Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[Batty about Banties]

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[OHmamma]

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Could you ship that one? I would love to have another boy!! Too sweet too, love those eyes!!

 

[youngbiddy]

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Yup, definitely a cockerel. Lookit those wattles...

He's precious, that makes me want another one! But I've got two girls and two boys aged 6 years to almost 9 months, so I must perforce be content. I have to admit, the temptation to post a newborn pic of my last little guy was almost more than I could resist.

 

[onthespot]

To pick good chicks, you have to see the eggs. And after you see the eggs, you have to look at the parents. You can exclude a few disqualifying faults as chicks, like clean shanks, yellow legs, excessive red showing early, but that is like going to a used car lot and not buying the one with a flat tire, or a bad paint job. No relation to how good a car it is. Same with chicks.

 

[seabreeze]

OH Roger!! What a gorgeous son!!! CONGRATULATIONS to you and your family!! And so close to Mother's Day, a very special child! I can still remember when my son was born 18 years ago as if it were last week. Curses of being a mom

 

[OHmamma]

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I have chicks of all ages but I am just learning what to pick and choose. I can post pictures but it will be up to others to comment on them. I also have a few with genetic defects to watch for that I can post.

Most of my base stock came from a breeder that was just trying to get the darkest eggs. Which meant that the type and coloring of the finished product was secondary to him. With that being said I only chose one roo and six hens to keep from the 40 or so eggs and chicks I got off him last year.

This year I am hatching my darkest eggs from those 5 and 18 other marans I kept. I am concentrating more on the feathered shanks, type,and color. As chicks I am just keeping those that are feather shanked UNLESS they are one of my project colors or from one of the super dark eggs then they get moved on to the "second chance category" which will be body type. If they make the type I am looking for then I will sort by color just before winter sets in.

Anyway that is the plan I have. It made since to me. I chose the features most important to me as I see it and that was how I will decide who to keep. I am lucky to have plenty of room to keep them and no opposing forces

I also have a really good neighbor that I can take 10 or 20 chickens to and he will process half and keep half as payment. It works well for both of us that way.

 

[math ace]

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When they are young, you can only identify common faults - - -

1.) Crooked toes
2.) Side Sprigs
3.) Improper leg shank coloring ( should be gray / slate )
4.) Bad combs ( single 5 point comb is the goal)
5.) Lack of Leg feathering

All choices based on coloring - - - ie the BIG White Feather Disqualifier, straw hackles, etc. needs to wait until after the Juvie molt 4 - 5 months.
You can start doing some culling based on body shape around this time too.

I don't cull for Bad combs or lack of leg feathering immediately because I have BIGGER issues in my flock that I am trying to correct.
I would take a roo with a 7 point comb if he didn't have white feathers.
If the roo had a perfect comb and still had white feathers - - - I would have to cull him.
This is how I handle it because I have a very small amount of birds to work with. . .. So, I have to make sure I don't cull everyone because they aren't perfect.

 

[OHmamma]

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Do you think the comb imperfections are easier to fix than the color? A sprig in the comb is also something I consider a genetic flaw, but it is still secondary to feather shanks right now as long as they both come from dark eggs. The dark egg is what defines the Marans to me. Although the original blue/cucu roo I had has sprigs he is BEAUTIFUL in type and feather wise, so the sprigs were overlooked. He also produces dark egg layers in blue and cucu.

Almost every chick I decide not to keep gets sold to someone that wants them for eggs or pets. I only had to butcher 8 extra cucu roos last year out of maybe 300-400 chickens of different breeds. The one thing I seem to get asked the most about from people wanting to buy them this year is that they have the feathered legs. I realized it would be easier to sell my extras if I concentrated on this first. Selling my chicks and eggs pays for everything I need for the ones I do keep.

 

[Bravo]

Congratulations Village Chicken! He is just gorgeous!!

LOLOL OnTheSpot!! Too funny!

 

[Cadeau]

Villiage Chicken
Congrats! He's beautiful!!