Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[DMRippy]

Quote:
I have only had a few chicks with that spot.... not sure it really is wheaten. As many chicks as I have hatched if I had that much wheaten in my flock I would have had a wheaten chick pop up.... HUNDREDS of chicks and not once have I hatched a wheaten chick from my birds.... someone else's birds yes mine no.

 

[nicalandia]

I read back in the thread that the orange spots indicate the Wheaten gene. Someone mentioned this and I have seen it several times in my birds and it seem to be true.

ER/eWh heterozygotes look like pure ER/ER specially on the Maran breed.

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Does anyone know of a website or anything of the sort where where i can buy quality bcms. i bought some from a "breeder" whom i found on craigslist last year he claimed they came from bev davis. but i doubt they did because they are really crappy. some of them dont have any copper on the neck and some have just have terrible posture. And none of them lay good eggs. they lay as dark of eggs as my bared rocks do.
Thanks

Did you buy eggs or established birds? Lack of copper on the females is a common problem with Marans no matter who you buy from. Hatching eggs are always a total crap shoot no matter who you buy from. What sort of money are you looking to spend? As Marans are so newly established, I'm not aware of anyone that is selling truly good quality started/established birds. The best you can usually hope for is hatching eggs and even those might not be as dark as you were lead to believe. And then you've got to get them to hatch - and from there, get good quality birds.

Marans are a work in progress. I suggest you join the Marans Chicken Club USA and join the discussion there. It's also a great place to make contact with the best breeders but - you have to remember - we are still just building the breed.

www.maranschickenclubusa.com

 

[maryhysong]

I read back in the thread that the orange spots indicate the Wheaten gene. Someone mentioned this and I have seen it several times in my birds and it seem to be true.

Except one of these two boys had that copper spot and I don't think any one would call them wheaten!

 

[SIMZ]

Hello! I'm hoping someone can help me solve a small mystery.

I hatched 4 chicks from my BCMs. I know the mother and father of all 4. I kept two of the chicks because the mother is one of my better hens and her brothers were huge. I wanted to see how they'd do.

Here's the mystery. These 2 chicks are feathering in and have just a few brown-ish tipped feathers mixed in with the mostly black feathers. The only place I've seen feathers like that are on my BCM/Orpington mixes (see my avatar). I've hatched a few of them and they're always brown chicks, while these looked just like most BCM chicks I've seen. It should be noted that both chicks have this same feathering.

Would there be something in the BCM past that would cause these brown feathers? Weeks ago my Orpington rooster got to this particular hen, but she's been in with my marans rooster since then. Is it possible that there is some strange mix thing going on?

Thanks for any ideas!

 

[rooster 1918]

Did you buy eggs or established birds? Lack of copper on the females is a common problem with Marans no matter who you buy from. Hatching eggs are always a total crap shoot no matter who you buy from. What sort of money are you looking to spend? As Marans are so newly established, I'm not aware of anyone that is selling truly good quality started/established birds. The best you can usually hope for is hatching eggs and even those might not be as dark as you were lead to believe. And then you've got to get them to hatch - and from there, get good quality birds.

Marans are a work in progress. I suggest you join the Marans Chicken Club USA and join the discussion there. It's also a great place to make contact with the best breeders but - you have to remember - we are still just building the breed.

www.maranschickenclubusa.com

i bought he birds when they were about 3 months old. i think i may take your suggestion and check out that website. i do realize that lack of lacing is a problem but im serious they are total crap. there eggs are not as large as they should and they lay as dark as my barred rocks do. and the posure of the birds is just despicable they are completly staight backed no curve exept for the heads. as for money im not really sure however much it costs i guess.

 

[rooster 1918]

Hello! I'm hoping someone can help me solve a small mystery.

I hatched 4 chicks from my BCMs. I know the mother and father of all 4. I kept two of the chicks because the mother is one of my better hens and her brothers were huge. I wanted to see how they'd do.

Here's the mystery. These 2 chicks are feathering in and have just a few brown-ish tipped feathers mixed in with the mostly black feathers. The only place I've seen feathers like that are on my BCM/Orpington mixes (see my avatar). I've hatched a few of them and they're always brown chicks, while these looked just like most BCM chicks I've seen. It should be noted that both chicks have this same feathering.

Would there be something in the BCM past that would cause these brown feathers? Weeks ago my Orpington rooster got to this particular hen, but she's been in with my marans rooster since then. Is it possible that there is some strange mix thing going on?

Thanks for any ideas!

Awhile ago i had a blue laced red wyandotte rooster get into the wrong pen, he bred to my buff orps

. then i put a buff orp rooster to try and get rid of the wrong breeding. well i hadtched some eggs and watched em grow up and i had a bunch of cross breeds and nowhere to put them

now im not saying that the same result is gonna happen to you but i would proceed with caution.

 

[Zanna]

Awhile ago i had a blue laced red wyandotte rooster get into the wrong pen, he bred to my buff orps

. then i put a buff orp rooster to try and get rid of the wrong breeding. well i hadtched some eggs and watched em grow up and i had a bunch of cross breeds and nowhere to put them

now im not saying that the same result is gonna happen to you but i would proceed with caution.

The general recommendation is wait 3 weeks after the hen is in with the new cock before collecting eggs to hatch to be sure of the new Dad being the Dad.

 

[marquisella]

Quote: It could be just that those chicks are mossy. I have seen chicks, usually cockerels, that start out with brown tipped feathers. They always grow out to have too much copper on them.

 

[SIMZ]

Thank you, marquisella

While that's not good news, in a way I'm glad to hear that it's possible for them to have brown tipped feathers. I was somewhat concerned that she had permanently retained a bit of Orpington DNA since it had been at least 3-4 weeks before I set these eggs. LOL

More bad news is that I picked these two because they didn't have feathers on their middle toes like the other two chicks. My rooster had a sprig in between his middle toe and I was hoping to have gotten away from it. So it goes.