Black Copper Marans discussion thread

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Wanted some opinions on this cockeral..... First of all he is a son of my original Mom, his Dad I no longer have. He is 8 months old. My only reason for keeping him is Mom and Dad produced some decent pullets and I have two new cockerals from a new line I am test mating. If that goes south I can try him over his Mom and another Hen I have from another line. He has a very bushy open tail which could be helpfull with my pinched tail issues and he was the only son with copperish ear tufts, all other siblings had black. His back is too short for my liking but honestly, not as short as it looks in the pic. His leg feathering is great, no middle toe feathering or fluff, although he does have a partial white feather on one foot. Dad had 2 white tailfeathers come in after he was two and a half years old so that was part of my decision in culling him. Good eye/leg colour, would like more colour on his saddle area, he is overmelanized, correct? Colour also looks more coppery in person. Much better comb than Dad but still too many points, no sprigs/splits, and I think if comes off his skull ok? No light underfluff, he looks pretty black w/nice green sheen. He is extremely wide/chunky. What am I not seeing? May never use this cockeral but wanted to keep a possible back-up and he was the best my pair produced last year.........





 
Gosh, at 8 months old I would say he is very good! I would keep for sure and watch. I used to replace roosters almost every year, but have learned they change a lot from 8months-1yr (hens too). Mostly body stance, tail position, and final color at maturity. I now keep more roosters and am trying to hold off breeding until they are at least a year.
Zanna said:
Wanted some opinions on this cockeral..... First of all he is a son of my original Mom, his Dad I no longer have. He is 8 months old. My only reason for keeping him is Mom and Dad produced some decent pullets and I have two new cockerals from a new line I am test mating. If that goes south I can try him over his Mom and another Hen I have from another line. He has a very bushy open tail which could be helpfull with my pinched tail issues and he was the only son with copperish ear tufts, all other siblings had black. His back is too short for my liking but honestly, not as short as it looks in the pic. His leg feathering is great, no middle toe feathering or fluff, although he does have a partial white feather on one foot. Dad had 2 white tailfeathers come in after he was two and a half years old so that was part of my decision in culling him. Good eye/leg colour, would like more colour on his saddle area, he is overmelanized, correct? Colour also looks more coppery in person. Much better comb than Dad but still too many points, no sprigs/splits, and I think if comes off his skull ok? No light underfluff, he looks pretty black w/nice green sheen. He is extremely wide/chunky. What am I not seeing? May never use this cockeral but wanted to keep a possible back-up and he was the best my pair produced last year.........





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Keara said:
Gosh, at 8 months old I would say he is very good! I would keep for sure and watch. I used to replace roosters almost every year, but have learned they change a lot from 8months-1yr (hens too). Mostly body stance, tail position, and final color at maturity. I now keep more roosters and am trying to hold off breeding until they are at least a year.
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Thanks for your opinion Keara, much appreciated. They do change a lot, sometimes not for the better :) If I try him, it will be next year or way late this year, too many other projects right now! May even cart him to a PNPA show in the Fall for fun and learning! Theres one not too far from me next month but don't think I can get things together in time............
 
Zanna said:
Wanted some opinions on this cockeral..... First of all he is a son of my original Mom, his Dad I no longer have. He is 8 months old. My only reason for keeping him is Mom and Dad produced some decent pullets and I have two new cockerals from a new line I am test mating. If that goes south I can try him over his Mom and another Hen I have from another line. He has a very bushy open tail which could be helpfull with my pinched tail issues and he was the only son with copperish ear tufts, all other siblings had black. His back is too short for my liking but honestly, not as short as it looks in the pic. His leg feathering is great, no middle toe feathering or fluff, although he does have a partial white feather on one foot. Dad had 2 white tailfeathers come in after he was two and a half years old so that was part of my decision in culling him. Good eye/leg colour, would like more colour on his saddle area, he is overmelanized, correct? Colour also looks more coppery in person. Much better comb than Dad but still too many points, no sprigs/splits, and I think if comes off his skull ok? No light underfluff, he looks pretty black w/nice green sheen. He is extremely wide/chunky. What am I not seeing? May never use this cockeral but wanted to keep a possible back-up and he was the best my pair produced last year.........





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Nice cockerel. I love his underline, which is difficult to breed well. I also like his color balance - very good. Yes, he's a bit overmelanized, but not enough that it would bother me personally in the least. I'm not a huge fan of the longer shank feathers toward the bottom (some folks call them "street sweepers") but that's a personal preference and I don't think would make a bit of difference in the show pen. His tail is much too upright for my liking, but he has so many other things going for him that it doesn't bother me that much. love his shank coloring - to me, it looks perfect. His eye looks like it may be a bit light, but that's tough to tell for sure in a pic. I like his comb - too many or too few points is such a low deduction, I never make cull decisions based on that. HIs comb isn't overly huge, as some can be - it looks good on him, and comes off the back of his head exactly as it should. He's got nice balance overall, which I think adds to his aesthetic value. HIs back "may" be a tad short, but again, that's personal preference, and it sounds like the picture doesn't do his topline justice. Overall, a very nice male!

ETA: the only thing that would concern me with this male is that his father had the white tail feathers. They seem to not appear until the cock bird is almost 2 yrs. old - I would bet this male will develop them, but if not, he'd be worth keeping just for that!
 
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Wynette said:
Nice cockerel. I love his underline, which is difficult to breed well. I also like his color balance - very good. Yes, he's a bit overmelanized, but not enough that it would bother me personally in the least. I'm not a huge fan of the longer shank feathers toward the bottom (some folks call them "street sweepers") but that's a personal preference and I don't think would make a bit of difference in the show pen. His tail is much too upright for my liking, but he has so many other things going for him that it doesn't bother me that much. love his shank coloring - to me, it looks perfect. His eye looks like it may be a bit light, but that's tough to tell for sure in a pic. I like his comb - too many or too few points is such a low deduction, I never make cull decisions based on that. HIs comb isn't overly huge, as some can be - it looks good on him, and comes off the back of his head exactly as it should. He's got nice balance overall, which I think adds to his aesthetic value. HIs back "may" be a tad short, but again, that's personal preference, and it sounds like the picture doesn't do his topline justice. Overall, a very nice male!

ETA: the only thing that would concern me with this male is that his father had the white tail feathers. They seem to not appear until the cock bird is almost 2 yrs. old - I would bet this male will develop them, but if not, he'd be worth keeping just for that!
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Thanks Wynette, very helpfull evaluation!
 
Zanna I can only agree with others about your cockerel. This is the kind of keel I thought to look for. His back would seem longer if his tail weren't so high. That bum shot makes me think he'd be great to go with my pinched tail pullet :)

Warmheart-- welcome and I love the Avatar. I have a redpoint longhaired sable. The color is in the genes to put it simply.

Eggs are still variable here. I am starting to think maybe these birds are just for eating and I will have to start over. I am glad I don't have much in them and not many of them as of right now... although I would be really happy if I had more of them and they were really good quality.
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