Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[stoopid]

X2

 

[fowlman01]

Quote:
At last, something we agree on. Someone who has gone to the trouble of doing some homework before jumping in is hard to cheat.

NYREDS, where would you suggest new Marans people get the info. to keep from getting taken to the cleaners. I have yet to find anywhere that I could trust to give me the info. I would need before buying. When I started out I spent several thousand dollars on eggs that should of been eating eggs. Thr problem is there is just not that many dedicated Marans breeders that are selling eggs and adult fowl. The reason for this is that there is more buyers than there are sellers.

We should look at how many breeders were selling eggs for up to 150 a dozen two year ago and have now vanished. This is not just Marans either.

There are lots of people looking to make money off chickens, but the reality is that very few can make any real money raising chickens. But...in the meantime they have flooded the market with culls in many breeds. If I was going to buy any breed of chickens now, I would treat them like they had something else in them unless I knew the breeder. The Marans were pretty much about egg color in the beginning and I know that is an important part of the breed, but in the mean time other breeds were mixed in to change the color of the eggs. Either to make them darker or to make them some weird color. There was no regard to what genes these birds really had in the background. A chicken only has to look

The traits of the Marans are just now getting sort of fixed in the breed. There was a tremendous difference between the birds shown at Belvidere IL and the ones I see out here now. The first time there were maybe two birds that you could say sort of of looked right out of the 70 or so shown in the BC class. It looked like a county fair show. All of the 6 or so BC's shown yesterday at the Heirloom Expo were very good examples. The color on the males was very good and not a white feather anywhere.

Walt

 

[Ivywoods]

I decided to sell all my BCM hens except one, and just keep a couple breeders from the pullets I raised this year. I had one hen that laid a darker egg than the rest, but I wasn't sure which one she was because they all use a community nest. I saved the hen with the best conformation, and hoped I was doing the right thing. I also had one that laid a much lighter egg. I sold all my hens except the one, and today when I collected eggs I was excited to see I have saved the one with the darkest eggs!

For once I think I made the correct choice.

 

[BarnGoddess01]

This is my Black Copper Marans cockerel - 21 weeks old. I am curious to hear what all of you think of him.

ok, I'm ready ...

 

[Lotsapaints]

I love how he looks for his age nice and wide looks like a nice tail set he should be smoother though not a sharp break to the tail but when I look at his shanks I'm thinking he's a wheaten......his shanks should be dark with pinkish undertones undertones and it looks like he still has white feathers on his shanks......I ate several cocks that had the dreaded "Wheaten influence" from well known breeders and I now have a Wheaten who I think is much too dark that could pass for a Black Copper with too much copper......

Here's a picture of both of them

here's the Wheaten's legs

the Black Copper's legs

 

[marquisella]

Quote:
I agree he might have wheaten in him, due to the orangey cast to the hackles, they are more the color of wheatens hackles, and I see lighter feathers on his front that seem to go down to his thighs. He has some comb issues, wrinkles. But, I like his chunky body type, and that his tail doesn't have long sickle feathers, its nice & short.
If his neck was longer, his topline would flow more evenly to the tail.

 

[snowbird]

Quote:
Comb has a thumbprint and uneven serration.

Wings appear to be low

Shanks and feet appear to be White

Shanks and feet not feathered correctly

Will have Squirrel tail when developed

Soft feathers on underside appear to be Brown and not dull Black.

Also notice he has feather shafting on the breast.

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Quote:
I agree he might have wheaten in him, due to the orangey cast to the hackles, they are more the color of wheatens hackles, and I see lighter feathers on his front that seem to go down to his thighs. He has some comb issues, wrinkles. But, I like his chunky body type, and that his tail doesn't have long sickle feathers, its nice & short.
If his neck was longer, his topline would flow more evenly to the tail.

.

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Quote:
Comb has a thumbprint and uneven serration.

Wings appear to be low

Shanks and feet appear to be White

Shanks and feet not feathered correctly

Will have Squirrel tail when developed

Soft feathers on underside appear to be Brown and not dull Black.

Comb DOES have uneven serration. Acknowledged. What is a "thumb print"? That is a new term for me.

Shanks and feet are white. Always wondered about that. They should be slate or darker or ?

Yes, leg feathering is sparse to say the least.

I wondered about the tail. It is VERY upright.

I will re-inspect the underside feathers. I've never seen them as brown before but you have FAR more experience than I do.

I'm also curious about the low wing comment. I got that on my Ameraucanas as well. But it isn't hot today so no excuse for the wings.

I've had a couple of folks say I shouldn't use a squirrel tail roo period - Marans and otherwise. I gather that tends to pass on?

Not sure what you mean by "feather shafting on his breast".

Thank you, Don!

 

[snowbird]

Quote:
Comb has a thumbprint and uneven serration.

Wings appear to be low

Shanks and feet appear to be White

Shanks and feet not feathered correctly

Will have Squirrel tail when developed

Soft feathers on underside appear to be Brown and not dull Black.

Comb DOES have uneven serration. Acknowledged. What is a "thumb print"? That is a new term for me.

Shanks and feet are white. Always wondered about that. They should be slate or darker or ?

Yes, leg feathering is sparse to say the least.

I wondered about the tail. It is VERY upright.

I will re-inspect the underside feathers. I've never seen them as brown before but you have FAR more experience than I do.

I'm also curious about the low wing comment. I got that on my Ameraucanas as well. But it isn't hot today so no excuse for the wings.

I've had a couple of folks say I shouldn't use a squirrel tail roo period - Marans and otherwise. I gather that tends to pass on?

Thank you, Don!

The thumbprint is where the Comb has a sunken spot from front, look on the other side and he will have a raised spot in the same location. This is a fault only.

The squirrel tail is a DQ.

The low wing is a fault and will breed forward just like the other faults. If the male was good every where else you could make him raise the wing carriage by making him fly up higher to roost. This exercise will cause the wing to strenghten and in the process raise up higher.

The underside feather will show up real well if looked at from the rear. He has a lot of Wheaten Marans influence going on.