Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[Broad St Farm]

I believe Ray is referring to my pullet that he reposted the photos of. She is about 6 months old. She laid the egg in photo 1 and has laid a total of 6 eggs so far and is the pullet central in photos 2, 3, 5 and 6. Her earlobe doesn't look as white in person as it is in photos, although it could certainly use more red. This is my fourth go at getting BCM stock, the first 3 sets all turned out to be junk as hard as I tried to make them work. I'm going to work with these lines (Fitzgerald) for the next year and see how it goes. Egg #4 is a solid 7, so I am more than willing to work with her faults. I am open to any and all critiques and suggestions. As I stated my hopeful cockerel and the backup have both passed (one to illness one to a neighbor's dog), and my "backup backup" is junk so I am on the hunt for a rooster to go with her. Need to call Dave Fitzgerald and see if he has any available... he's about an hour's drive away.

I also have a few pullets growing out from Ernie Haire in TX and two from Hardin Poultry in Tennessee. I did not keep any cockerels from their lines.

If you dont mind me asking, how long did you work with the previous lines before you determined they were junk? What is your exp level with breeding Marans? Only reason I ask is these Marans really are a pain sometimes, and if you are not exp or you are trying to learn, it may give you the impression they are junk. It also may be that the breeder was working on a particular issue different that what you wanted in a flock. Example, a lot of breeders go for egg color and not type ect. I do know that where communication between breeder and customer comes into play. Their really is not a sure easy way to breed these. You can get fantastic stock, breed them wrong and then you have a mess. Just curious, not trying to be nosy or disrespectful.

 

[SilkiesForEver]

Well I'm starting to love my little boy's build. He's already getting wide in the chest and has a good amount of space between his legs. Kinda reminds me of a bulldog.

 

[Ray from PA]

I'd like to thank everyone for giving their input on the "white" earlobe topic.

I'll definitely be keeping a close eye on these girls,,,, they are nice enough that they will have a future whether it's test breeding or just a part of the layer flock.

I like the eductaion that comes with the Marans, however disappointing it may seem at times.

thanks again !

 

[Chad Cool]

Here is my hatch!!

 

[maryhysong]

cute chicks Chad and a cute child ghost, just in time for Halloween ;-)

Here is pretty much the biggest BCM hen I have. Will try and get more pics of the others later, they are hard to catch in the correct poses or some silly roo comes along between me and the girl.



Red#55 is my largest girl. don't have a weight on her tho. By the Hogan test she is about 3.5 fingers between the pelvic bones and 4 fingers between the pelvis and the end of the breast bone. I think her back slope is about right; normally she holds her tail a little bit higher than in this pic. fairly full in the breast, tho of course she could have more.

She is WAY too dark, black beak, her eye is not black but it is real dark, black ears, only a small trace of copper around her head and a few scattered spots on her neck. She has a wrinkle in her comb and her shank and toe feathering, well there are a few small feathers but nothing like she should have. Hatched Dec 2012

I am soooo disappointed. I can't tell her egg from my Buff Orpingtons.

 

[marquisella]

Quote:
That is true, the minute I see "blue" in a roosters comb, I look to see what is wrong. Usually it is a respiratory issue starting up. I once had a roo whose comb was blue at the blade all the time..I've never seen a blue tinted comb on a hen though, now that I think of it. Pale faces are a sure sign of illness.

 

[lonnyandrinda]

If you dont mind me asking, how long did you work with the previous lines before you determined they were junk? What is your exp level with breeding Marans? Only reason I ask is these Marans really are a pain sometimes, and if you are not exp or you are trying to learn, it may give you the impression they are junk. It also may be that the breeder was working on a particular issue different that what you wanted in a flock. Example, a lot of breeders go for egg color and not type ect. I do know that where communication between breeder and customer comes into play. Their really is not a sure easy way to breed these. You can get fantastic stock, breed them wrong and then you have a mess. Just curious, not trying to be nosy or disrespectful.

No disrespect taken, I really appreciate everyone who is helpful here to show the good/bad in my stock. Let me give you some background.

My first batch of black copper marans were from a local lady a year and a half ago. I had no idea what I was looking for and no clue how good or bad her stock was, besides her claim that they were XXX line crossed with XXX line (I'm sure you can take a pretty good guess at her claims). When they grew out they were JUNK- and I knew it because as they grew I started researching. Boys with solid brown chests, boys solid black with no color, mossy girls, some with and some without leg feathers, you name it, these birds were all over the place in color and type. I kept two birds from this batch. Daisy, who passed away in the heat this summer, and Big Stuff, my backup rooster I am running right now. He looked decent until about 15 months when he started growing brown on the back edge of his primary feathers. Daisy had too dark eyes, a few mossy spots on her wings, and her copper color was a little light but she had amazing size and good top and bottom lines. She laid a good 5. The only girl I managed to hatch and keep from Daisy and Big Stuff had crop problems and I had to cull her at about 6 months old. With the brown in his wing I will not intentionally breed from him. If I hadn't lost Daisy and her girl I would have kept working with them.





This is their daughter that I had to cull:



The second batch was from a swap, they weren't too bad but the eggs were SUPER light- like a 3- and not too great size or type wise, either. I thought it it would take several years of work to darken up the eggs and then I would be fighting other issues, too. Some were clean legged which is not huge, several seemed undersized, etc.

