Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[marquisella]

Ok everyone a little help
I'm throwing in the towel for my search of mature hens or close to it BCMs Now my question is...where should I get my chicks from? They don't carry locally so which hatchery? Thanks

Please, don't buy from a hatchery...you will regret it. There are several Marans breeders on this list you could safely choose from.

 

[Ray from PA]

I believe I saw where Wynette had best Black Copper eggs down in Florida this weekend. Way to go Wynette.

Congratulations Wynette !

 

[xlboergoats]

Please, don't buy from a hatchery...you will regret it. There are several Marans breeders on this list you could safely choose from.

I agree with Marquisella. Find a reputable breeder who spends time developing their birds. It doesn't cost anymore to feed a good chicken than it does to feed a bad one. The time and money that someone can spend trying to fix genetic weaknesses is far more costly than the expense of purchasing good stock.

We were blessed to start with good Black Coppers from the beginning. I consider it a blessing because someone gave us eggs to start with before we knew one thing about Marans. Just so happens they were out of good genetics. Who would have thought it????

The problems started when we became interested in some of the other varieties. We worked through issue after issue. We did alot of buying, breeding, hatching, culling and some just chunking them out and starting over. It was a big expensive learning curve for us.

We only buy birds and/or eggs from people who we know from the shows or people who we feel are reputable breeders. Not everyone has to show to have nice birds. There are also people who show that have birds that are so mixed up, you can't guess what the next generation will look like. We don't ever bring new birds into our program unless comfortable with the breeder that produced it. We have worked too hard to get the lines that we have developed to use something that is going to hurt our program.

We are at that time of year when we are planning our breeding pens for this spring. We produced a beautiful set of Maras this past season. As soon as show season is over, we will be breaking them into breeding pens. We don't want to use brothers on sisters so we have to go out and purchase new males. (We have found it is easier to buy new males than try to buy a set of females) We have made arrangements to swap some of our males for males from a friend who shows in another state. He is at the same place in his breeding that we are. We both need new genetics, and we are both afraid to buy just any male that looks good.

From Experience,
Ernie Haire
Arp, Texas
www.Marans2XL.com

 

[marans]

could anyone tell me if i should use this black copper maran for breeding? he is 11 months old

 

[Wynette]

could anyone tell me if i should use this black copper maran for breeding? he is 11 months old

This is a blue copper, not a black copper.

It's difficult to provide good feedback on him as the pictures are not showing him at his best. If you can work on getting some better pictures, that would be great. He should be standing naturally, and the picture must be taken directly from the side. A picture from the front, as well as one from directly over the top looking down is very helpful, also.

ETA: it's also helpful to have a close-up of the head from the side so that we can see the comb, eyes, ear coverts, etc.

Here is the type of picture we need (this is not a Marans):

 

[Wynette]

I agree with Marquisella. Find a reputable breeder who spends time developing their birds. It doesn't cost anymore to feed a good chicken than it does to feed a bad one. The time and money that someone can spend trying to fix genetic weaknesses is far more costly than the expense of purchasing good stock.

We were blessed to start with good Black Coppers from the beginning. I consider it a blessing because someone gave us eggs to start with before we knew one thing about Marans. Just so happens they were out of good genetics. Who would have thought it????

The problems started when we became interested in some of the other varieties. We worked through issue after issue. We did alot of buying, breeding, hatching, culling and some just chunking them out and starting over. It was a big expensive learning curve for us.

We only buy birds and/or eggs from people who we know from the shows or people who we feel are reputable breeders. Not everyone has to show to have nice birds. There are also people who show that have birds that are so mixed up, you can't guess what the next generation will look like. We don't ever bring new birds into our program unless comfortable with the breeder that produced it. We have worked too hard to get the lines that we have developed to use something that is going to hurt our program.

We are at that time of year when we are planning our breeding pens for this spring. We produced a beautiful set of Maras this past season. As soon as show season is over, we will be breaking them into breeding pens. We don't want to use brothers on sisters so we have to go out and purchase new males. (We have found it is easier to buy new males than try to buy a set of females) We have made arrangements to swap some of our males for males from a friend who shows in another state. He is at the same place in his breeding that we are. We both need new genetics, and we are both afraid to buy just any male that looks good.

From Experience,
Ernie Haire
Arp, Texas
www.Marans2XL.com

I agree with this, most definitely. It's also a very good idea to ask for an egg shell sample so that you can see the color of egg to be expected. Most good breeders are more than happy to provide shell samples. I often even provide a sample from when my hens were laying their darkest right along with orders, even if folks don't ask for one, so that they can see exactly what to expect.

 

[lonnyandrinda]

Are you sure he's a black copper? He sure has a lot of "blue" on him. Other than that, to my untrained eye, I see too much brown on his chest, his tail angle is too high and not smooth transition to his back. Also looks pretty lightweight/gangly but he could just be young. His back seems too sloped but that might just be his stance in the photo. I don't know a lot I'm just figuring out the breed myself and looking at all the photos on this thread sure helps!

 

[pinkchick]

could anyone tell me if i should use this black copper maran for breeding? he is 11 months old

This is a blue copper, not a black copper. It's difficult to provide good feedback on him as the pictures are not showing him at his best. If you can work on getting some better pictures, that would be great. He should be standing naturally, and the picture must be taken directly from the side. A picture from the front, as well as one from directly over the top looking down is very helpful, also. Here is the type of picture we need (this is not a Marans):

Agreed! This is a Blue Copper and we definitely need more photos of him. In this photo his tail angle looks as though it might be to high.

 

[canesisters]

Hey all.

I'm just curious (not planning to breed or show). I picked up this boy at a swap meet. He was the homeliest little chick and was stuck in the 'ugly/gangly' stage for the longest time. I was snapping some pictures this past weekend and was a little surprised to realize just how much he's changed. I guess he's always been 'my handsome boy' even when he was down right ugly - so I hadn't really noticed just how handsome he's gotten until I was loading the picts on the computer.
So - how does he measure up as a BCM?
Thanks,
Debbie

 

[ashandvine]

Thank you for that very clear explanation Boer. I think chickens are weird now as I am sitting here picturing their ovaduct painting the eggs, but maybe its ME who is actually weird.

Thanks, Don & all - I was thrilled to hear it. I'm actually more excited that they took 2nd overall. I need to work on getting the sheen onto them, as the eggs were matte finish.

I don't want to focus too much on eggs alone, but you can get a sheen on eggs without varnish? How the heck do you do that!?

/Thanks Zanna.....Its great to know how ones chicks turn out...I will be at the NEPC show this weekend, look me up.

Ooh... I will. I have so many people to connect with and birds to goggle over. I am charging the battery in the camera just for this. Feels a bit like I am a lunatic but I am really eager.