Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[Ihilani Coffee]

Matt,

The Black Copper Marans has been approved for two years now, but is not in the APA standards book yet. The next edition will likely be out in 2015, so many of the judges don't have a copy of the Marans breed standard and haven't judged very many of them. The judges will have a learning curve to learn the breed just like everyone else. It is the breeders responsibility to let the judges know what the breed should be.

I had a similar thing happen when a Crested Cream Legbar Pullet was disqualified for being crested. The judge told me afterwords that single combed breeds can't have a crest.




Just keep showing and let the judge know what the standard is. When judges know about mistakes they have made they will make sure it doesn't happen again.

One of the many reasons I don't show. Seriously, exhibitors need to let the judges know what standard is?! Unbelievable.

 

[Ihilani Coffee]

Hello!

Today's questions is about eye color.

What is the proper eye color for a Black Copper Marans? I'm seeing that black or pearl eyes are a DQ. Then I saw that the eyes shouldn't darken to brown. What is pearl, anyway? A picture would be great if anyone has one of the proper color.

Thanks so much!

There are eye color photos in the this thread. Proper color is "reddish bay" which is a reddish brown-orange, neither light nor dark. How's that for confusing? I like to think of it as the color of the copper they "should" have, neither straw nor mahogany...does that help?

 

[Ihilani Coffee]

So I was talking to some people at the Elkhart County Fair in Indiana and they said their son got graded lower because his black copper maran rooster HAD feathered legs.

Everything I have read says that is what you want because that makes them FRENCH.

The judge said the APA says the american interest is to have a clean legged BCMaran. I agree with the father that the feather legged is more desirable based off everything I have read. I was actually a little surprised they were able to show them in a county fair.

I just wanted to try to get to the bottom of this.

Anyway, I bought one of his Black Copper Maran Hens for $15 and she has nice copper hackles (not straw colored) but they are not real prevalent but clearly they are there.


I hope to breed her with "Big Guy" pictured below. He has feathered legs (i know you cant see in Pic) plus a little more brown on his wings than I THINK I would like but none the less, a beautiful bird I think.

thanks for the info.

-Matt

A public service announcement, because we don't know what we don't know until we know it: Marans is always capitalized and always plural, as it is a town name in France. Also, saying FBCM or French Black Copper Marans is redundant, since the American stadard is for feathered shanks and outer toe.

Your "Big Guy" has nice coloring on his shoulders. Personally I would like to see that same color everywhere he has copper rather than the lighter halo effect on his hackles which could indicate wheaten in his background. It is difficult to tell from this angle, but it appears his back could be longer and tailset lower as well. It looks like he carries some depth to his body which is good. Is the fluff down there on his thighs black or dark gray?

 

[GaryDean26]

One of the many reasons I don't show. Seriously, exhibitors need to let the judges know what standard is?! Unbelievable.

Yes...Both the president of the APA and the Chairman of the standards committee have told me that it is the role of the breeders to let the APA judges know what the breeds should be. The board members of the APA and the APA judges don't write the standard for new breeds or decide what the breed should be. The Marans Chicken Club wrote the breed standard. The Marans club is made up of breeders and the committee members were experts in the breed. Some of them have worked with the breed for more than a decade. APA judges do not breed Marans or most of the 100 other breeds that are called on to judge. They are not at the poultry show to decide what the breed should be or to even be the expert on the breed. They are poultry men and women that have been around birds for decades and can evaluate where a bird fits an ideal or not but the breeders need to let them know what that ideal is. The breeder know the breed best. For the most part the Marans Chicken Club has been doing a good job of that. A show that I went to in January had a Judge who had never judges Marans before. Officers in the Marans chicken club saw the name of the judge when they were registering for the show. They knew that he had never judged any of the shows they had exhibited at so they contacted him prior to the show and sent him a copy of the approved standard for the Marans, send him a link to a section on their website that had photos and explanations of the standard and followed up before the meet to see if the judge had any questions. They also made sure a copy of the standard was available at the show for the judge to refer back to if he had questions during the judging. If you are taking a new breed that isn't show a lot in your area to a show you need to make sure the judge has a copy of the approved standard.

 

[DMRippy]

I don't think Marans is PLURAL.... it is just spelled with an s.

 

[Ihilani Coffee]

I don't think Marans is PLURAL.... it is just spelled with an s.

Interestingly, the French dictionary states that Marans is "race de poules qui pondent de gros œufs à coquille épaisse" which means a breed of poultry that lays a big eggs with thick shells. OK then...no mention of Marans, France as a place.

 

[carnivore]

 
Interestingly, the French dictionary states that Marans is "race de poules qui pondent de gros œufs à coquille épaisse" which means a breed of poultry that lays a big eggs with thick shells.  OK then...no mention of Marans, France as a place.  

Try Google. Marans, France.

Wikipedia has a fairly decent article on Marans chickens, pretty timely info on feathered/non-feathered shanks, and shank color.
British breeders in the 1930's developed the clean legged variety which is what is desired in Britain. In France, they are always feathered shanks.

 

[SIMZ]

There are eye color photos in the this thread. Proper color is "reddish bay" which is a reddish brown-orange, neither light nor dark. How's that for confusing? I like to think of it as the color of the copper they "should" have, neither straw nor mahogany...does that help?

Yes, that helps! Is it the same color Cuckoos Marans have? I'm familiar with that color. So are light brown or greenish eyes a cull point or is that something that can be worked on?

 

[DMRippy]

Quote:
All Marans should have the same color eyes. Cull point? Well in a Cockerel YES. In pullets not so much. Eyes and feathered legs can both be fixed rather easy. I always try to have the BEST cockerels/cocks I can so they can fix issues in pullets/hens.

 

[Lucky KY Chicks]

So 4 out of my 11 BCM chicks have white feathers in their wings. Can I expect this to change or is this a permanent mismark? They are 9 days old. Pictures taken yesterday

Some of the other non white marked chicks