Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[harmona1]

Does anyone near west-central IN have any BCM hens or pullets they'd like to sell? Just want to add the dark color to my egg basket!

 

[VillageChicken]

In a nutshell, the leg feathering is very complicated. There's not just "one gene" involved in leg feathering.

It's like the E allele, where there are multiple mutations that have occurred - for example on the wild type e+ allele, we have ER birchen, or eWh wheaten, or E extended black.
So it's not like the Blue gene, where you either have Bl (blue) or bl (not blue) With blue you either have Bl/Bl or Bl/bl or bl/bl. 3 options.

With the E allele, you have a TON of variations because of the multiple mutations. You can have ER/eWh or e+/eWh or E/ER etc.


Leg feathering has two different mutations at the single pti-1 allele, giving a total of 6 potential genetic configurations at that site. This is why it's not a simple dominant / recessive relationship.

Both the L and B version of legfeathering is incompletely dominant, meaning it has a dosage affect. This is why breeding for single toe feathering can be so frustrating.

 

[FireTigeris]

So with my foot feathered hens, there is dwarfed outside toes, (maybe I took picts of the wrong one...*sigh*)

why?

And are they then cull?



Ever seen a small woman wrestling a chicken with one hand and taking a blind picture???

Oh look Black ear-cover-feathers (ECFs) - Dark girls - fault list



Oh- also FIRST PULLET EGG!



and My boy- bigger still-

 

[Hens and Roos]

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What are some of the web sites or books that one can find to read and re-read this information- I find it helpful to be able to go back and look over or have a book in front of me

, I am working on finding a copy of the book Don recommended a while back- Poultry Breeding by Morley Jull

 

[Hens and Roos]

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I noticed that on my 2 Blue Copper Marans chicks-1 boy and 1 girl, they are only 5 weeks old so I will watch and see if anything changes as they get older. I think that the feather shanked genes has something to do with it.

 

[OHmamma]

Bev Davis refered this site to me recently it might help

http://www.edelras.nl/chickengenetics/

I also like this

http://kippenjungle.nl/kruising.html


but if you are like me and would rather have a book,,,,I am still waiting for one called

"An Inroduction To Color Forms of the Domestic Fowl"
by Brian Reeder

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_n...To+Color+Forms+of+the+Domestic+Fowl&x=18&y=21

 

[Hens and Roos]

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I have the frist 2 marked in my favorites and have read some of the first and played just a bit with the 2nd site. I'll have to look into the book and see what that might hold

 

[pinkchick]

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Agreed! Both AWESOME sites!!!!

 

[AyeUpChuck]

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Thanks for that. I managed to tag that book onto an order DH placed this morning. That's going to be extremely helpful!

 

[Wynette]

I "think" that's the book I have at home....I am so uneducated as far as genetics, the first few pages had me baffled. It's now collecting dust. But...I'll pick it up again soon!