colorful ,early feathering type .well feathered lags ,nice tails .a correct egg shape/ size /colour ,nice head/eyes /comb . the parents have all those traits .
I m looking forward to see the last hatch ,because it is my pairing even they parent stock are not mine . greatness will come from them for sure .

chooks man

I have no doubt they'll be great. I look forward to seeing pictures of them as they grow out and mature. At least you have people with backups in the event that tragedy might strike and you lose important birds, but it sounds like you have plenty to work with and you run a tight ship to prevent losses.

 

[kfelton0002]

Thank you Chooks Man!

Thank you Chooks Man! Your encouragement and continued educational instruction is why these pullets look great! I look forward to hatching many chooks this coming spring. I will be needing a lot of " help from my friends" on this thread. Spring is coming. TOM

They look great Tom! Look at that hackle color and topline! *swoon* They are beautiful! Congratulations buddy!

 

[kfelton0002]

It didn't get above freezing today. This morning it was 8 degrees.

It has been rainy and muddy here.. flooding and yucky, chilly but not cold. I prefer that to 8 degrees though.. jeeze that's cold! Despite Kentucky's very bipolar weather, I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. Kentucky is one of the few places that one can experience spring, fall, and winter all in the same week. lol

 

[kfelton0002]

Maybe I will move to Australia and take my birds with me. It's way to cold here! Brrr

I would love to visit Australia! I would enjoy seeing all the wildlife.

Chooksman, I am so glad you helped me. Now that the pullets have filled out and the hens are past their molt. I don't think I would have been able to pick from the 7 Blue Coppers. White band is younger than Ruby and Jade.
View attachment 1971441 View attachment 1971442 View attachment 1971452 View attachment 1971454 View attachment 1971458 View attachment 1971460

Your blue coppers are so lovely! I have almost given up on my blue coppers, but I have one pullet that may prove a promising breeder next year. The blue coppers I've raised this year have been disappointing for the most part.

The one nice looking blue copper pullet I raised has a more narrow rear end than I would like. She is also a lighter shade of blue than I prefer. I will likely pair her with my widest cockerel so we'll see how that goes.

 

[Old Man Tom]

It has been rainy and muddy here.. flooding and yucky, chilly but not cold. I prefer that to 8 degrees though.. jeeze that's cold! Despite Kentucky's very bipolar weather, I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. Kentucky is one of the few places that one can experience spring, fall, and winter all in the same week. lol

I like the four seasons, the 3 feet of snow is a challenge, but the new snow blower worked good last year! TOM

 

[marchick]

good chooks breeding program should focus a lot on creating hens families lines . when those lines are fully formed ,they can be worked with other lines . forward and back crossing are needed .
good hen should be bred to her son not other rooster s . her Back cross progeny should be worked with other lines from different hens .but the hen line will always stay pure never get lost .
I have seen a lot gorgeous marans hens in many farms but no much has been done with them . just forward crossing all the time tell those hens drop dead . no genes preserved .

what it is a good hen?
in my book a good hen should be a proven breeder first .she can breed a good chooks
second ,good and correct body type
correct/heavy mass
lay dark/large /dark egg
good head .

colour and the rest of the stuff come from the cockerels lines .

we need to do a same with a correct good Rooster . breed him to his progeny to form a pure line to work with .

chooks man

Chooksman, I understand how to breed the two roosters, 4 pullet and one hen next year. I am unclear for the continuing years. Could you go into details for me? Thank you!

 

[kfelton0002]

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I like the four seasons, the 3 feet of snow is a challenge, but the new snow blower worked good last year! TOMView attachment 1972290

Brrr! Three feet of snow sounds miserable. I bet feeding the birds was a real chore in that before the snow blower.