BC Marans coloring question?

[onthespot]

i have a pullet about that age with just a few copper feathers at the back of her lower neck area. I fully expect her to get a full copper collar before she lays an egg. Hang in there. Slow and steady wins the race. Chicken breeding is not a sprint event. LOL

 

[erin0415]

I have 2 BCM chicks that are about 2 months old. I have noticed a little bit of white on one part of the the foot feathering and on the edge of one wing on one of the chicks now that the feathers are coming in. Is white normal anywhere on the feathering of BCM chickens? I have already decided that these will probably just go in with my EEs to make olive eggers. I was not happy with the quality I got, and I bought the eggs from a fellow BYCer. It just goes back to people trying to breed and cash in without regard to what they are breeding together.

 

[onthespot]

from what i have seen, white feathers are very common in most lines of CBM in the US, and it is something to be selected away from, but I would not throw the baby out with the bath water over a few white feathers. The ones on the wings will probably mostly or entirely disappear with their adult plumage.

 

[Solsken Farm]

Erin, those white feathers do seem to disappear. I have hatches from a number of well respected breeders and some of the chicks had that. The white eventually disappeared. Can you show us some pics of your chicks? Maybe they are better than you think. Plus, they could potentially throw dark eggs, and that could make them valuable......

 

[erin0415]

I will try to take some more recent pictures tomorrow. I have pics now, But I would rather put more recent ones that show the white if I can. It is supposed to be raining tomorrow, though, so I don't know if I can. That is encouraging, though, because I just figured I had really ghetto BCMs.

 

[onthespot]

I felt the same way. Some had two or even three completely blazing white flight feathers on the tips of their wings as chicks and i was so bummed. Some end up with still one, or half a white feather, and a few partially white feathers on the feet. To me they used to look like little neon signs that said DEFECTIVE but now they just irk me a little.

 

[erin0415]

onthespot- im glad someone knows how i feel. Here is some pics of them. One of them has some white on the foot feathering, the other on a wing feather. If i would've opened the wing up you probably could have seen it more. I'm not really sure on gender on them. For the longest time I thought they were both boys, but lately the one without the feathered feet has struck me as being more girly. There is only slight difference in their comb and wattle size, but in mannerism and the way it moves around it has seemed more hennish. We'll see. They are 9 weeks old right now.

The 2 of them together

the feather footed one

non-feather footed one

white wing feather

white foot feather

 

[futurefarmer08]

VERY CUTE! They look just like mine! Mine are a little older now. But my one hen still has those white right on the very tip of her wings. It is good to know that that may go away, because I am learning as I go along and I don't think I am having much success. Except my birds seem healthy. But I have had to order a lot of eggs to get the 7 I have. Hatch rates not too good and I have had steady temp and good humidity. I am hoping for some quality Black copper Marans! My hens are all black right now. My Roo is pretty handsome, I have another that has a comb and some copper streaks on neck but he acts like a hen? So we'll see. Thanks for the info everyone!

 

[drom]

Quote:
Oh my gosh! Those girls are so cute. I just love that last picture!

 

[onthespot]

Ditto. looks like two girls, really nice, Big ones, and sweet too! I think you are definitley off on the right track. Don't worry about the white wing tips so much. I would much rather see a white feather than a squirrel tail, flighty temperamentr or a pale egg, upright carriage, goofy comb, narrow shoulders, crooked toe, or anything along those lines. Those look like very nice birds. Very nice birds!