Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[DnDFarm]

I understand what you are going through with the Marans. I bought several dozen eggs two year ago just for a test on Marans eggs from different people claiming to have good BC Marans. We kept no male and only seven females from all that we hatched. When buying sight unseen there is no way we can see what we might be able to get.
Be very careful with the lower body brown feathering.

Don, I'm fairly certain that as you said, my BCM are from a black/blue program. I've seen where you say it's fine to breed these together, but don't breed them to the pure BCM. When I start breeding and selling chicks, how do you ethically advertise them? As black/blue/splash varieties?

 

[DnDFarm]

thank you for the critique, I'm always trying to learn! This is not a bird I was planning on using for breeding my BCM hens with, I was really just curious as to what causes the color variation? I'm trying to figure out what causes the back feathers to be gold instead of copper? I've never had this happen before. Would it be from impure lines or...? This guy was from a hatch I did last year, I purchased hatching eggs from a gal in TX and he is one of a few that hatched...

Even the big breeders have a hard time with BCM. It's a heavily culled breed, and some of the biggest names will advertise the faults they are currently working on. I bought my chicks from a very highly recommended breeder, but most still have one issue or another. Like Don said, sometimes you have to start with what you have. I look to his experience to help me learn which faults can be worked with, and which ones are DQs. The overcoloring of the breast on my current cockerels is an example. He says that can lead to good coloring on hens, so that's not a flock killer for me. My first attempt last year with BCM was totally scrapped. I bought birds from Craigslist without doing any research, and had no idea how badly mixed and how far from SOP they were. You have to kind of read between the lines with snowbird. When he says "if you have any others, don't breed this one", that means that it's not the best bird, but if he's all you have it's a starting point. When he saw my first cockerel, he suggested I buy an axe. Hard to hear, but it was the truth, and that's why I have so much respect for Don. He can tell more about a 2 week old chick than I can about my 2 month old birds

 

[BertandMary]

The last several posts have been helpful. We have ours first hatching in 9 days. We did meet the parent stock bit really don't know how to tell good quality. The breeder was explaining what he was still working on, not much, so hopefully we hatch some good ones.

 

[snowbird]

Quote:
SC, Yes you are correct just say they are from a pen with Black Copper, Blue Copper and splash in same breeding pen. That way buyer will know before not after the fact.

 

[marchick]

Don, SC, I have one other source to buy good Black Coppers. I did check into that but he has 3 different lines. How do we know which line is better? He has solid Black coppers.

 

[snowbird]

Don, SC, I have one other source to buy good Black Coppers. I did check into that but he has 3 different lines. How do we know which line is better? He has solid Black coppers.

If you want to breed the BC Marans, Please do not buy Eggs or chicks from someone that is breeding the three colors together. A lot of so called breeders will not tell you they are all together.

 

[marchick]

If you want to breed the BC Marans, Please do not buy Eggs or chicks from someone that is breeding the three colors together. A lot of so called breeders will not tell you they are all together.

It is a little late for that! lol I have Blue Copper and Black Copper chicks from the same person SC got his. I don't know if I want to start over again. I am just thinking about maybe later adding a pen. I have started over about 5 times now!!!

 

[DnDFarm]

If you want to breed the BC Marans, Please do not buy Eggs or chicks from someone that is breeding the three colors together. A lot of so called breeders will not tell you they are all together.

Don, she ordered black and blue from the same breeder. I'm not sure if she intends on breeding them together, but she intentionally got both colors. I was led to believe mine came from a black only program. I'm fine with breeding blues as well, I just want to be upfront so people know what they are getting. Not doing so is a fast way to get a bad reputation.
Many pictures coming up

It is a little late for that! lol  I have Blue Copper and Black Copper chicks from the same person SC got his. I don't know if I want to start over again. I am just thinking about maybe later adding a pen. I have started over about 5 times now!!!

If I were you, I wouldn't add any more this year. Grow these out, see what you are working with and what you need to work on before bringing in another line with different faults

 

[DnDFarm]

SC, would like to see the Comb on these males looks like they are clustered right.

Ok Don, here they come. I'm going to break them up in a few posts so one post isn't so loaded down. These are the 2 boys I have my eyes on as keepers. You know the routine, I'm a big boy. Give me your honest opinion, but feel free to comment on any good qualities as well

Here's the alpha. The biggest one, the leader of the group so far. Too much color on his breast, and his comb isn't completely straight yet. I'm also not exactly sure how his hackle color will be when grown in. It looks to have some lighter color, but not the extreme straw color from my first batch. I'm hoping it grows in darker






And here's number 2. For the longest time I thought he was a cull. He was very slow to develop and staying solid black, but he hit a growth spurt and is catching up in size. To me, his comb looks great, his feathering is tight, and just the way he carries himself looks very nice. He is starting to show some color, so I'm really hoping he colors in nicely
He is more heavily feathered on the middle toe, though





His cloudy eye in the last picture is the camera. He has very clear, bright eyes

 

[DnDFarm]

Here are the two that I think are off the list.

This guys comb is very uneven, with wider gaps between points and differently sized points. He was also the mossy chick



The guy in the foreground of this picture is loosely feathered and has the lightest hackles of the four



You can also see some of the differences in the hens in this picture. The one second from left is very loosely feathered and just never has that sleek look. They aren't all as totally black as they look, but they are much darker than the sex-link looking girls I had the first time. Close ups of some hens in the next post