Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[DMRippy]

Im hoping for advice. I bought this guy for my 4H kids to show. No doubt he is a BCM, but im worried about his color. Should I still let my son take him??

Why are you so sure that is a BCM? Have you got a better picture of that comb? My first thought was he was an Olive Egger, a cross of a marans and ameraucana. That comb looks like a buttercup comb, I think that is what it is called.

 

[cyborg]

Definitely a buttercup comb. If that guy has white earlobes, I'd say you have a nice example of a Sicilian Buttercup.

 

[blackbirds13]

My first batch of new Black Copper Marans arrived yesterday. Doing very well in the brooder. Second batch comes today....hopefully.

 

[snowbird]

My first batch of new Black Copper Marans arrived yesterday. Doing very well in the brooder. Second batch comes today....hopefully.

I myself would like to see a little more white around the head and down the neck to bottom. You will most likely get a lot of over melanized fowl from these. Good luck with them though. Don

 

[scflock]

Such a tough breed to start with if you don't know where to start. Here is a local example of what is advertised as BCMs on CL
http://columbia.craigslist.org/grd/5001132379.html

Possibly cuckoo, probably barred rock

 

[ochochicas]

Such a tough breed to start with if you don't know where to start. Here is a local example of what is advertised as BCMs on CL
http://columbia.craigslist.org/grd/5001132379.html

Possibly cuckoo, probably barred rock

The barred ones are cockerels and the solid black is a pullet (appears so from the pic). I'd guess they are black sex-links. At least they aren't asking a ton of money for them

 

[blackbirds13]

My first batch of new Black Copper Marans arrived yesterday. Doing very well in the brooder. Second batch comes today....hopefully.

I myself would like to see a little more white around the head and down the neck to bottom. You will most likely get a lot of over melanized fowl from these. Good luck with them though. Don

There are 11 and I only plan on keeping females. They are Little Peddler lineage so we'll see. I got another 10 from Sue O. in NY today. I'm going for females on those also then will get more chicks late summer to try for a rooster. I'm thinking of the new GFF line BUT the price! maybe folks will be culling and I'll get something decent 2nd hand. I promised the husband a year with no roosters and sold off everything else in lieu of the Black Coppers which I plan to focus on going forward. I have 2 hens that are 1.5 years old. Great egg color on both but of which 1 has the brown tone to her down you warn against so she'll just be a layer or sold off. The other will stay. I'll cull through the girls as they start laying for less obvious flaws. I'm a small breeder so I feel no anxiety about the pace of progress ahead.....it will be slow. I enjoyed the Cream Legbars but finally decided to settle on one breed and the BCM was where I originally started with chickens before I got distracted with all the pretty colors. I missed them too much.

 

[desertmarcy]

There are 11 and I only plan on keeping females. They are Little Peddler lineage so we'll see. I got another 10 from Sue O. in NY today. I'm going for females on those also then will get more chicks late summer to try for a rooster. I'm thinking of the new GFF line BUT the price! maybe folks will be culling and I'll get something decent 2nd hand. I promised the husband a year with no roosters and sold off everything else in lieu of the Black Coppers which I plan to focus on going forward. I have 2 hens that are 1.5 years old. Great egg color on both but of which 1 has the brown tone to her down you warn against so she'll just be a layer or sold off. The other will stay. I'll cull through the girls as they start laying for less obvious flaws. I'm a small breeder so I feel no anxiety about the pace of progress ahead.....it will be slow. I enjoyed the Cream Legbars but finally decided to settle on one breed and the BCM was where I originally started with chickens before I got distracted with all the pretty colors. I missed them too much.

My Little Peddler birds were all solid black like that as chicks. Just growing them out right now to see how they turn out. I got 8 pullets out of 8....

 

[RedhedINgrl]

Why are you so sure that is a BCM?  Have you got a better picture of that comb?  My first thought was he was an Olive Egger, a cross of a marans and ameraucana.  That comb looks like a buttercup comb, I think that is what it is called.

I think its a funky angle I posted another pic but maybe it didn't show up.

 

[snowbird]

Quote:
There is no way this male is a pure Marans, Look at his head shape and overall body shape.