Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[xlboergoats]

Birds with white ear lobes or white ear covert feathers?
Photos? Do you have any of the white ears?
And are asking about over melanized pullets? As in, not enough or very little color in the hackle?

We do not have anything with white ear lobes. Everything that we have has red ear lobes when it gets it mature color. I really don't think that I have anything in the juvenile pens with white in his/her ear lobes. Usually, if it is there before they mature it will turn to red. Occasionally a female that is in heavy production may have a dusty white color in her ear lobes. We don't really worry much about that, but we would cull anything with white ear lobes.

White feathers are not anything that we get excited about in chicks or juveniles. Our chicks are all hatched with some amounts to white. When they start to develop feathers, there are usually some white in the wings. We don't get excited about that either. If a bird (other than a White or Splash) has white in its mature feathers, we would cull it.

I did have one man who called me about some chicks that he bought off of a reputable breeder. He was upset with the money he had spent on a set of chicks that feathered out to have white in their wings. He had given all of those chicks away before calling me to discuss this issue. I assured him that most Black Copper juveniles would have some white in their wing feathers.

Regards,
Ernie Haire
Arp, Texas
www.Marans2xl.com

 

[DreamCatcherNC]

hey Ernie. Enjoyed your post and do not worry, no offense taken. I was mainly sharing what I have read on the Marans Club of America website says in their genetic explanation of what to look for in a ideal rooster. I am finding out that marans can be all over the place in apearance and I guess alot has to do with personal preferance . I guess the trick is to find the correct balance between too much copper or too much black. I feel i need to take a course in genetics. Congrats on the show results. It is very helpful to know what is working. hope to see your post more often....I want to learn as much as possible about this breed. I have also read that the red on the rooster's throat also helps improve hackle color in the hens. I




am going to include a pic or two of my roo. your opinion would be greatly appreciated.

 

[DreamCatcherNC]

I also have some white in the feathers of juvvies. I usually wait till after their first molt to see if they reappear. if they do..I cull them

 

[mikeypalone]

I have a black copper cockerel with one totally white feather in each wing,three and half months old. I am thinking this goes away with age. True or false ? Opinions ?

 

[xlboergoats]

hey Ernie. Enjoyed your post and do not worry, no offense taken. I was mainly sharing what I have read on the Marans Club of America website says in their genetic explanation of what to look for in a ideal rooster. I am finding out that marans can be all over the place in apearance and I guess alot has to do with personal preferance . I guess the trick is to find the correct balance between too much copper or too much black. I feel i need to take a course in genetics. Congrats on the show results. It is very helpful to know what is working. hope to see your post more often....I want to learn as much as possible about this breed. I have also read that the red on the rooster's throat also helps improve hackle color in the hens. I

I am not sure when the Standards you are using were updated. The Standards have been approved by the APA for Marans can be found at www.Marans.org. Small amounts of copper in the breast of a male bird will not be a disqualification. It is not mentioned in the Standard. At one time, it was thought that any copper in the breast of male birds was a big no-no. To be honest, many people were showing the black breasted males, but breeding males with a little copper in their breasts behind closed gates to improve the hackle color on their females. Once many of us came to the conclusion that there may be a place for these males in the breed, we started openly accepting a little copper in the breasts. They are not to be laced with copper. Copper lacing is strongly culled against.

The cockerels that we are hauling this season are all black breasted, but we have hauled a few with a little copper in their breasts. They have placed as well as the black breasted birds. We do cull any female that has copper in her breast.

You are correct in the fact that these birds can be all over the place. We do not breed any one line of Marans at 2XL. We breed for "type" here and hope that the color is there. A very experienced judge once told us that "type" make the bird and "color" makes the variety. We use the same phillosophy breeding chickens that we did for cattle, rabbits, goats, and dogs for years. Breed the best to the best and breed for strengths and against weaknesses.

When we get to the end of the breeding season, we use our show pullets as replacements for our older hens. We do not use our show cockerels in these pens because we would be breeding brothers and sisters. This makes for a problem selecting male birds that are not going to cause our program to go backwards. There are some breeders who are a little more dedicated to breeding for the same traits that we breed for. Because of that, we use male birds from their programs to bring new genetics into our program. A nice thing about showing is that it gives us the opportunity to meet up at shows and swap birds with each other.

Sincerely,
Ernie Haire
Arp, Texas
www.Marans2XL.com

 

[xlboergoats]

I have a black copper cockerel with one totally white feather in each wing,three and half months old. I am thinking this goes away with age. True or false ? Opinions ?

At this age, we would not throw him out. He does not have his adult feathers yet. If his white wing feathers are not replaced by black ones when he get his adult feathers, then I would not use him to show or breed.

JMO,
Ernie Haire
Arp, Texas
www.Marans2XL.com

 

[DreamCatcherNC]

I hatched about 20 a week for 5 1/2 months. I was able to sell quite a few and had to stop selling pullets so I could keep some back for breeding this year. Of course I am stuck with quite a few roosters Even after I held some back for my breeding and some for backup, in case any of my breeders died, I am stuck with over a dozen roosters. only a few of them I would consider culls. This year I might do something different. Maybe sell in trios only. I don,t know. Any suggestions? would you have time to go to our web site and give your honest opinion about our birds? any advice is welcome here. I just want to do this rght. our site is dreamcatcherpoultry.webs.com thank you for your time. have a happy new year......Bruce p.s. Am I allowed to give my web site out on a thread like this? if not opps
I

 

[DreamCatcherNC]

thanks Ernie. The standards I saw were from the marans clu of america. It mentioned having a slight amount of copper in the brest, but not too much. I have kept back a couple of very nice roos with black breast ..I do like the way they look. I had one judge tell me on one of my roosters who I knew had alittle too much red in the breast tell me his build was correct. I had the "barn" now just work on the paint.. I am new to showing. I made some great contacts at our first show I learned quite a bit

 

[soliving]

Hi,

I'm new to the site, but I've been reading through this thread and am impressed with all the info (I haven't had time to read through all of it though). I have some Marans and have been impressed with their egg laying (good frequency, good color, and start to lay around 18 weeks), but have not been impressed with the size of the birds.

Does anyone weigh their birds? What weights are they?

I read that French Marans should weigh 8.5 lbs, but none of my roosters have been that big.

Any comments would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Marc
http://soliving.weebly.com

 

[DreamCatcherNC]

hey and welcome to the site. I am new to this site as well. as far as the size of my marans....They are big. I have never weighed them but almost every person that comes to buy chicks from me comments on how large the roosters and hens are. Don.t get me wrong, I had some roos that were small, but they were culled. I like them with a broad chest and wide back. you can check out my birds on dreamcatcher.webs.com let me know if that is that is the size you had in mind. again, welcome to this site. any feedback is welcome. thanks for your time