Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[chickengr]

and this is luna:


she is about 2,5 months old.

 

[snowbird]

any idea why his comb is floppy?

this is marko



he has been sick, I do hope his comb will return to normal. besides his comb his 4th toe is too short. he might be good for crosses. his mother is a very prolific layer so I want to keep him. he should pass that to his daughters.

The rudimentary toe is not to be deducted for in the feather leg breeds. Some times they just have a lopped comb.

 

[chickengr]

The rudimentary toe is not to be deducted for in the feather leg breeds. Some times they just have a lopped comb.

would he be good to breed BCM?

 

[johnsonchandler]

I would appreciate everyone's thoughts on my guy. I'm more of a visual learner then trying to figure what the apa standards are trying to say. Thanks in advance

 

[winterhorses]

I have two BCM cockerels (12 wks old) that have mossiness all over their bodies. I plan to give them away sooner rather than later but was wondering if there was any chance their adult feathers would be black. It does seem like individual feathers are more black closer to the body.

Here's one beside two of his hatchmates.




Also, when does their eye and ear feather color usually stabilize? Not until they are fully adult? Thanks!

 

[One Chick Two]

I would appreciate everyone's thoughts on my guy. I'm more of a visual learner then trying to figure what the apa standards are trying to say. Thanks in advance

How old is your boy? He may be a bit young still and needs to mature and fill out more.

Here's my two cents...There are a few things I noticed. First, his type body balance visually seems a little off in this photo. His body cavity appears not very deep, and his back appears short. His neck is lanky and long but, is pulled up awkwardly, so, he may have just been extending here. See how his chest juts far forward (far in front of the legs) which do not seem centered in the center of his body? He has a small rear end (where the body connects to the tail) and is not wide there. Also, his tail is a bit high, and overwhelming in size- Marans ideally should have smallish, compact tails. You should see the bird before the tail.

His color is a little dark, but, nice. Wing should point to vent. How dark are his shanks?

A cockerel from last year below. He has a deep, wide body, good body balance, type and back topline slope down to tail is nice. He is wide from shoulders to tail. See how he has room in the rear behind his legs? Wide neck that is not excessively long. Tail angle is low, small, and wide.



If you do use this male (when he is mature) find a hen who can offset his faults.

I would look for a chunky/ wide, deep, long backed hen with a fair amount of hackle color (personally, I would use an older hen, at least 2 YO, to make sure her type is solid, and does not have a big hen saddle cushion.). I would make sure she was well balanced in the body, where the legs are centered (not so that her chest was overwhelming and big, but, not that the rear end was thin and lacking.). I would use one who has a low tail angle, and the tail feathers aren't long. Then, hatch hard, and culler harder.

 

[johnsonchandler]

How old is your boy? He may be a bit young still and needs to mature and fill out more. Here's my two cents...There are a few things I noticed. First, his type body balance visually seems a little off in this photo. His body cavity appears not very deep, and his back appears short. His neck is lanky and long but, is pulled up awkwardly, so, he may have just been extending here. See how his chest juts far forward (far in front of the legs) which do not seem centered in the center of his body? He has a small rear end (where the body connects to the tail) and is not wide there. Also, his tail is a bit high, and overwhelming in size- Marans ideally should have smallish, compact tails. You should see the bird before the tail. His color is a little dark, but, nice. Wing should point to vent. How dark are his shanks? A cockerel from last year below. He has a deep, wide body, good body balance, type and back topline slope down to tail is nice. He is wide from shoulders to tail. See how he has room in the rear behind his legs? Wide neck that is not excessively long. Tail angle is low, small, and wide. If you do use this male (when he is mature) find a hen who can offset his faults. I would look for a chunky/ wide, deep, long backed hen with a fair amount of hackle color (personally, I would use an older hen, at least 2 YO, to make sure her type is solid, and does not have a big hen saddle cushion.). I would make sure she was well balanced in the body, where the legs are centered (not so that her chest was overwhelming and big, but, not that the rear end was thin and lacking.). I would use one who has a low tail angle, and the tail feathers aren't long. Then, hatch hard, and culler harder.

He is about a year and a half old now. He was trying to get tall I assume because I was in his space with his girls. Normally he doesn't look so tall and lanky. I will try to get a relaxed photo of him. His shanks are black. I do see the tail difference your talking about though. When you said his color was dark were you talking the copper or the black? I'm new into the breeding portion of chickens and I'm finding it a bit daunting. Thank you for your imput and your time

 

[One Chick Two]

He is about a year and a half old now. He was trying to get tall I assume because I was in his space with his girls. Normally he doesn't look so tall and lanky. I will try to get a relaxed photo of him. His shanks are black. I do see the tail difference your talking about though. When you said his color was dark were you talking the copper or the black? I'm new into the breeding portion of chickens and I'm finding it a bit daunting. Thank you for your imput and your time

I was thinking he was younger. The male I showed the photo of was 8 months old at the time.
Yes, relaxed side photos are the best for determining where a particular bird is really at. I like to kneel on one knee (so I am not looking down at them, which distorts the body). Also, if you can get an overhead shot, looking straight down at him so we can see his width.

Shank (skin) color shouldn't be black, it should be medium slate over white/pink skin. (Look under feet if unsure). Are you referring to the shank feathering color being black?

When I was talking about him being dark, I was referring to his copper color leaning toward mahogany. So, his color is dark, but, the color is just fine. His issues are more body type related.

Here is a photo of a cull cockerel who had a forward jutting chest. He is out of balance if you imagine his body in thirds. Although he was deep in the chest cavity, he's all front end, and missing his rear end. He had a short back/uphill topline instead of downhill, plus high tail. Being off balance made him stand oddly to compensate for the heavy breast. So, his type was off.


Although his mother from appearance seemed to appear to have good type, all of her progeny expressed similar issues, so, once we changed out the hen to a longer hen with a lower tail, these issues disappeared.

 

[johnsonchandler]

I was thinking he was younger. The male I showed the photo of was 8 months old at the time. Yes, relaxed side photos are the best for determining where a particular bird is really at. I like to kneel on one knee (so I am not looking down at them, which distorts the body). Also, if you can get an overhead shot, looking straight down at him so we can see his width. Shank (skin) color shouldn't be black, it should be medium slate over white/pink skin. (Look under feet if unsure). Are you referring to the shank feathering color being black? When I was talking about him being dark, I was referring to his copper color leaning toward mahogany. So, his color is dark, but, the color is just fine. His issues are more body type related. Here is a photo of a cull cockerel who had a forward jutting chest. He is out of balance if you imagine his body in thirds. Although he was deep in the chest cavity, he's all front end, and missing his rear end. He had a short back/uphill topline instead of downhill, plus high tail. Being off balance made him stand oddly to compensate for the heavy breast. So, his type was off. [COLOR=005CB1] [/COLOR] Although his mother from appearance seemed to appear to have good type, all of her progeny expressed similar issues, so, once we changed out the hen to a longer hen with a lower tail, these issues disappeared.

Here are the best pictures I could get of him. He's not very cooperative to say the least.

[/IMG][/IMG]

 

[johnsonchandler]