International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[WVduckchick]

Bella is coming along pretty nicely. Cant wait to get her in a show cage in Nov and Dec!

It was hot today so she was panting.

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Love her!

Aww thank you! I sure hope they show well. I plan on taking them to the Appalachain Classic in November and the Dixie Classic in December. I have 2 Cream Legbar pullets and 2 Cream Legbar cockerels picked out also. I may not take them all, just the best 2 out of the 4 Legbars probably.

These arent the best pics of them. I havent taken a pic of the second cockerel yet. The other looks better and has a better crest/comb. His barring is darker too. But their type and tails are good for now. Once they mature over the next few months I will pick the best of them.

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Sorry for derailing the thread with my Legbars, but who better to share my chicken pictures with than my friends on this thread.

I for one also have CLs, so I certainly don’t mind looking at more! Good looking birds!

Here's a couple of my favorites.
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I couldn't get my blue gal to stand up straight for anything.
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Very nice!

I am not looking forward to winter! Snow, ice and stuck in the house for months. I dream of chickens often. Doesn't everyone!!! I had that same nightmare you had for real. Lol

I was gone for the weekend (wedding anniversary) and before we left, one of my ducks decided to take an hour flight away from home, but he did come back, thank goodness. I dreamed about him while we were gone.

That is what I'm trying to say. The person you bought them from has been breeding them for over 10 years. That is a lot of years and hard work! You culled 50% of those birds and do not know what these will produce. You choose which ones to breed forward and
TOM

This is why I won’t likely breed these forward much. I’m not into showing, and don’t have the heart to do all the culling and don’t want to sell sub-par birds.

 

[Magnolia Hill]

That is what I'm trying to say. The person you bought them from has been breeding them for over 10 years. That is a lot of years and hard work! You culled 50% of those birds and do not know what these will produce. You choose which ones to breed forward and hopefully in another 10 years you will have some nice birds. These birds do not reproduce themselves. We have to selectively breed each pair and hope the genes line up! Then we have to grow them out and breed them again! Just buying dark eggs and hatching those eggs will not work! A lot of time and hard work. I love these Black Copper Marans!!
I believe another issue is most people buying these Marans do not know what SOP is or what a Black Copper Marans should look like. That was the purpose of getting them approved in the Standard of Perfection. Those who can show these birds will really help the breed. One of the more important lessons to learn is breeding culls only produces more culls. TOM

I agree, this breed is tough. I love the challenge, and i love my marans, that's why i do it. It's really hard to find quality marans, this will be the fourth line i have worked with trying to have success, my other lines i just felt had to many flaws that shouldn't be bread forward. And I've spent countless hours studying, traveled hundreds of miles and spent thousands of dollars on those lines after just to throw them in with layers and give to friends. So you could imagine how happy i am to see all of yalls positive comments about them.

 

[Old Man Tom]

I agree, this breed is tough. I love the challenge, and i love my marans, that's why i do it. It's really hard to find quality marans, this will be the fourth line i have worked with trying to have success, my other lines i just felt had to many flaws that shouldn't be bread forward. And I've spent countless hours studying, traveled hundreds of miles and spent thousands of dollars on those lines after just to throw them in with layers and give to friends. So you could imagine how happy i am to see all of yalls positive comments about them.

YES Keep this line pure and breed very carefully. The first birds I bought hatched out with yellow legs and coronation comb. The first birds I had every hatched and the seller denied they were her birds. I found the Black Copper Marans thread and started learning about the breed. Those with real good birds are very hard to find and they do not let them go. You did great with these birds, good genes to work with. TOM

 

[kfelton0002]

Thank you, i prefer the darker type myself also, what ive learned breeding marans is its a balance, sometimes you need cockerels or hens that you necessarily wouldnt use. And i don't think there is a line of marans that produce both good males and females, usually its only one or the other. that's why my goal is to have a couple different lines and then go from there.

This is absolutely true. Breeder birds dont necessarily have to make the cut as show birds. Sometimes you need dark males to avoid mossy and overcolored offspring if your females paired with him are well colored. Or vice versa. One pair that produces well colored females may produce overcolored cockerels, and a pair that produces males with good color, no halo, and have nice dark underfluff may yield females with little to no hackle color. Having two separate male and female lines is a good move.

If you breed toward a darker richer copper with less orange/yellowish tones you can avoid white underfluff this way. As Chooks man taught me, white underfluff is a direct correlation with lighter hackle color and halos. A male with a deep even copper hackle will usually have dark underfluff. I have learned this and saw it for myself with this generation of cockerels.

 

[marchick]

I need incubating advice. All my eggs where marked so I just put them all in the incubator. It is day 17 and since I am not one to candle eggs often. I just realized one was put in upside down. Should I flip the egg and hope it repositions? The aircell is on the correct side. They go into lockdown tomorrow night.

 

[kfelton0002]

I need incubating advice. All my eggs where marked so I just put them all in the incubator. It is day 17 and since I am not one to candle eggs often. I just realized one was put in upside down. Should I flip the egg and hope it repositions? The aircell is on the correct side. They go into lockdown tomorrow night.

Yes flip it to the correct position, aircell up. You will be locking down soon so the chick will hopefully have time to reorient itself inside the shell prior to hatch once you stop turning.

 

[marchick]

Yes flip it to the correct position, aircell up. You will be locking down soon so the chick will hopefully have time to reorient itself inside the shell prior to hatch once you stop turning.

Thank you Kayla! I flipped it. It was the only Black/Blue Copper egg.

 

[Magnolia Hill]

This is absolutely true. Breeder birds dont necessarily have to make the cut as show birds. Sometimes you need dark males to avoid mossy and overcolored offspring if your females paired with him are well colored. Or vice versa. One pair that produces well colored females may produce overcolored cockerels, and a pair that produces males with good color, no halo, and have nice dark underfluff may yield females with little to no hackle color. Having two separate male and female lines is a good move.

If you breed toward a darker richer copper with less orange/yellowish tones you can avoid white underfluff this way. As Chooks man taught me, white underfluff is a direct correlation with lighter hackle color and halos. A male with a deep even copper hackle will usually have dark underfluff. I have learned this and saw it for myself with this generation of cockerels.

It's really insane how these genes work, theres definitely a lot of different scenario to consider. Im just trying to be patient and inform myself the best i can. it's really helps being able to come to this thread and bounce some ideas around, and listen to the ideas and experiences of others. That's priceless information!

 

[Lilorp14]

So just today I picked up 15 Blue Copper Maran hatching eggs, and the breeder and I talked for a while. She told me she feeds her Marans a certain food that darken's the color of the eggshells, but she said she wouldn't give away her secret, and encouraged me to find it on my own. She also hinted it's region-specific, and she's from north-western PA. On my way up I saw a lot of sweet corn and beans, so maybe one of those?
I'm kinda thinking she's full of it, because I've never heard of egg shells changing due to diet, but please correct me if I'm wrong
Anyone who might know what it is, don't hesitate to comment. And yes, I am cheating through the power of the Internet.

 

[Hensndoes]

So just today I picked up 15 Blue Copper Maran hatching eggs, and the breeder and I talked for a while. She told me she feeds her Marans a certain food that darken's the color of the eggshells, but she said she wouldn't give away her secret, and encouraged me to find it on my own. She also hinted it's region-specific, and she's from north-western PA. On my way up I saw a lot of sweet corn and beans, so maybe one of those?
I'm kinda thinking she's full of it, because I've never heard of egg shells changing due to diet, but please correct me if I'm wrong
Anyone who might know what it is, don't hesitate to comment. And yes, I am cheating through the power of the Internet.

My only immediate thought is she's cuckoo