The third and fourth batches came from local people downsizing their flocks. OK egg color, about a 4, very speckly which I can't seem to get a straight answer on whether speckles are acceptable or not. It seems to be more of a preference issue. I sold off the ones that had obvious DQ and was planning to keep the others (about 8) to work with.

In the mean time I bought some pullets and cockerels from John Fitzgerald who is about a hour's drive from me. His eggs are glorious and he culls heavy for conformation, too. I also ordered chicks from TX (Ernie Haire) and eggs from TN (Hardin Poultry). I have 1 hen and 5 pullets from John, 2 pullets left from Ernie, and 2 pullets left from Hardin Poultry.

Then I got notice from the city we were illegal to have chickens on our property due to zoning laws. So instead of keeping adults I had to immediately downsize and sold all but Big Stuff, John's hen, and the pullets/cockerels I was growing out from him. Trying to move in the next few weeks before the city takes further action.

So I guess my statement that they were all junk was untrue, it's just been a hodgepodge to piece together a decent flock.

 

[armorfirelady]

I love all the pics.

I wanted to share my George. I no longer have him because I cant have roosters so the lady I got him from swapped him for a BCM/EE mix. But he was beautiful to me. And I loved to listen to him practice his crowing

But I do have a BCM female. Tho her wattles and comb are much smaller than the ones you guys post pics of




And she has a longer tail. She is the one in front.

She is 24 weeks old so I know she has a few weeks or so till she should start laying. I am in no rush

 

[Broad St Farm]

We

No disrespect taken, I really appreciate everyone who is helpful here to show the good/bad in my stock. Let me give you some background. My first batch of black copper marans were from a local lady a year and a half ago. I had no idea what I was looking for and no clue how good or bad her stock was, besides her claim that they were XXX line crossed with XXX line (I'm sure you can take a pretty good guess at her claims). When they grew out they were JUNK- and I knew it because as they grew I started researching. Boys with solid brown chests, boys solid black with no color, mossy girls, some with and some without leg feathers, you name it, these birds were all over the place in color and type. I kept two birds from this batch. Daisy, who passed away in the heat this summer, and Big Stuff, my backup rooster I am running right now. He looked decent until about 15 months when he started growing brown on the back edge of his primary feathers. Daisy had too dark eyes, a few mossy spots on her wings, and her copper color was a little light but she had amazing size and good top and bottom lines. She laid a good 5. The only girl I managed to hatch and keep from Daisy and Big Stuff had crop problems and I had to cull her at about 6 months old. With the brown in his wing I will not intentionally breed from him. If I hadn't lost Daisy and her girl I would have kept working with them. This is their daughter that I had to cull: The second batch was from a swap, they weren't too bad but the eggs were SUPER light- like a 3- and not too great size or type wise, either. I thought it it would take several years of work to darken up the eggs and then I would be fighting other issues, too. Some were clean legged which is not huge, several seemed undersized, etc. The third and fourth batches came from local people downsizing their flocks. OK egg color, about a 4, very speckly which I can't seem to get a straight answer on whether speckles are acceptable or not. It seems to be more of a preference issue. I sold off the ones that had obvious DQ and was planning to keep the others (about 8) to work with. In the mean time I bought some pullets and cockerels from John Fitzgerald who is about a hour's drive from me. His eggs are glorious and he culls heavy for conformation, too. I also ordered chicks from TX (Ernie Haire) and eggs from TN (Hardin Poultry). I have 1 hen and 5 pullets from John, 2 pullets left from Ernie, and 2 pullets left from Hardin Poultry. Then I got notice from the city we were illegal to have chickens on our property due to zoning laws. So instead of keeping adults I had to immediately downsize and sold all but Big Stuff, John's hen, and the pullets/cockerels I was growing out from him. Trying to move in the next few weeks before the city takes further action. So I guess my statement that they were all junk was untrue, it's just been a hodgepodge to piece together a decent flock.

I understand your frustration. I had something happen along those lines too. I started test hatching and got tons of stuff popping up. I also did a few breeding where I think the males and females were brother/sister. I had yellow legs, split wing, lack of color and barring on some blues. I culled the culprits and aquired a male from outside my original lines. When I was breeding blues I was trying to get a nice blue male and wasn't fortunate to get one. But someone I sold some chicks to ended up with a beauty of a male, figures. What were your numbers that you hatched from your originals? They say about 1 in 10 are breeders. I have seen that first hand. More no goes than good. I was sad to see my blues go.

 

[maryhysong]

That is true, the minute I see "blue" in a roosters comb, I look to see what is wrong. Usually it is a respiratory issue starting up. I once had a roo whose comb was blue at the blade all the time..I've never seen a blue tinted comb on a hen though, now that I think of it. Pale faces are a sure sign of illness.

All 4 of my BCM boys have some bluish to their comb. when it was hot I thought it was the heat. Then someone on the AZ thread mentioned they noticed this in their roosters when it was humid right before a big monsoon storm came through. Now it's quite cool and still there. It varies somewhat, sometimes almost the whole comb and sometimes just the tips of the points. One of them right now, the back half of his comb is bluish, tho he does have bumblefoot that I'm working on

No body seems to have any sort of respiratory issues,. No one acts sick, off their feed or anything, not even the one with bumblefoot. They were all out tonight dancing for the girls and calling them for treats, sparring with each other a little.

I just treated with Ivomec Eprinex for worms and lice about two weeks ago. But everyone is molting up a storm.

What else could this be without symptoms of illness?