Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[Zanna]

Thank you Gilavina! such a bummer.

Wow, don't know what to think of your little guys......... Here is a pic. of some of my last years chicks and some of this years chicks (same Mom, different Dad top and bottom pic). Some slightly yellow fluff but not like yours. The feet don't bother me, they will most likely change if they are pure BCM as Gilavina mentioned.

 

[Turkeytruff]

I would recommend on the first 18 days running your humidity a bit lower. Here I run mine between 25 and 35 for the first 18 days and will adjust accordingly based on the humidity outside as well. The main issue with marans is getting the fluid to asborb at the correct rate to keep the chicks from drowning. Some peopel will also use a bit of sandpaper on the end where the air cell is to aid the evaporation. It took me a few hatches to get it down, but lower humidity at the first few days will help. I also usually let the humidity during lockdown sit at about 55 and as the chicks start to hatch, they will bump it up as high as 72% just from all the popping out of the shell. I can also usually tell when a hatch is just about over when the humidity returns back down to 55 or so. Its a good indicator as well of the chicks being dry

x2 what she said. I will add other breeds will hatch just fine too with lower humidity too.

Ooops! So this is my first time EVER hatching anything out; I have a Brinsea incubator and set the humidity has been 45-46%. This is day 8. Brinsea has a cooling 1 to 2 hours a day option and I set it for 1 hour a day starting from day 7 like they advise. Do you think I should definitely put it down to 30% humidity? I weighed them yesterday (total weight down from 1033 grams to 1000 grams so they have only lost about 2-3 % at day 7 which is not enough but what all the textbooks say).

I candled but couldn't really see anything except MAYBE a couple of aircells because they are so dark... Are the Marans really so different from the other breeds in terms of moisture retention? All the info sites say 40-50%.
I am worried now.....

 

[Runawaylobster]

Ooops! So this is my first time EVER hatching anything out; I have a Brinsea incubator and set the humidity has been 45-46%. This is day 8. Brinsea has a cooling 1 to 2 hours a day option and I set it for 1 hour a day starting from day 7 like they advise. Do you think I should definitely put it down to 30% humidity? I weighed them yesterday (total weight down from 1033 grams to 1000 grams so they have only lost about 2-3 % at day 7 which is not enough but what all the textbooks say).

I candled but couldn't really see anything except MAYBE a couple of aircells because they are so dark... Are the Marans really so different from the other breeds in terms of moisture retention? All the info sites say 40-50%.
I am worried now.....

don't be worried, just make the change now, they may catch up. and keep weighing them and adjust humidity accordingly. you have 10 days left to help them catch up.

Also BTW: I just had 7 blue marans eggs in the incubator. I had them at the lower humidity then at about 60% for hatch and still only one hatched. but they were shipped eggs though.

 

[marquisella]

If a marans egg is too light for the standard, is it not considered a marans, or just a bad quality one?

It is not considered a Marans. First & foremost is the egg color.

 

[marquisella]

Quote: You need to lower the humidity right away. Marans lose humidity very slowly. You will drown the chicks if you keep it that high. Marans aren't texbook chickens.
I actually dry hatch, no water at all until the last 3 days. Since I started doing that, my hatches are much better

 

[DMRippy]

Quote: Yes.... that dark coating on the egg make them TOTALLY DIFFERENT than other breeds.... ironically the other breeds do great with the lower humidity too.

 

[snowbird]

Here in Michigan in my Sportsman incubators I set the Humidity at 40-45 and the last three days at 55-60. I have hatched a few Marans and they are set the same way, they are chickens also, nothing different.

 

[Sahwithchicks]

It is not considered  a Marans. First & foremost is the egg color.

What if it becomes really light towards a molt, but was a six before?

 

[ashandvine]

I would recommend on the first 18 days running your humidity a bit lower. Here I run mine between 25 and 35 for the first 18 days and will adjust accordingly based on the humidity outside as well. The main issue with marans is getting the fluid to asborb at the correct rate to keep the chicks from drowning. Some peopel will also use a bit of sandpaper on the end where the air cell is to aid the evaporation. It took me a few hatches to get it down, but lower humidity at the first few days will help. I also usually let the humidity during lockdown sit at about 55 and as the chicks start to hatch, they will bump it up as high as 72% just from all the popping out of the shell. I can also usually tell when a hatch is just about over when the humidity returns back down to 55 or so. Its a good indicator as well of the chicks being dry

Here in Michigan in my Sportsman incubators I set the Humidity at 40-45 and the last three days at 55-60. I have hatched a few Marans and they are set the same way, they are chickens also, nothing different.

This has been a subject of some concern to me. I have this bator made by SO which isn't much different than any other styrofoam set up. It won't get above 45% so generally it runs around 33%. I did not know about cooling them. I have not read that anywhere. How the heck am I going to bump it up to 72%? I feel sure I am dooming this hatch already. Is there a reliable thread with all this detail already written? Would the thick, colorful bloom on the egg attribute to their 'difficulty' or the thick shells?

 

[gilavina]

I

Here in Michigan in my Sportsman incubators I set the Humidity at 40-45 and the last three days at 55-60. I have hatched a few Marans and they are set the same way, they are chickens also, nothing different.

.

I do think the further south one goes the more humidity needs to be watched. Even this far south I've drowned more marans than I care to think about before I lowered the humidity.