Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[Goose and Fig]

Quote:
Yeah- I might have to try that. I offered either a black copper or splash copper girl with the BC roo, but still not takers. People were banging down my door for welsummers and EEs though. Go figure!

 

[geebs]

Then post them as Dark chocolate egg layers...not marans... and offer choice of Wellies and marans!!!!

 

[pinkchick]

and once upon a time I had a broody Black Copper....she was my oldest, that passed on new year from being egg bound...remember her? She was a great broody, great mother and laid fabulous eggs. She was a lovely hen.

Here's an example of a too dark Black Copper male 6 mos.

 

[robnms]

I just started this chicken addiction and will be starting with stock from these. Can someone tell me what I need to improve on with these? That is not a good pic of the eggs, the eggs were darker than they look. I also noticed that some of my chicks have more black than others and some have some white/yellow color like this one, is it because of different lines? All of these are supposed to be from Bev and Wade lines, are they that different?

here's a pic of the Roo from some of the chicks

here's the parents to the other chicks

 

[geebs]

Pink: So sorry about your mama hen... She looks like such a nice mama... Good coloring on her and nice eggies...

Your rooster pink is fabulous... This is a good example of a overmelanised specimen good for use on hens with too much copper bleeding through...

 

[robnms]

Quote:
Did you have a dozen eggs under her?

 

[geebs]

I would love to talk to you about your breeding goals.. I am a bit confused... (I get that way)

So are we talking rooster choices???? I will have to state that the number one has many more good points than the second choice and if you have both the number one may give you less problems.

Number two has several points that are undesireable for breeding for show. They eye color tells us that there is a lot of black however the bird is showing gold. There is some mixed up genetics here that may be difficult to breed out quickly.

Yellow in the legs are to be rejected for breeding purposes and can indicate fouled stock.

The hen in the picture would do best with a rooster much like the one pink posted... Lots of black Always be thinking conformation when you are picking for color balancing... If you fix the color, it should not be at the expense of good shape and substance.

 

[pinkchick]

Thanks geebs!

She was a nice bird, but this last incident with egg boundness was her second in a few months. Got her through the first and she was laying fine but her eggs were huge, and then all of a sudden a day or two before New Year's she was bound again, I tried everything I could again, too no avail. In a way her passing was probably the best as I would not have wanted it to pass on to her female offspring, I have sinced culled her offspring from any pens.

Junior (the roo) was a nice bird, but I don't have any pullets or hens that have too much red, so he was of no use for me and I couldn't see feeding an extra rooster any longer than I had too.

He was a product of Bill crossed over a Black Copper Davis hen, I am hoping that someday I can produce a nice Black Copper male from Bill with more copper and not sooooo dark.

 

[Mrs MIA]

This is the kind of thread I like to see... definitions, explanations, and example photos to back it up. LOVE IT!!

I am currently waiting on my first test hatch of the season, to see if the roo and girls I kept will give me the coloring I want. A couple girls are almost completely black, but lay beautiful dark eggs, so I'm waiting to see what they throw before removing them from the pen. I wish chickens were like coturnix quail, with a 6-8 week maturity rate instead of having to wait 9 months to see the next generation!!

I'll have to get some new photos, get some opinions... this is starting my second year with the Black Coppers, and still have a steep learning curve ahead of me.

 

[geebs]

I got an idea... Can everyone that has a picture that they KNOW is their rooster post a picture please... I would like to see if the amount of coper is indicated by how much white/light color on them... Anyone out there got any????

Pink: I thought that rooster looked like Bill.... Nice length of back you achieved in that crossing...