International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[kcrandall]

Great hatch! 24 of the 27 eggs set hatched.
Full house!
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Congrats and well done!

 

[chickengr]

If it were vulture hocks I would think the feathers would be stiff like primary wing feathers. They still have a couple of juvenile molts to go thru so they will change a lot. Just grow them out the. You’ll know for sure.

Do you know the foundation blood (line) for your Line #1? I know Little Peddler BCMs sometimes throws chicks with vulture hocks.

aren't vulter hocks much bigger? like brahma's?

 

[Punkybrewster]

If it were vulture hocks I would think the feathers would be stiff like primary wing feathers. They still have a couple of juvenile molts to go thru so they will change a lot. Just grow them out the. You’ll know for sure.

Do you know the foundation blood (line) for your Line #1? I know Little Peddler BCMs sometimes throws chicks with vulture hocks.

Bev Davis. Not sure what the common faults with that line are.

The young woman who has the parents of these birds bought them straight from there a few years ago. She has about 10. They are the only birds she has and i visited with them when i picked up the hatching eggs.

The funny thing is, i was worried about fertility when i saw the rooster. To my untrained eyes at the time, i thought he was just too stout mount the hens.

Of course i know better now.

They have great mass and type.
The flaws i see in these particular birds so far are
awful combs,
overfeathered shanks/feet,
mottled/brown eye color in the hens.

 

[Punkybrewster]

Ive also figured out why this second hatch from these marans look so different from the first hatch that i culled.

She had 2 roosters when i picked up the first dozen eggs. The second time around she only had one. The other rooster had died. I bet he had the better genes.

 

[Punkybrewster]

aren't vulter hocks much bigger? like brahma's?

I sure hope so.
Ive never paid particular attention to these type of things in my chickens before now.

 

[Dry Creek Chickens]

Howdy. I would never be able to raise show birds, however I would like some knowledge. Concerning vulture hocks, is it because of the feathers, or shanks or a combo or something else? I have 13 FBCMs that I got as day old chicks. As they aged, I noticed that 2 of the roos had what I called T-rex legs. I knew nothing about vulture hocks but that must be them. I have 7 roos and 6 pullets. They are 3 and a half months old now. Thanks.

 

[Chooks man]

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I'm loving the cape on the pullet in front. She's looking fancy!

Representing the black silver marans

gorgeous looking birchen pullets .complete hackle marking .great stuff . lovely body type .
the one in the back look like she has a better clean silver or just a photo .
Class . Bravo
chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

OK, let’s not panic just yet. If the feathers are stiff and hard like primary wing feathers then its vulture hocks if the feathers are soft like on the belly then I think his feathers are just loose fitting.

Keith

agree with @kcrandall . do need to panic now ,it is not the end of the world .even if it is vulture hocks .they still nice marans and can be worked with .
look to me they have heavy legs feathering ,that what is causing that look . those birds if bred together as sibling ,they will throw a lot of chicks with vulture hocks ,but if bred to a different line .like your line #2 { light feathering type} a problem will go away 100% .

chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

Please tell me im not seeing what i think im seeing...

This is Glen from line #1. My favorite chooks.

Vulture hocks?!?!

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@Chooks man you spotted this when they were younger and i said no it isnt.

The flock that i had earlier in the spring had what looked like vulture hock but it seemed to go away. But those chicks never made it to this age. I had to cull all my birds due to illness, remember?

I bet they would have looked like this too if they lived to be this old. Same parents.

This is awful. My favorite birds.
Line#1.
3 pullets, 3 cockerels. My "Walking Dead" chooks.
So Glen and Negan both have vulture hocks.

That leaves Rick as the only usable cockerel and pullets Maggie, Judith and black eyed Carol.

And they are all over feathered on their shanks and bad combs. Ugh

chill out my friend . just because they showing a problem you start to panic .it is not that bad . they are great type and showing lovely copper marking ,so let them grow .
every thing can be bred in or out ,that what we do as breeders .we fix thing .

that why I said many time ,we can not keep some one else line pure . because there is no perfect marans line out there to be maintained pure for eternity . all need work ,some need more than others .BUT THEY ALL NEED WORK .

I told you line #2 will help you fix line #1 . you have the solution so stay calm please .

chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

Their in between.
Not super stiff but not fluffy soft either.
2 have it and one doesnt.

When i noticed them the first thing i did was feel them and i was a little confused. I expect them to be hard like tail or wing feathers but their not.

if they are vulture hocks they should stiff and hard .
I think the breeder you got the fertile eggs from is working wth a heavy feathering type . wrong practice .

marans legs feathering genes Pti1 is not stable gene . never breed true ,has to be maintain at all time . heavy feathered legs always has to be bred to light feathering type to maintain the balance .
it is a reason the English breeders did not like working with it . they found it unstable ,so they bred it out .bad thing to do .

chooks man