International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[chickengr]

The parents look really nice. Keep us updated with pictures!

I've got some Birchen eggs that I bought in the bator, and some of them are a plum color! I wonder how hard it would be to breed for the heavy bloom because I love it.

I would like the plum colour eggs! if you cross plum eggers with blue/green eggers you will get gray eggers. that would be nice for laying flock.

 

[baunlee]

for me the proper hatch down color of the chick is very important in my selective breeding . this sort of chicks never will be tagged . layer pullets and freezer cockerels .

I do not even breed from the Penguin type hatch down .they are a cull for me .

only breed from the chicks that are mostly black with a minimum white on they lower body not they faces .

Chooks man

on that same point, does anyone have information on why it seems so much more difficult to get a black birchen chick with dark hatch down? I feel like my birchens are way more white on the down than compared to my coppers. I will post photos of the little guys to show you what I mean later. I have another group even younger than the last photos

 

[Chooks man]

on that same point, does anyone have information on why it seems so much more difficult to get a black birchen chick with dark hatch down? I feel like my birchens are way more white on the down than compared to my coppers. I will post photos of the little guys to show you what I mean later. I have another group even younger than the last photos

I explain to you why .
most of the breeders select they breeders stock at the final stage of they growth 5 to 8 month old .if they happy with what they see ( as body color ) than they breed from .they forget about the hatch down and they don t wait tell the second molt to see the true body color of they adult chooks .that why our ER chooks ( Black .Blue copper .Birchen and cuckoo ) have a lot parasitic white .

this 2 trait ( chick hatch down and final body color after the second molt) are very important for ER chooks final selection of the true breeders
to achieve that we need keep our chooks to age and breed from them and they younger progeny .

Example ; Rooster aged 3 years with no parasitic white should be mated to his grand daughter . if we do it this way we ll have the control of the parasitic white .because we can see the aged Roo or Hen if they have or not the parasitic white plus we can see the chicks hatch down too .
breeding from only the young stock ( cockerels and pullets ) is causing all this sort of problem .

I have a BCM hen she really black with a little copper on her hackle she just finished here second molt and now she have white dot all over her black body not pure black any more So her and the progeny I hatch from her this year all going a be out of my breeding program

breeding need a lot attention to the little detail .
taking photos of our stock at different ages ( technical photos ) will help us to breed a good chooks
chooks man

 

[chickengr]

I explain to you why .
most of the breeders select they breeders stock at the final stage of they growth 5 to 8 month old .if they happy with what they see ( as body color ) than they breed from .they forget about the hatch down and they don t wait tell the second molt to see the true body color of they adult chooks .that why our ER chooks ( Black .Blue copper .Birchen and cuckoo ) have a lot parasitic white .

this 2 trait ( chick hatch down and final body color after the second molt) are very important for ER chooks final selection of the true breeders
to achieve that we need keep our chooks to age and breed from them and they younger progeny .

Example ; Rooster aged 3 years with no parasitic white should be mated to his grand daughter . if we do it this way we ll have the control of the parasitic white .because we can see the aged Roo or Hen if they have or not the parasitic white plus we can see the chicks hatch down too .
breeding from only the young stock ( cockerels and pullets ) is causing all this sort of problem .

I have a BCM hen she really black with a little copper on her hackle she just finished here second molt and now she have white dot all over her black body not pure black any more So her and the progeny I hatch from her this year all going a be out of my breeding program

breeding need a lot attention to the little detail .
taking photos of our stock at different ages ( technical photos ) will help us to breed a good chooks
chooks man

I think you once mentioned that parasitic white feathers can be due to health issues. does it count in genetics?

my mario lost all of parasitic white feathers. but marco had some health issues when he was about 3 months old. unfortunately he is full of white feathers. his mother died at 1 year old so I know nothing about her.

I am keeping them at the moment but I set 5 eggs that I got from a friend of mine just in case. I suspect that luna, mario and marco might be heavily inbred. I will see if any of their eggs will hatch. the broody is young and at the beginning she lost 3 marans eggs in the nest (buried them away from her). she also gets up and stays for long and eggs cool down. I don't hope too much. but I put some eggs under a heat lamp to experiment the old fashion incubating from the pre-incubator times.

 

[Bantambird]

Here is a hen with a prize:a mouse she has caught.

 

[chickengr]

Here is a hen with a prize:a mouse she has caught.

tell her she is my idol!

 

[chickengr]

everyone busy with the chicks?

I had to give up hatching with the lamp. it got warmer so temperature went too high and killed embryos. it is a pity. I hope my broodies will hatch some. 1 is sitting well and the young orpington does not cover the eggs well when she returns to the nest. I must be there when she does but I cannot babysit all the time. she also gets out every 2-3 days and stays 20-25 minutes outside. I force her back. it is not cold but she should return faster.

I am waiting to see if any of my 7 marans eggs and 5 of my friend's eggs will hatch. the 7 are due on 3rd may and the 5 are due on 11th may. can't wait!

 

[kcrandall]

everyone busy with the chicks?

I had to give up hatching with the lamp. it got warmer so temperature went too high and killed embryos. it is a pity. I hope my broodies will hatch some. 1  is sitting well and the young orpington does not cover the eggs well when she returns to the nest. I must be there when she does but I cannot babysit all the time. she also gets out every 2-3 days and stays 20-25 minutes outside. I force her back. it is not cold but she should return faster. 

I am waiting to see if any of my 7 marans eggs and 5 of my friend's eggs will hatch. the 7 are due on 3rd may and the 5 are due on 11th may. can't wait! 

Good luck with your hatch!! My broody hens come off the nest daily for about 30 minutes for the first week then about an hour per day for the next two weeks. I usually don't let my hens set more than 8-10 eggs so they can cover them all. My hens have a hatch rate of about 75%.

The BLCM and BCM Chicks I incubated this spring are 3 weeks old today and are feathering out well. They should be fully feathered in another week or two. Looks like I got an even split between pullets and cockerels, 8 each.

Take Care,
Keith

 

[chickengr]

Good luck with your hatch!! My broody hens come off the nest daily for about 30 minutes for the first week then about an hour per day for the next two weeks. I usually don't let my hens set more than 8-10 eggs so they can cover them all. My hens have a hatch rate of about 75%.

The BLCM and BCM Chicks I incubated this spring are 3 weeks old today and are feathering out well. They should be fully feathered in another week or two. Looks like I got an even split between pullets and cockerels, 8 each.

Take Care,
Keith

pics of cuties?

my silly broodie is buff orpington and could cover 20 eggs. she just feels more comfortable behind the eggs, lol. she watches the eggs in front of her and even doesn't try to roll them.

my other broodie is some local greek hooded hen. she is small and I gave her 5 eggs only. she could cover 7 but I didn't want to risk. she gets up every 2 days for less than 5 minutes. I ordered 2 pullets of the same breed and hope they will be broodies as well.

 

[Chooks man]

everyone busy with the chicks?

I had to give up hatching with the lamp. it got warmer so temperature went too high and killed embryos. it is a pity. I hope my broodies will hatch some. 1 is sitting well and the young orpington does not cover the eggs well when she returns to the nest. I must be there when she does but I cannot babysit all the time. she also gets out every 2-3 days and stays 20-25 minutes outside. I force her back. it is not cold but she should return faster.

I am waiting to see if any of my 7 marans eggs and 5 of my friend's eggs will hatch. the 7 are due on 3rd may and the 5 are due on 11th may. can't wait!

sorry to hear about your trouble .

the broody hen can leave the nest for about a hour .it is alright don t panic .it is normal .

good luck

Chooks man