Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[culler]

In the 2001 SOP it shows the Mossy feather on page #23 and this would be a perfect example for the BC Marans. Lot of times you will have a feather with the copper edging and copper spots. You will see more back feather showing as Mossy than any where else. Maybe someone can post a picture with a Mossy female. I would not breed a mossy female under any circumstance.

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Barb, looks like the copper is coming in real nice. Just keep an eye out for the Mossy feathers as they are about the only fault with the copper showing up in real young fowl.
Last year in the BC I used four males that were the best I had that were borderline being Mahogany. About 90 % of over 300 pullets were heavy hackle feathered copper color. All of the female were mostly Black as I had picked them for type and did not consider the hackle color in this breeding.

For the part that some will disagree with, I would not use these Marans you have in a BC breeding program. You could use them in the Blue program without any problems at all.

I wondered about "mossiness" as she is so young. I will get more pictures of her today - a week later.

I have to admit, Don, I'm finding the prospect of breeding Black Coppers daunting. As I read/learn about genetics, travel to the shows, and talk to breeders, I am learning that it is a complicated colour to work with, probably not for beginners and small timers such as myself. You need to have A LOT of birds to choose from in order to make good choices with this variety. And then there are all the additional issues of working with such a new breed and all the other nonsense that crops up with combs and leg feathering etc. I think I need to focus on something that allows me to learn more about type, where the minor details are a little more consistant. I'm sure it doesn't help that all my mature black coppers are all out of blue coppers.

That said, I'm still growing out my BCMs from Crossroads. I ended up with 2 pullets and a cockerel. 1 of the pullets and the cockerel look quite decent so far so who knows. The other pullet is very pretty but she has the short outside toes. (I don't remember what the official name for that is.)

I really like my Blue Copper boy even with his clean legs so I probably will fool around with him a bit. My breeding pens are underway.

Nothing stopping me from learning from what I DO hatch, at any rate!!

 

[culler]

Hi, just to ad that the Rudimentary toe is not to be marked down on the feather leg fowl. If she is nice every where else would not be afraid to use her in a breeding pen.

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Here is Penelope at 9 weeks. Not a huge difference in the amount of copper showing on her from last week which I think is probably a good thing.





This, however, is a feather from her back which I assume is "mossiness".

 

[Arielle]

In the 2001 SOP it shows the Mossy feather on page #23 and this would be a perfect example for the BC Marans. Lot of times you will have a feather with the copper edging and copper spots. You will see more back feather showing as Mossy than any where else. Maybe someone can post a picture with a Mossy female. I would not breed a mossy female under any circumstance.

Am I paraphrasing correctly:

Mossy is the copper showing up as edging or spots, especially on the back. And it is highly heritable.


Correct?

 

[Arielle]

I wondered about "mossiness" as she is so young. I will get more pictures of her today - a week later.

I have to admit, Don, I'm finding the prospect of breeding Black Coppers daunting. As I read/learn about genetics, travel to the shows, and talk to breeders, I am learning that it is a complicated colour to work with, probably not for beginners and small timers such as myself. You need to have A LOT of birds to choose from in order to make good choices with this variety. And then there are all the additional issues of working with such a new breed and all the other nonsense that crops up with combs and leg feathering etc. I think I need to focus on something that allows me to learn more about type, where the minor details are a little more consistant. I'm sure it doesn't help that all my mature black coppers are all out of blue coppers.

That said, I'm still growing out my BCMs from Crossroads. I ended up with 2 pullets and a cockerel. 1 of the pullets and the cockerel look quite decent so far so who knows. The other pullet is very pretty but she has the short outside toes. (I don't remember what the official name for that is.)

I really like my Blue Copper boy even with his clean legs so I probably will fool around with him a bit. My breeding pens are underway.

Nothing stopping me from learning from what I DO hatch, at any rate!!

I often feel the same way, but think of all that you have learned. I got into the marans for the egg color. I can't breed 300 a year, so my progress will just be slower. ANd maybe that also means I can't make big mistakes. JMO. I was able to start with what seems to be pure FBCM and will keep an eye out for indications of otherwise. Not every bird can be SQ.

 

[culler]

Arielle, yes, you are basically right and we should not breed the Mossy females.

Barb, this pullet will be very mossy at maturity, never seen one where they shed this with adult feathering.

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Arielle, yes, you are basically right and we should not breed the Mossy females.

Barb, this pullet will be very mossy at maturity, never seen one where they shed this with adult feathering.

Well, I will enjoy watching her grow and learning from her.

 

[culler]

Just like to ad something here for any one that will listen. We all should be doing test mating with non SOP fowl and keeping records just to verify what has been said in the past. When I started testing and breeding in large numbers I found that a lot of information I seen posted was very inaccurate. There is no way anyone can make an accurate assesment of the young with only 5-6 young to go by. I think a minimum of 25 chicks should be studied to make a decision on any breeding. If testing is done we will probably find that most of what we know now is not factural. there is so much that is unknown with chicken genetics.

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Just like to ad something here for any one that will listen. We all should be doing test mating with non SOP fowl and keeping records just to verify what has been said in the past. When I started testing and breeding in large numbers I found that a lot of information I seen posted was very inaccurate. There is no way anyone can make an accurate assesment of the young with only 5-6 young to go by. I think a minimum of 25 chicks should be studied to make a decision on any breeding. If testing is done we will probably find that most of what we know now is not factural. there is so much that is unknown with chicken genetics.