Blue Copper and Splash Copper Marans Discussion

[BeachBumBiddies]

Thanks for the info......the chicks are only a week old or so....guess i'll have to wait a lil bit...but I think we got swindled... One chick has even died & another doesn't look so hot...they were supposed to be good lines, blah blah, but who knows...Idk how ppl can do business like that...I have sold tons of stuff over the years on Craiglist or whathaveyou & would never try to swindle someone...if there's something wrong with a product or animal I have I either tell the buyer or don't sell until the problem is resolved...my thinking is that, that product/animal/whatever has MY name on it...& I don't want my name trashed..of course there are some ppl you just can't make happy but in the long run, you should do what's right..sorry...just a lil miffed...

 

[chisNchickens]

Pale shanks on a BCM cockbird... unfortunately, I believe he may be split for Wheaten. I would definitely test mate him to a Wheaten based hen (such as RIR or Wheaten Americauna), hatch 20 eggs. If you see any blondes... brown, or anything other than black with white on belly, then you know- for sure. Odds are 2 out of 4 should be Wheaten if it exists.

Here are the shanks/feet of a male that was a positive split for Wheaten.


These feet are from a BCM male. (Please excuse the mud. lol) They should be medium slate over pink.

My bird's legs are actually between the two colors you showed. They are definitely darker/more gray than the first image. Thanks for the information! I don't have anything to test mate to at the moment.

 

[Runawaylobster]

I had something typed out to reply the other day and the SKY FELL.... the website was down for a bit so it didn't submit.

My experience with copper on pullets..... limited LOL. The roos I had from Pinkchick put copper on my pullets. I was so excited to breed those pullets back to their sire and they both died before I could do that.

I tried to use a roo with some copper on his breast, didn't work. I tried him with some reg BC pullets and it didn't work with them either.

So I have those pullets in my pen now. I had them with my Blue copper cockerel and the chicks didn't have the color I expected. I talked with Vicki and she suggested I swap cockerels and use the Black Copper Roo to set the Copper in the pullets. I have JUST started to hatch from that pen and eggs are sparse but I like these chicks better.

I meant to add that adding copper to blues is harder than black..... per Vicki and I agree. I find far fewer blues with copper than blacks.

You should just plan on testing and see what you get. Document what you get in chicks. It just takes SO LONG to see what you end up with.

Hi Donna,

Blue is making blue pullets with copper, he is over mostly black copper hens. I grew them out a little bit but never kept any and i'm facing a situation now where i am all out of Blue Pullets except for the two i hatched who are now something like two years old, so i better keep some new ones. I am planning to put him over my new Fitz hens when they start laying (soon i hope) and we will see what comes out, probably they will have some bad and some good points mixed in, but hoping the eggs get much darker.. Let's see.

I am also going to put the Fitz hens with the project cockerel and make splits. wondering what i will get as far as type goes. Project cockerel grew out with nice color but not
such great type, his black copper brothers are fabulous type though, i am having a hard time I want to keep almost all of them LOL!!!

I think the copper and the eye color are related, it is rare that i get any with good colored eyes and no copper.

 

[DMRippy]

Quote:
You will have to share pictures! The projects are still early so type will come. Just was working to get some Lavenders to make splits with a nice BCM to improve EVERYTHING type, leg feathering, egg color and copper. When mine start laying I might get him to work on the pullets and get some splits.

 

[desertmarcy]

Hi Donna,

Blue is making blue pullets with copper, he is over mostly black copper hens. I grew them out a little bit but never kept any and i'm facing a situation now where i am all out of Blue Pullets except for the two i hatched who are now something like two years old, so i better keep some new ones. I am planning to put him over my new Fitz hens when they start laying (soon i hope) and we will see what comes out, probably they will have some bad and some good points mixed in, but hoping the eggs get much darker.. Let's see.

I am also going to put the Fitz hens with the project cockerel and make splits. wondering what i will get as far as type goes. Project cockerel grew out with nice color but not
such great type, his black copper brothers are fabulous type though, i am having a hard time I want to keep almost all of them LOL!!!

I think the copper and the eye color are related, it is rare that i get any with good colored eyes and no copper.

That may be line related because I have several---not exactly sure how many--Blue Copper hens with nice bay colored eyes but not a bit of copper. I have only one pullet this year that has copper approaching what I want. And a couple that has small amounts of copper. Having an old timer poultry judge who lives near me has helped me evaluate my birds. One thing he said last time he was out was, on the blue chickens, a judge will not give them the time of day unless they have some good lacing. I am seeing better eye color on my lighter blues, that don't have lacing

Some of my better laced blue pullets this year have lopped combs. So many things to work on at once! I think I will mate one of my Logan (Wade Jean line) Black Copper cockerels to a couple of the pullets or maybe use hens and see how that cross turns out because the Logan BCMs are putting better copper on my BCM pullets. Problem is, I know I will lose some size doing that, so I think I will try it with just a couple. I have a lot of options for pairing up birds this year, but the problem will be finding space for multiple breeding pairs/groups.

 

[gilavina]

Do you still have him? What does the rest of him look like?

The wait for eggs from my girls is killing me!!!!!! I want to get some test mating and hatching under way for Fall and Winter I tell ya! Maybe I should put a light on in their coop to get them moving since the days are now much shorter and lacking 12-15 hours of light.

I am in a situation where I have to start over and create Blue Copper males from Blue Copper females using a Black Copper male. However, the BC male is from a Blue Copper father and Black Copper mother, so he comes from Blue, this might be my only saving grace. A long road ahead, but will be interesting, and at least this time around I have a little prior experience with Marans and know what to look for.

The longer road is waiting for a Blue Copper male so that I can make some SPLASH!!!!

I miss my sassy little Splash ladies running around!

its so true, the splash girls I have are sassy too! I think I have 4 now all different ages and all different bloodline makeup and they are goofs!

 

[gilavina]

Hey Don, Don't think you saw the only cockerel I held back this year or the splash pullet I held back. I have two blue copper pullets with copper collars as well. I'm just holding onto them waiting to see if their eyes will lighten. At 8 months the few I had from last fall all lightened, so hoping they will. They have quite a bit left to grow. They are not perfect and kind of awkward in their growth stage, but think they will fill out more.
Since my mom passed away I have severely cut back all the animals, just have Gigantor, Big Boy and this young blue copper cockerel below and I think about 18 girls. Once all the girls are done filling back in after molt, I'll go thru and probably pick out the bottom 5 or so and sell them to a friend for replacement layers. Just will have to see how they fill back in. Sorry their stances aren't better, they are not tame at all as I've not been around much to handle them cause of my job. Usually they don't carry their tails quite so high, I'll keep trying to get better photos as they develop. The two blue copper girls in behind the splash pullet are their hatchmates (hatched 13 all total from a broody this year, that's it) and this is the best photo I could get of them. They are suuuuper shy and hide behind the building any chance they get.



he has nice medium slate legs, dang bright sun haha

 

[BeachBumBiddies]

My little blue rooster crowed yesterday. It's weird because he is only about 3 months old. Is this normal with Marans? These are the 1st I've owned. I have Brahmas as well & (some of) my Gold Laced have just started crowing and they're 6 months old.

 

[Ihilani Coffee]

My little blue rooster crowed yesterday. It's weird because he is only about 3 months old. Is this normal with Marans? These are the 1st I've owned. I have Brahmas as well & (some of) my Gold Laced have just started crowing and they're 6 months old.

If they are not in with older and/or more dominant cockerels, they can start their attempts pretty early.

 

[BeachBumBiddies]

Thanks for the response....it was so funny when he crowed...couldn't stop laughing...