Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[sarahkatie]

You are correct this is a Sprig and should not be used if you are breeding to the SOP.

That's what I thought.... His name is Dinner ;-D

 

[ashandvine]

Will stck my nose in here on the Dark shank Marans . I realize that the SOP states light to medium slate. We have discussed this with all the genetic experts and the end result was that if you use the light leg Males you will end up with a lot of Marans with the wheaten influence. I cull all the light leg males from my marans flock. I prefer the medium to dark leg Males for breeding. When picking breeder Marans what the SOP says means very little. It all boils down to averages and I do not mean white leg averages.

Here I agree with you again. I have learned the hard way that lighter often can mean genetics I don't want. With all this said: I have hatched out 11 from 15 eggs mailed to me. They are poofy, chunky and have nice leg feathering! I am happy to finally have really good stock here instead of 'working with what I had' which was going alright but these are easily a step above what my hatching was creating. Phew. I look forward to feedback as we go

 

[snowbird]

My goal is to end up with a decent rooster this year. I have several growing, but so far this guy looks like my best bet. Yet, to keep from becoming a "sound blight" to my neighbor, I don't want to hang onto boys who do not have potential.

I'm pretty much just starting (and starting over at that!). So, I'm looking for a nice boy to get started with.

This guy is 13 weeks old.










I originally thought these feet were yellow, but they seem more pinkish now. Otherwise, I understand that with yellow bottoms he would be a no-no. right?


His eyes seem kind of greenish with brown speckles. It's a bit early to tell on that, right?



Any thoughts? I have more pictures if there are questionable things. Does anything horrible obviously jump out or is he worth keeping around to see how he grows?

Thank you so much! It's been learning from the critiques of the birds that have been recently been posted.

I would just let this male age a little more and see if he gets more color. This is the leg color I prefer myself. His shank featherinng is ok to try a test hatch. i would give him a couple of more months.

 

[chisNchickens]

maryhysong just wanted to say thanks so much for being brave enough to post all these pictures of your birds and critiquing them. It is really helping me to sharpen my eye for my own flock. You are going to have a really great start with BCMs once you get down to final selection!

Agreed! Thank you so much!

 

[Runawaylobster]

I was wondering if anyone knows what causes the copper to disappear in the black and blue copper marans?? I have blues and blacks
that are showing no copper. It is sad, one of the roos is a really fine looking boy but he has no copper?

I got a large number of babies from multiple sources to try to start my foundation stock so i am seeing a whole load of very interesting things, and this is one
of them.

 

[banjomoon]

I am pretty sure I have sexed my 3 week old BC Maran chicks, but below are some pics. Anyone want to double check my guesses?

Pullets:




Cockerel:

 

[SIMZ]

I am pretty sure I have sexed my 3 week old BC Maran chicks, but below are some pics. Anyone want to double check my guesses?

Pullets:




Cockerel:

Number 3 is definitely a boy. He's a cutie, too!

 

[SIMZ]

Ok -- what do you guys think of this guy? He's one of my own that I hatched. I have a few with these very light hackles, and I'm wondering what will become of that. They seem to be changing to a copper color. Any input on that or will he be improperly colored?

He's about 10 weeks old now.




I know color on the chest is not what I want. Any chance this will go away - there isn't much.



Notice that the top of his neck has been changing to a copper. It started out almost blond and has been getting darker.

Again, I don't want to hang onto boys with no potential. I have about 3 guys similar to this one.

 

[GreenAcresChick]

Do BCM hens ever have pea combs? I'll attach a pic later.

 

[maryhysong]

Do BCM hens ever have pea combs? I'll attach a pic later.

If I had a BCM show up with a pea comb I would presume it had some EE in the mix; is it old enough to lay? If so what does the egg look like? I"m betting it is a mix and will lay an olive egg