Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[Tiegrsi]

Can anyone tell me if eye color changes from chicks to adulthood? From olive/greenish to the proper orange. I have some 6 week old BCM chicks with green eyes. They were purchased from a breeder not hatchery. I can't remember if my adult BCM looked like this at their age.

They will change when the birds are a little older. In my experience, nice, clear olive eyes will turn a lovely orange. If they have dark spots (flecks) or are a muddy color, the final shade will not be the proper color. If they are very dark, brown or black, the bird should not be used for breeding.

 

[LilJoe]

There are a lot of BCM people on BYC that can help you too. A black chest with a few persimmon colored spots is what you want to see. A rooster like that will put the copper hackle back on your pullet chicks when you breed a hen with a black hackle. You want to see a copper colored ear tuft on the rooster too.... not black.

I am used to the copper spots on the roos, but this is white on the tips of each feather.

I have very nice BCM, some of my roosters are overcolored but that can be breed out just like any other fault and in my opinion better than most faults such as bad type, squirrel tails, etc.
Blue or green eyes is what I want to see in my young chicks.

My batches this year have red/brown to dark brown eyes, but at a certain angle they look blue/green. Is this okay?

 

[Red Banks]

I am used to the copper spots on the roos, but this is white on the tips of each feather.


My batches this year have red/brown to dark brown eyes, but at a certain angle they look blue/green. Is this okay?

You could post a pic but if they look blue/green they will be okay. Chicks with white feathers or cockerels with white tips on chest? Sorry..... I am confused.

 

[Tiegrsi]

Just an example, but here is my boy Nobandy over time. Sorry I don't have more pictures to track the change each month.

I should add, he was hatched 8/2016, and his eye color had changed completely by about 8-9 months old.

 

[Red Banks]

Is "smuttiness" in FBCM wings normal? And are mottled chests normal?

These eyes were green. All my birds have very nice orange eyes. Do you mean mossiness like the second picture? Or white feathers in the wings? If you enlarge the chick picture you can see the green eye on the far left chick.

 

[LilJoe]

You could post a pic but if they look blue/green they will be okay. Chicks with white feathers or cockerels with white tips on chest? Sorry..... I am confused.

Chicks. Both pullets and cockerels.

 

[LilJoe]

These eyes were green. All my birds have very nice orange eyes. Do you mean mossiness like the second picture? Or white feathers in the wings?
View attachment 1364470 View attachment 1364472

Oh, yes. I meant mossy. Sorry.

 

[Red Banks]

Chicks. Both pullets and cockerels.

Chicks can have white feathers. They will disappear at least that has been my experience. If they have parasitic white it will show up sometimes after the first or second year.

 

[Red Banks]

Oh, yes. I meant mossy. Sorry.

Mossiness is a chick/bird being overcolored. For me this color in the wings has always disappeared but..... I DO have a lot of color on my cockerels chest. It is a thin line between too much color, the right color (no straw colored halo) and the wrong color, black ear tufts on roosters, too mahogany. The French site and the MCOA have some very good information concerning the SOP. Try not to just look at what is wrong with your birds. Take note of what you like, what is right, find ways to correct the faults by breeding to a bird that is stronger/more correct in the problem area. I have a good friend/mentor on BYC, he is well known world wide. He says, "Cull all your chooks, you will never have any chooks in your yard." For instance, no leg feathering is a quick fix, one generation. On the International BCM thread we will "describe" birds by the SOP. It is a great exercise and a good way to learn what you want to see and what is correct in your birds. The good, the bad and the ugly. I don't like to throw the baby out with the bath water. These cockerels are 18 weeks. You can still see the eye changing on the cockerel on the left side.

 

[UThobbyfarmer]

This is the eye color I'm taking about. They hatched early March.