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

[Red Banks]

Wow that sounds like a lot of chickens to cull through. I can only imagine raising 200 chicks and culling all but 5. Sounds like a lot of chicken dinners! lol. Thank you so much for all the great info. The Golden Cuckoos are pretty and I was wondering how to go about breeding some so they will breed true so they can be auto sexing. I may give it a go.

My black copper chicks are hatching now! So far the darkest eggs I was really hoping would hatch are pipped or have already hatched. They are solid 7's and have a dark rich color. So beautiful! I am trying to leg band each as they hatch and will wing band each individual chick when they are old enough. I have 2 different sets that are distantly related so I can line breed them. Those are hatching separately. I am doing as you said, and recording which chick hatched from what color egg. I will keep meticulous records and only breed a rooster that hatched from the darkest egg. Can't wait to see how they turn out.

Congrats on the new chicks! I went thru the 9 fourteen week olds today and picked the cockerel I will keep for now and the 4 pullets. I am taking the other BCMs to a swap to see if someone will take them.

 

[kfelton0002]

Pics of the black copper eggs I havw in lockdown now. These pics were taken before I set them.

 

[kfelton0002]

Congrats on the new chicks! I went thru the 9 fourteen week olds today and picked the cockerel I will keep for now and the 4 pullets. I am taking the other BCMs to a swap to see if someone will take them.

Thanks! That's the plan with what I'm hatching. Only the best rooster of each set will stay and the rest will be culled. All pullets will stay as long as they are good quality. I hope I get a decent hatch with them.

 

[Chooks man]

Hi Kfelton .very nice eggs . you are in business of future dark eggs layer marans chooks.

That great as long as you keep tagging and recording you will be fine. this is the only way any breeding program will be successful .

I agree with you breed the Golden cuckoo marans especially with the blood line and the eggs you have of the BCM.

you can breed them side by side and actually is better for you because the best type Golden cuckoo maran is ER based chook.

You don t have to cull a lot like me .
I had to put every body on the roast chooks diet for a long time even the chooks them selves. Ha Haaa.

Chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

Hi RedBank how are you.

The slow and fast feathering mean ; When the chicks hatched in they 1 st week the slow fathering one will have only short wing feathers no tail at all.
But the fast feathering chicks will have by the end of the week long wing feather and long tail as well.

is a genetic trait .and is a sex linked too.

if you mate a fast feathering Rooster to a slow feathering hen you will get all the cockerels slow feathering and all the pullets fast feathering. is a good way to sex the chick at hutch. but you have to know your stock.

hope that help

 

[Red Banks]

Hi RedBank how are you.

The slow and fast feathering mean ; When the chicks hatched in they 1 st week the slow fathering one will have only short wing feathers no tail at all.
But the fast feathering chicks will have by the end of the week long wing feather and long tail as well.

is a genetic trait .and is a sex linked too.

if you mate a fast feathering Rooster to a slow feathering hen you will get all the cockerels slow feathering and all the pullets fast feathering. is a good way to sex the chick at hutch. but you have to know your stock.

hope that help

That is perfect. I have used this and didn't even know it. I sexed my BCM batch on whether they had a tail or not and got it right. This helps a lot. Thanks Chooks Man! These were slow feathering. Now 14 weeks.

 

[cutecowgirl084]

So I have some questions about Marans. I have 2 pullets and a cockerel that are about 4 months old they are white French Marans. As far as body type what is ideal? There is a really pretty girl posted in this thread but she is much bulkier and low to the ground than mine. Or is it just bc mine are young and not done growing yet so they look a bit lanky? Also the feathering on the middle toe I read is a DQ? I'm not going to be showing just trying to self educate. My girls have feathering on shanks and first toe but not on the middle toe, my boy does have the middle toe feathering but they are pretty sparse maybe 3 and they are smaller. Is it feasible to say in breeding him with them that I should get some with middle toe feathering and then I could just keep those? Lastly what leg color is acceptable? I know yellow is not. Any info would be great or if you know of a thread that covers these point me in that direction!! Thanks))

Update- just found a cool thread about DQ and its says there should NOT be feathering on middle toe?? So then my question is reversed since my roo has some slight feathering on middle toe if bred to girls without middle toe feathers would I get chicks with and without middle toe feathering?

 

[Chooks man]

Hi Cutecowgirl084.

you asked the question and gave the answer . Yeah you don t feathers in the midle toe.

you can breed him to the hen s without a midle feather toe or no feather a all and you will get a good result.

post some photos of your chooks so we can see and give you an idea .

chooks mab

 

[Chooks man]

here my White rooster from a Domonant white line .So he s ER/ER his have a darker feet and some leakage of few black feathers.
Solid big type come from dark egg.

his name is SAMIR ,his father is SCORPION and his man is SALIMA.so he s the S line

 

[Chooks man]

here are the Dominant white marans hens they lay really dark oval eggs.