Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[Chickengirl1304]

Are marans Eggs hells harder than the ever age shell? My chicks sure are taking their time hatching

 

[DMRippy]

Are marans Eggs hells harder than the ever age shell? My chicks sure are taking their time hatching

YES. Very hard and the membrane is really tough too. HIGH humidity so they don't dry out.

 

[Chickengirl1304]

I dry hatched this batch but it's my first FBCM eggs. I've had it at 25-45% and since lockdown it's been at 65% is that too low?

 

[DMRippy]

I dry hatched this batch but it's my first FBCM eggs. I've had it at 25-45% and since lockdown it's been at 65% is that too low?

That should be ok. That is about what I do. If they look like they are drying out you can always add some wet paper towels around them to keep the humidity up.

 

[Chickengirl1304]

Ok sounds good thanks

 

[Chickengirl1304]

Are black copper marans auto sexing? Anyone have pics of so? Thabks

 

[Keara]

Are black copper marans auto sexing? Anyone have pics of so? Thabks

NO they are not sex linked for color. However ususally by 4-6wks you can see a clear differeance in comb size. The roos having bigger combs.

 

[BrendaJ]

Question....
I have a young BCM hen. She has been laying eggs for about 2 months now. Last week she laid an egg with no shell or membrane - just egg white/yolk. it was strange. Non of my chickens have ever done this. Now she has stopped laying all together. She is young, healthy, active with a good appitite. Any ideas? Or has any one experienced this with BCM's ? My flock is mixed & all others are laying fine.

Well never mind i guess - she started laying again today. Must have just been one of those freaky chicken things...

 

[VillageChicken]

Well, now I get to be the bad guy. This is not a Brahma either. Clean shanks, wrong color. I lean back on the Birchen. Keep in mind that Marans also go through a funny stage of developing colors they don't have and having colors they are going to lose. Just be patient. You can always call it dinner or egger.
OOPs, my apologies. I also talk to Dick Boulanger in the Favs thread. So sorry.
I was just apologizing because I didn't take it the way you did and I hate to disagree so blatantly with people who are kind to me.
Thank you Wynette. I don't want to alienate anyone willing to help me learn who actually knows what they are talking about. Like I said, I am disappointed. I had hoped there was enough good about these girls that most of the issues would be small. Still waiting to read about how the Wheaten does or not breed out. I have a slim hope here that it does but Don did say it takes time which he doesn't waste. I do have some eggs or chicks coming from some Marans I have met. They are nice for type (wide and deep) but they hens are melenized. I didn't see them long enough to get all the details. The cock had good color but it wasn't even in the hackle. No browns or gold/straw though so at least there's a slim chance of wheaten being in there. That's something.

Breeding out the wheaten gene is not hard. It's easier than yellow skin, white earlobes, or black legs. But Marans with wheaten in their backgrounds are sometimes missing other genes that must be later selected for and bred back into your flock. These are the challenge. Different melanizers and red enhancers that give you the proper color.

Getting rid of the wheaten gene means test breeding your roo and hens on a wheaten based breed - wheaten marans, light sussex, delawares, though I would stay away from anything that is buff or buff columbian, because you don't know if they are wheaten based or not. You would need to trap nest or isolate your hens to know whose egg is whose. You can narrow down your testing by using only your hens that show the best plumage color - no brown caste to the bum fluff, no shafting in the breast, good solid black plumage. The ones that don't throw any yellow or tan colored chicks when test mated to a wheaten based breed are your wheaten free hens. If you only have one roo and you know he carries wheaten, and you don't have access to another or don't want to get rid of him, you can still use him though you will put wheaten into your next generation of chicks. I would only use him to get a good clean wheaten free rooster out of him. If he has good plumage color, you have a good chance of getting a decent rooster out of him, though any rooster you select from his offspring would need to be tested on a wheaten hen to determine that he is not a wheaten carrier.

Then once all your breeders are determined not to carry wheaten, you can start selecting for proper copper coloring, good deep black plumage, proper type, comb, leg feathering etc. Yes, it's a long process, but no one is in BC Marans for an overnight show winning, true breeding flock.

 

[ashandvine]

Thank you for that reality check and the detail of testing. I might be in for some real trouble/long haul here. I'm okay with starting small but I would rather start with good, basic stock and only a few of them then breed for perfection. I would rather not start with lots of big faults. The Marans males I kept were the largest, one being the largest I have seen period, though I knew his color was bad in his hackle. I had hoped if I crossed him into a melenized hen or pullet that would correct some of the color issue. The other gals I had honestly hoped only had small faults. I never even knew to look for the brown cast in their fluff. I went out and picked up one of the pullets to check her fluff. There is a little auburn/brown cast but not as much as the picture was showing. Maybe the photos are more accurate. I'm really embarrassed: I went and looked at Wheaton vs Black Copper on Bev Davis' web page and can't tell the difference in the males. (thank goodness you can't hit me with things in here.) Obviously I can tell in the pullets and hens but the cock/erels... maybe they look a little more blue in their chest than black but.... I want to learn, so please don't give up on me. This would certainly explain why one of he other cockerels who came with this group was very red all over and why there was also a blue in there. I think these folks who got these birds got a mix instead of just BCM. They told me they were just BC and clearly I didn't know better. Except the two pullets I showed. They are supposed to be strictly bc. ??

Are we heading to the other thread or a new one? Could a link be posted in here for everyone's ease?