Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[Wynette]

Quote: I think that for a whole lot of these things, we need to simply cull based on phenotype. I've heard others mention having well-colored hens turn out much lighter, later on as adults, but never as early as 14-15 months. These things are so very frustrating. It's like the white tail feather issue seen in so many males. They often don't develop it until they're 18 - 24 months; thus, seems like the smartest way to move forward in getting rid of that would be to hold back a SLEW of cockerels and wait to use them until they've reached the 2 year mark, then make breeding decisions based on who doesn't have the white feathers. There are definitely "markers" that we can use to know which way a bird will go for feather color, but those unfortunately do not always hold to be true/consistent. I guess if I had just 2 hens, I'd not use the one that feathered out brown; UNLESS she was FAR better in type. Remember that type should always come first.

 

[Runawaylobster]

Quote:
thanks!! I am learning very quickly that single mating has to be the way to go.. I don't seem to have the patterned mossy that we were talking about, just odd brownish feathers here and there. I have other hens now but back then i had these two. They were supposed to be cottage hill line, and i was SO pleased with them as pullets.. oh well... at least it's fun

 

[Wynette]

lobster, you have a most excellent attitude!

My strategy has been to hatch a boatload of chicks...grow them out....before choosing keepers. If you only have two hens, in my opinion, it's never a bad idea to hatch out a bunch of them. Even if you end up discovering one hen is throwing something you don't want, at least you have a good number hatched out already from the other hen, so you're not losing time moving on.

 

[Ihilani Coffee]

thanks!! I am learning very quickly that single mating has to be the way to go.. I don't seem to have the patterned mossy that we were talking about, just odd brownish feathers here and there.

I have other hens now but back then i had these two. They were supposed to be cottage hill line, and i was SO pleased with them as pullets..

oh well... at least it's fun

I'd be interested in peoples' single mating strategies. This is a hobby for me. I'm not interested in keeping my fowl in cages nor spending thousands of dollars building individual coop/runs. I can see how it would work out for two hens, but what about 10 or 20? Is there a practical and economical strategy for single mating for the hobby breeder that has 10-20 Marans in two breeding pens? Considering that it's 4 weeks to be safe to make certain of parentage, I'm having difficulty visualizing such a system. I'm with the runaway crustacean...this is fun and I don't want to make it drudgery.

 

[Wynette]

Ihilani, it's a hobby for me, too. I haven't the time, nor the inclination, to become a broker or chase APA awards or the like. I'm just doing what I can, to the best of my ability. I have a few breeder cages; they are larger than most folks build them (maybe about 4' x 3', each with a roost and a nest box). They'll comfortably house a pair or trio, and when I use them, I don't leave the birds in there for weeks at a time. Only long enough to clear them out from being with a specific cock bird, or long enough to collect 10-14 eggs to hatch. Here's one of them before we put the roost in; they've got wheels on one end, so I can move them about easily. THey sure don't look this pretty now, though! We power wash them out twice a year, which has blown off quite a bit of the paint.

 

[DMRippy]

Well you don't have to pen each hen all at once. Have one pen set up. Let everyone you want to breed run together. Pick a hen/pullet pull her out and collect eggs from just her for a week. Put her back and pic another one.... do that till you have a test batch from each hen. It is time consuming if you have 20 hens to work with. I don't keep that many usually. I have maybe 10 and going to cull that down to maybe 6 keepers for the year. We will see. I have about 4-5 new pullets that are near point of lay and we will see if they make it to the breeding pens.

I had a roo that I just didn't trust for some reason and after growing out some birds from him I was convinced he needed to go. I still have some chicks growing out from him and I do see lots of pullets with mossy feathers. Glad he is gone. Now if I could just get a really good roo I might be back on track with them.

Wynette Did you get my message?????

 

[Wynette]

Wynette Did you get my message?????

I don't think so....was it a PM?

OH, yep, I thought I replied...did I not? Sorry!

 

[DMRippy]

Quote:
Yes.... let me see if I can find it or resend it.

 

[Ihilani Coffee]

Ihilani, it's a hobby for me, too. I haven't the time, nor the inclination, to become a broker or chase APA awards or the like. I'm just doing what I can, to the best of my ability. I have a few breeder cages; they are larger than most folks build them (maybe about 4' x 3', each with a roost and a nest box). They'll comfortably house a pair or trio, and when I use them, I don't leave the birds in there for weeks at a time. Only long enough to clear them out from being with a specific cock bird, or long enough to collect 10-14 eggs to hatch. Here's one of them before we put the roost in; they've got wheels on one end, so I can move them about easily. THey sure don't look this pretty now, though! We power wash them out twice a year, which has blown off quite a bit of the paint.

Mahalo Wynette, this solves the visualization problem! I just wasn't thinking in the right direction. So I would just take an individual hen from my breeder pen and pop her in for a week or two, then back with the flock. Sometimes I catch them laying and mark eggs accordingly, but not often. Some hens lay distinctive eggs, but I don't want to trust that when making culling decisions.

I have 7 Marans girls total in two breeder pens right now but I'm adding a couple more breeds. This could work for me.

 

[DMRippy]

Here are some new cages I am building for quarantine and single roos or pairs. They are still being built but we have 2 finished and occupied and maybe 2 more done today. I am going to have 8 like this on a metal rack 4 on the bottom and 4 on top. I am also going to build some for the bantams but they will be 2x the size of these. The pallets are different widths but they are all 41 inches deep and anywhere from 26 inches to 39 inches wide. I am putting a nest box in the back for ones with layers in them but it is removable.