Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[desertmarcy]

This is my cockerel I decided to hang on to. He is now 18weeks old.

He looks to be a decent young male. Nice wide chest and back, good shank/foot feathering; maybe would like to see the hackle color match the saddle a bit more, but certainly not bad. Could you
take a close up of the left side of the blade on his comb, I'm not sure what I'm seeing there. Kind of looks like a sprig, but too far away to tell.

 

[chicken pickin]

Thanks for commenting on my male. Here is a pic of the left side of his comb.


and of his right side

 

[desertmarcy]

Thanks for commenting on my male. Here is a pic of the left side of his comb.


and of his right side

Great, I don't see any sprigs there

it was probably an artifact of lighting but now that you've posted a closer view of his head, I'd also say I'd like to see his eye color a brighter bay-orange but he is young yet so his eyes can change.

 

[chicken pickin]

I agree his eyes are more golden brown not reddish bay I was bummed about that but all of his brothers that grew out with him had far worse faults I figured for now the eyes weren't horrible to work with. I plan to pair him with my 2 best hen and pullet and hopefully next season have a better male to choose. Fingers crossed.

 

[cyborg]

Lurker alert! @desertmarcy I hope you still have some BCM pullets for sale?

 

[justoldbobo2]

This is a roo I got from a friend who hatched him at the end of January. What do y'all think

 

[philipchickymad]

I will be getting BCMs in the spring as POL I don't no much about these birds but I like what I hear about them ( and the eggs ) but anyway do they. Lay many eggs per year and what should I look for when I'm buying them

 

[philipchickymad]

And are the BCMs auto sexing

 

[Ihilani Coffee]

And are the BCMs auto sexing

No they are not. I can tell with some of them under a week old, most of them by 3-4 weeks, and then there are the sneaky cockerels that suddenly spring up around 8 weeks.

 

[Ihilani Coffee]

I will be getting BCMs in the spring as POL I don't no much about these birds but I like what I hear about them ( and the eggs ) but anyway do they. Lay many eggs per year and what should I look for when I'm buying them

I have been quite happy with the lay rate of our BCM. I had heard they don't lay well but that has not been the case here. I was told the BCM will lay darkest at the beginning and lighten the egg color as the cycle progresses, but I have not found that to be true at all. There are color fluctuations throughout the laying cycle in our birds. As with any breed, do your research and learn as much as you can about physical traits of the breed as well as general conformation of ANY good bird. Know how to evaluate poultry by feel, where you can estimate body condition and productivity (pelvic structure, length of back, etc.) by actually getting your hands on a lot of birds. It takes time but it's worth it. Go find "The Call of the Hen" and really spend some time with it. Amazon.com has it. Good luck!