Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[parktonchicken]

These are my babies. I am just stsrting out, and i picked them cause they are pretty to me. Interested in seeing what their chicks will turn out like.

 

[FVRM]

These are my babies. I am just stsrting out, and i picked them cause they are pretty to me. Interested in seeing what their chicks will turn out like.

oh you live in parkton nc! me too!

 

[parktonchicken]

Yup, just getting into back yard breeding. pm me and we can chat more about what we got.

 

[ochochicas]

Quote: Me too! During my last hatch I lost a chick after another chick knocked the egg over after it pipped and the baby drowned. I take them out when there are three or four that are ready for the brooder. The humidity in my incubator is pretty high, so the chicks don't dry in there anyway.

 

[Turkeytruff]

I'm a bad parent, I take them out as soon as they hatch because they kick the other eggs around and make it harder for the late hatchers to get out. I do it fast btw

I take them out as well to avoid the 'kicked around egg' syndrome; I have lost too many because they have also drowned in the shell when an enthusiastic sibling spins them around. My technique is I heat up some water in the kettle (hot but nowhere near boiling) and soak 3 large sponges in a clean bowl. Then I lift the lid off the hatcher, take out the other sponges and put the fresh ones in (I keep 6 exclusively for this purpose for about 2-3 hatches) and then take the little guy(s) out. I also have started hatching them in open egg cartons - they seem to be able to hatch out well this way.

 

[snaffle]

Me too! During my last hatch I lost a chick after another chick knocked the egg over after it pipped and the baby drowned. I take them out when there are three or four that are ready for the brooder. The humidity in my incubator is pretty high, so the chicks don't dry in there anyway.

How high do you keep your humidity?

I keep hearing how we should not open the incubator during the lockdown but worry about eggs getting knocked around by chicks.

Last two hatches I used the egg carton method and plan to do that every hatch now. Watching a video from a hatchery and seeing so many chicks hatched in trays... makes me wonder why they dont have more problems with eggs getting knocked around... but then maybe they do!

 

[scflock]

I read about the first 40 pages of this thread last night. It's very interesting. I've been keeping backyard chickens for 5 years now, have about 55 full timers, and this is my first year hatching large batches of chicks. These are my first BCMs, and I didn't realize that the breed was so relatively new. It's awesome that Bev Davis was chiming in. I wish she would drop in from time to time to educate us that are just starting.
Like I said, I'm not breeding for show quality birds, but I also don't want to breed weakness into the line. When I get a chance to get some good pictures of my gang, I will post pictures, and I want honest critiques of my chickens. I'm a big boy, I can handle it

 

[missmae66]

Every body loves to hear from Bev Davis. She is so knowledgeable. You need to join the some Facebook pages: Many successful breeders are on there and are very generous with their knowledge.


" Black Copper Marans Fancier"
"Marans Mania"

 

[One Chick Two]

Looking for feedback on pullet. Pictures taken at just under 6 months old.

Your pullet is looking good, IMO. I like her. Love her friendly expression.

She has good type, and topline is nice and long. When a pullet starts laying, sometimes she can grow in a large, "hen saddle cushion" which can really throw type off, so it is something to watch for later. Bottom line looks great. She's a little slender still, and narrow toward the rear (at least from the top angle looking down), but she will likely fill out. Tail has a good angle, maybe just a tad on the long side, but she still has growing to do before you can say for sure. We have a few pullets that grew into longish tail feathers.

I think her shank feathering look a bit on the sparse side, so she would need to mate with a rooster with good shank feathering- even if he had middle toe feathers. Her eye color looks ideal. Her hackle should have more even coloring overall, especially right above eyes. However, she may still get a bit more in. And it looks to be the right coppery hue in tone, not straw-colored or uneven in coloring. Green body feathers, not purple...dense and close to her body. All good.

Assuming she maintains good type when she plumps out, and doesn't get huge hen cushion (and has good egg color) I would say I believe she would be a very good female candidate for breeding. She has enough hackle that if you use a well colored male with her, you should have good to great colored next gen cockerels, and color on the hackle of the next gen females. As for showing, I would suggest waiting to see how she finishes out, but I like the direction she seems to be heading.

Check out the FB pages mismae66 recommended.

 

[One Chick Two]

Hi. I just found this thread, and after about 20 pages I started going into overload, so I'm jumping in and posting. I picked up some straight run FBCMs a few weeks ago. I don't have any pics of the chicks yet, but I did take a pic of the eggs while I was at the breeder's

I'm not going for show quality birds, I just want the dark eggs, and these were beautiful. This picture was taken under white light. The man said they were Wade Jean line, but I'm a novice with Marans and have no way of proving this. The chicks are beautiful, with nice feathering on the legs and outside toes. The part that is baffling me, though, is sexing them. On my cuckoo marans, I can usually tell within a week. These are 8 weeks old, and I'm still not sure. Two definitely have the combs and wattles to make me think they are roosters, but the coloring is what is throwing me. They are all molting out the few white feathers they had, but two are staying almost solid black, two have slight copper feathering coming into their necks, and 4 have a good bit of copper in their necks, almost like black sexlinks. A couple of them are starting to get a little copper coloring in their backs, too. Is there a lot of color variation from bird to bird, or is coloring at 8 weeks indicative of what they are growing into? I will post pics as soon as I can get some good ones.
The parent stock looked very good, though I'm certainly not a show judge. The coloring on all of his birds looked typical to what I researched online before I went, but like I said, I mainly went after the eggs. I will keep one rooster so I can raise my own, though. I have had many people that buy my cuckoos ask when the black coppers will be available. I'm looking forward to raising these

We have a Wade Jeanne also, and found them to be slower maturing at first than other lines. I photograph all chicks every week so I can see changes and have them to refer back to when needed.

The males (we have at least) normally have a slightly pinker comb than the females, with a wider nose bridge at birth. Pullets had a darker comb at first. (The yellow on white pinfeathers was food color.)

Two days old:
Cockerel

Pullet


Cockerel (a few weeks later.)


Pullet (a few weeks later.)


Cockerel 1 month -Notice how pink his wattles are becoming

Pullet 1month Smaller, lighter comb and wattles