Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[Hens and Roos]

Quote:
We really aren't trying to hurt your feelings. We really are trying to help you....

If I was selling chicks that looked like yours I would ALWAYS include a disclaimer " NOT SHOW QUALITY" marans.

My marans have issues with white feathers and I make sure that I advertise them as "NOT SHOW QUALITY", but a PERFECT bird for the backyard farmer who wants fresh eggs..... I've never had anyone walk away unhappy.

There are many folks out there that just don't care about the SOP... They don't care when they are selling or they don't care when they are buying. MOST folks have no intention of showing. They just want healthy birds, friendly birds, and eggs.

Thank you Math Ace, OntheSpot and others who are being so helpful and positive and educational right now. That is what one hopes for when subscribing to a thread, and this discussion has been Great. Whenever I join a thead, I keep up with the new entries, and slowly work my way through from the beginning. There is a wealth of information on these pages!

I agree, it is better to sell or eat the poor quality birds, and invest in some good ones. As you said, for the price of a few sacks of feed, you can have the benefit of someones years of care and knowledge, and the satisfaction of owning nice birds. I know of breeders who only keep several birds out of every hundred they hatch to use for their breeding program. It takes dedication and knowledge and an investment in much money and time to to accomplish this. If we purchase from these breeders, we can benefit from their wisdom, and support their endeavors .

Math Ace, did you purchase plans to make your own incubator? I have been very disappointed with the little bit of hatching I have done with shipped eggs, and would be interested in a homemade incubator. And I have two handy sons!

there is actually a thread out here on BYC that shows many different and cool styles of homemade incubators along with pictures and directions! We made one and it works great for us. Good Luck!

 

[sshavney]

the

OK,here are more pics boy or girl?
The last pic is a female.

 

[math ace]

Quote:
Dh made mine using an igloo cooler with a drian plug at the bottom. I leave the drain plug unplugged for ventalation.
Then we used a strand of the old fashioned christmas bulbs as a heat source. We left 5 - 9 of them inside the cooler and removed the rest. We wired up a computer fan for air circualtion. The lights and fan went under a wire shelf we built to place the eggs on.

An egg turner wouldn't fit, so the eggs had to be hand turned.

I would just spray water inside whenever we needed additional humidity.

Dh built a clear plexiglass lid that we placed on the inside lip of the cover during the lock down period. That way I could see what was going on without letting the humidity out.

Dh also used a sticky foam tape to get a better seal on the lid when it was closed.

That is the basics.... We used a fancy t-stat that regulated the wattage of the light bulbs so that it maintained the temps really consistently.

NO PLANS were purchased.... Just Dh and I through trial and error.

 

[GeoKan]

Quote:
Hi AmiableHen.

I subscribe to this thread and have been following along for quite some time. I've learned a great deal and I hope to have some skin in the game soon.

If you would indulge me, I've been dying to post something useful.

I've made a couple of incubators and I'm on my second hatch with some lovely BCM eggs I acquired from an awesome breeder here on BYC. I've written a how to on my BYC page, but I need to update it to include some modifications I've made in the past few weeks. These bators are not intended for large quantity of eggs, but for more moderate, smaller hatches. I don't have acres of space, otherwise I'd be making them cabinet size.

I've made mine mostly out of scrap material I had laying around. The biggest expenses being a good thermometer, hygrometer, GQF thermostat and an egg turner. I didn't want to take chances on those items when incubating high-quality expensive eggs.

I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Here's a current pic of my incubators. The one on the left is my hatcher.

Here's my BCM eggs cookin'

Hopefully I'll be seeing these little fuzzies Tuesday or Wednesday.

 

[DMRippy]

Quote:
Hi AmiableHen.

I subscribe to this thread and have been following along for quite some time. I've learned a great deal and I hope to have some skin in the game soon.

If you would indulge me, I've been dying to post something useful.

I've made a couple of incubators and I'm on my second hatch with some lovely BCM eggs I acquired from an awesome breeder here on BYC. I've written a how to on my BYC page, but I need to update it to include some modifications I've made in the past few weeks. These bators are not intended for large quantity of eggs, but for more moderate, smaller hatches. I don't have acres of space, otherwise I'd be making them cabinet size.

I've made mine mostly out of scrap material I had laying around. The biggest expenses being a good thermometer, hygrometer, GQF thermostat and an egg turner. I didn't want to take chances on those items when incubating high-quality expensive eggs.

I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Here's a current pic of my incubators. The one on the left is my hatcher.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/82123_my_bators.jpg

Here's my BCM eggs cookin'

Hopefully I'll be seeing these little fuzzies Tuesday or Wednesday.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/82123_my_bator_eggs.jpg

Great info!!! Just started building mine in earnest today. We lined it with foil insulation hooked up the lights and thermostats along with the fans. We have to tweak the thermostat tomorrow but I think it is going to work. We just have to build the auto egg turner....cant find any good instructions on that. We are going to use a rotisserie and are going to gear it down and TRY to add a fan controller (like a dimmer switch on for more amps). Now if I just had some BCM egg from my little flock I would be set!

 

[Chef]

Quote:
Thanks for the pics! I still say boy. We will see what others say.


Chef

 

[sshavney]

Thanks Chef. I guess time will tell.

 

[dkcrumly]

Just had my very first French BC Marans hatch, so I'm super excited....here's hoping they turn out to be pullets! Any ideas on how to sex at a young age?

 

[aubreynoramarie]

Hi everyone! I was wondering if you can tell me the gender of this bcm chick. It's my only one so I can't make any comparisons. Thanks experts!

 

[Bravo]

Quote:
Thanks for the pics! I still say boy. We will see what others say.


Chef

You're right, Chef. Those don't look like pullet feathers