International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[Chooks man]

Okay folks, line #2 is now 5 weeks old. I finished their run this morning and this is their first time out of their coop.

Sorry for so many pics. Their hard to photograph. I have 2 obvious cockerels out of 9. They all had correct hatch down but were tall and thin looking compared to my line #1. I like them though and it will be interesting to see how they grow out.

Lighter leg feathering which im happy about. One cockerel is very slow feathering type.

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they look great . love they pure black plumage ,a lot copper start showing up .expecting that . they come from a well colored line .
chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

Okay folks, line #2 is now 5 weeks old. I finished their run this morning and this is their first time out of their coop.

Sorry for so many pics. Their hard to photograph. I have 2 obvious cockerels out of 9. They all had correct hatch down but were tall and thin looking compared to my line #1. I like them though and it will be interesting to see how they grow out.

Lighter leg feathering which im happy about. One cockerel is very slow feathering type.

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they have very nice combs and great eyes .
they will help you fixing the comb on line #1.

chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

...actually, there are only a couple of these chicks that were medium feathering. The rest were slow feathering. But that one cockerel....i think he will be a year old before he even gets full tail feathers at the rate he's growing them.

my slow feathering type haven t finished they tails yet and they are 9 months old . need to be bred out .

chooks man

 

[Punkybrewster]

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@Punkybrewster
yellow tagged pullet is a best looking one . correct marans body type . keep your eyes on her as she grow .

chooks man

Yes. She is a medium/ fast feathering type also. That is what the legband is for.

 

[Chooks man]

The fault was already present in the parents of your brown-eyed pullet just not expressed. If you do not have any better options than the brown-eyed pullet for breeding then it’s OK you’ll just have to cull going forward.

We as breeders cannot fix everything in one season or breeding. So we have to pick one or two bad traits that we want to improve then when we eliminate those bad traits we move on to the next. Some bad traits are easier to fix than others such as leg feathering and eye color are easier to correct than parasitic white.

agree with @kcrandall . we can t breed every traits in one season .
we should always start with body type /dark eggs layer . foundation of any marans line .regardless of varieties .
when that is fixed .we focus on body color and pattern .
than we go to the other stuff tail. eyes .parasitic white .etc.................
it is no point having a great looking marans hens laying #2/#3 colored eggs
it is no point having a dark egg layer hens looking like Leghorn chooks .

chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

Yes. She is a medium/ fast feathering type also. That is what the legband is for.

she does not look related to the others . totally different type .
chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

Here are some pics of Glen. My favorite cockerel in line #1.
9 weeks old.

Note to self...dont pose your heavy breed chickens high up and allow them to fly down by themself you dummy.

Now hes limping. Lesson learned...

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good looking body .heavy and solid looking type .he will be well colored for sure . good head .just a large comb .
pullets from line #2 will help you fix that ,not a big deal if you have one breeder with a correct comb .

chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

This is Rick. Line #1, 9 weeks old.
That tail.......

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this one has a better head . bad tail .
chooks man

 

[Punkybrewster]

she does not look related to the others . totally different type .
chooks man

When i get home i will check her legband number. I have 3 legbanded. Two are for fast/medium feathering and one is the only one to hatch from shipped eggs. Not related to the rest.
It may be that lone hatched chick.

Also....my flock is closed. No more birds coming in. I have 2 bcm lines to work with and my legbars. All are healthy and it will stay this way.

There is plenty to keep me busy with my bcm line.

 

[Chooks man]

Poor carol...while taking this pic i noticed her eye color. I checked and yes. Their dark brown.

Even though she looks tall and thin in this pic, she is short and stocky when relaxed. She is nice type. She will have to go in the layer pen though. She is the only one with dark eyes.View attachment 2294409

good looking long pullet . lovely copper showing up . high tail type .dark eyes .
body type is score more .I like her body type and her hackle marking .need to lay dark eggs to become breeder .

chooks man