Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[Ihilani Coffee]

Hey everyone. I'm new to this thread and chickens in general.

we have a friend who raises BCM's and Rhodebars. He hatched us 3 BCMs and 2 Rhodebars. The two Rhodebars were barred with dots on their heads so I was pleased to have two pullets. Unfortunately we lost 2 BCM's and 1 rhodebar to the dog.

I have one of each left pictured below. However, I think you'll agree the Rhodebar pullet seems to be a BCM cockerel! I know he keeps them in separate pens but the only explanation I can think of is that I somehow ended up with a cross. They are about 15 weeks old. Is it safe to say the other BCM is a pullet? She doesn't have any comb at all yet. Is that normal? I really love the BCM's and am excited to learn more about them. Until then please excuse my ignorance.

Well...first things first. With Rhodebars, those with white dots on their heads are cockerels. If the cockerel in your photo is a cross, it would have to have been a single barred cock (NOT a "real" Rhodebar where the males must be double-barred) over a Marans female and the chick did not get the barring gene. If it were a Marans over a Rhodebar female, the male chick would have had a dot on its head and would have been barred. I think most likely is somehow your chicks got mixed up and you have here a BCM pullet and some kind of mixed up cockerel, either a very leaky Marans or a cross.

Mahalo for the mental exercise.

 

[One Chick Two]

I finally ordered me some fbcm eggs off ebay and had ten hatch last week

Can you sex by color on them at this age. I noticed three have combs twice the size of the rest

Congratulations! So exciting.

You cannot sex by color at this age. You have to get in close and look for signs on face, and even then sometimes you can guess wrong at first. I photograph them all full body and close then look for differences and changes as they age.

Old Wade Jeanne cockerel. Often (but not always, they will have much white on face.) Notice the defined serrations on nose bridge. The yellow comb changed color to flesh pink. Yellow on chest is just food color. I use this to temporarily mark chicks. Lasts until the feathers come in.


Old Wade Jeanne pullet. Notice her comb is tinier and dark? Her beak is also slightly darker. Less facial white.



This pullet's from a different line. She has a lot of white on face and near eyes, often males will show this more. Her comb was a flesh tone, but very close to head. Also, her beak was lighter than most of lines we've tested.


From yet a different line. Cockerel. He was only two days old in this shot, but his comb was defined early.

This pullet is from the same line with a different hen mother at two days old. Notice her comb is slightly smaller, darker, and beak is darker? She had a surprising amount of facial white. Yes, she had a copper dot on head.


So, each line has it's differences and you have to figure out which signs your chicks will show.

 

[justoldbobo2]

Congratulations! So exciting. You cannot sex by color at this age. You have to get in close and look for signs on face, and even then sometimes you can guess wrong at first. I photograph them all full body and close then look for differences and changes as they age. Old Wade Jeanne cockerel. Often (but not always, they will have much white on face.) Notice the defined serrations on nose bridge. The yellow comb changed color to flesh pink. Yellow on chest is just food color. I use this to temporarily mark chicks. Lasts until the feathers come in. Old Wade Jeanne pullet. Notice her comb is tinier and dark? Her beak is also slightly darker. Less facial white. This pullet's from a different line. She has a lot of white on face and near eyes, often males will show this more. Her comb was a flesh tone, but very close to head. Also, her beak was lighter than most of lines we've tested. From yet a different line. Cockerel. He was only two days old in this shot, but his comb was defined early. This pullet is from the same line with a different hen mother at two days old. Notice her comb is slightly smaller, darker, and beak is darker? She had a surprising amount of facial white. Yes, she had a copper dot on head. So, each line has it's differences and you have to figure out which signs your chicks will show.

I do notice 3/10 have much larger combs so far. I'll have to get better look at each and maybe post few pics.

 

[Ihilani Coffee]

I do notice 3/10 have much larger combs so far. I'll have to get better look at each and maybe post few pics.

Those are probably your "definite cockerels." Then you have to wait for the "sneaky cockerels" to show up later!

 

[DoubleMM]

Those are probably your "definite cockerels." Then you have to wait for the "sneaky cockerels" to show up later!

Aren't sneaky cockerels.... well let's say..... SNEAKY!

 

[Ihilani Coffee]

Aren't sneaky cockerels.... well let's say..... SNEAKY!

Yes. I love the ones that look at you before they're a week old and scream, "COCKEREL!!"

 

[SIMZ]

Here is my first "own" cockerel that made the preliminary cuts. He's 13 weeks old (!!!) and I really like him. It's hard to see here, but his saddle and hackle feathers match. It seems that his back slopes slightly downward. (This photo doesn't quite show his natural stance, but it's close.) Legs are nicely feathered, wide stance, black chest. The things my highly inexperienced eye can see are that he may be too black and his eyes seem kind of light - like almost green.

Notice that he has a huge comb and wattles already. He has matured so much faster than the others...which I'm ok with because I use the extras for meat. He'll keep growing, though, right?

His mother lays very dark eggs and is the best laying Marans I've ever had. She's laid almost daily for her first year with only a few breaks of less than a week each.

Any input off this one photo? I'll get more in depth photos of him when he matures some more.

 

[snowbird]

Here is my first "own" cockerel that made the preliminary cuts. He's 13 weeks old (!!!) and I really like him. It's hard to see here, but his saddle and hackle feathers match. It seems that his back slopes slightly downward. (This photo doesn't quite show his natural stance, but it's close.) Legs are nicely feathered, wide stance, black chest. The things my highly inexperienced eye can see are that he may be too black and his eyes seem kind of light - like almost green.

Notice that he has a huge comb and wattles already. He has matured so much faster than the others...which I'm ok with because I use the extras for meat. He'll keep growing, though, right?

His mother lays very dark eggs and is the best laying Marans I've ever had. She's laid almost daily for her first year with only a few breaks of less than a week each.

Any input off this one photo? I'll get more in depth photos of him when he matures some more.

Hi , you do not say but I assume this is a Wheaton.

 

[SIMZ]

Hi , you do not say but I assume this is a Wheaton.

Well.....he's a BCM. What do you see wheaten about him? Oh no.

 

[snowbird]

Quote:

Quote: From what I can see in the picture it looks like he has white shanks. His wing looks to be wheaten. Could you post another picture with more light. His Hackle and Saddle look to be Mahogany colored.