Let's talk Cuckoo and WHITE marans... breeding strategies...

[nicalandia]

No wheaten. Mine are ER/ER based birds.

thats good because wheaten cant be autosexed, just sex linked, which is different

 

[nicalandia]

This is the single barred male I'm going to use down the line to increase size and add some depth to my color. He's a chunk of a boy and doesn't have any white in his tail feathers.

double Barred males will always be lighter than single barred males, so expect his sons to be much lighter than him

 

[pawtraitart]

double Barred males will always be lighter than single barred males, so expect his sons to be much lighter than him

Yep. It's too bad, too. I love the single barred males and this one in particular. His tail set is a bit low, but my double barred male's tail is a bit high, so this guy should help put me on the right track.

 

[flgardengirl]

I would breed her back to BCM You should get the deeper reddish color in the roos then plus if your BC has good feathers it will help improve it in the offspring. (+egg color)

Yes that was what I was thinking would be my best bet too. My gc's egg color really isn't too shabby but no where near what my darkest laying bcms lay. My silver cuckoo males have good leg feathering but still need work in the egg color dept. I will do the next batch with my darkest egg gened bcm with good shank feathering and see what happens. He is huge with good copper balance and nice shank/toe feathering. His back is a little short and tail a little high for my liking though.

 

[flgardengirl]

This is the single barred male I'm going to use down the line to increase size and add some depth to my color. He's a chunk of a boy and doesn't have any white in his tail feathers.

He's pretty

 

[OHmamma]

This is the single barred male I'm going to use down the line to increase size and add some depth to my color. He's a chunk of a boy and doesn't have any white in his tail feathers.

He is very handsome!!

Did you happen to take any pictures of the black coppers you started with? I am starting to look into the autosomal red in some birds and if it is a desirable trait when making the different varieties.

 

[OHmamma]

So how do we get ours over here to look like this? Mine already are way lighter and they're only like 10 or 12 weeks old. Do we breed back to BCM?? BTW Thanks for your comments on my birds a few pages back, I really appreciate it!

From what I can understand off the French forum it would go like this...

1st mating (F1).....Black Copper X Cuckoo you will get single bar roos and black pullets. Ditch the black pullets

2nd Mating (F2)...SB Cockerel x Black Copper female. you will get an assortment ; Cuckoo, Blacks, Birchen (cream), Er Cuckoo (cream), which you cull and Er Cuckoo (golden) which you keep.

3rd mating (F3)....Use the Golden Cuckoo (F2) cockerels and pullets. These will produce SB (single bar) dark cuckoo males (which should be culled) and both golden and reddish Cuckoo cockerels and pullets.

4th mating (F4)...use the reddish or golden, light cuckoo males and the reddish or golden barred females from the F3 mating. These will breed true now.

I think the biggest problem is having the patience to wait until you get the DF (double barring factor males) another issue would be whether you prefer the reddish color or the true golden color.

 

[Chickielady]

This is the single barred male I'm going to use down the line to increase size and add some depth to my color. He's a chunk of a boy and doesn't have any white in his tail feathers.

He is awesome ! I had a boy just like that 2 years ago, and a CRD took him out just when his hackle was growing in.....CuckooRoo was his name and I still miss that guy~~~

And have not pursued the Golden Cuckoo since...someday I will dig up the photos, but the little man was all silver cuckoo & rejected and so I took him in...and as he grew he developed the most awesome golden hackle !

 

[Phorseco]

Very new to chickens, please reivew the pics below and advise if these appear to carry the double barring gene and which may be rooster material. Thank you.....

 

[DMRippy]

They are too young to tell breeding potential. I think they all have double barring gene but you will know for sure as they get older. Single barred would be darker.