Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[happyfrenchman]

Hello... I have been "lurking" on this thread and I have learned alot from you guys. I have 11 BCMs that I got from a fellow on Craigslist as chicks. The father looked pretty good as near as I could tell from examples on the internet, However as the roosters mature, I am seeing alot of variation. I intend to cull anything that does not meet the standard. (I have feather footed birds). I had a couple of questions. The Cockerel I am leaning to keep is still not fully feathered, but he appears to be closest to the standard as I have seen it. He has the copper back hackles and wing patches. (not fully developed obviously) but he also has black on his face... as if he had been shot with a black ink shot. Is this against the standard? I have another bird that is close and does not have the black on the face. I am very familiar with Rhode Island Reds, I know the white feathers will likely go in the first molt. And I know the eye will not be right yet in the new birds but is there a way to tell early on? Some of my birds have white and black skin on the feet. It should be black no? I would not cull a hen for that. (I would likely not cull a hen for any reason at this point because I apparently only have 5 of them.. If I can manage it, and post pictures of the 6young roosters, would you fellows be willing to look at them and advise me which ones to put in the soup and which one to try to improve my flock with? Thanks.

Also, what are comb sprigs?

 

[Broad St Farm]

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[lonnyandrinda]

Post some pictures, and hopefully some experienced people will give you some feedback.

A side sprig is an extra growth on the side of the comb that shouldn't be there. It is not allowed for showing and should not be bred from. You can see a picture here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/g/i/5104811/a/5999219/baysidesprig-jpg/

 

[happyfrenchman]

I see...thank you... comb sprigs... I have never seen that (which is a good thing) regarding the Side Sprig.
I have to get some pictures. They might tell me to cull them all... LOL.

There is another thread that discusses the French Standard of Perfection. I would like to breed as true to standard as I am able with the birds I have. Improve what I have. I have no ambitions outside of that.

 

[Runawaylobster]

I see...thank you... comb sprigs... I have never seen that (which is a good thing) regarding the Side Sprig.
I have to get some pictures. They might tell me to cull them all... LOL.

There is another thread that discusses the French Standard of Perfection. I would like to breed as true to standard as I am able with the birds I have. Improve what I have. I have no ambitions outside of that.

It sounds like your guys are still very young, I bought Marans 30 chicks late last year and i was horrified by the combs at about 8 weeks, but it seems that they grew into their combs and so the ugly combs were just a function of the fact that their combs were too big for their little heads. Have faith what you see may not actually be a sprig.. I have to say that the one who i thought had a terrible comb grew up to have an absolutely ginormous comb... not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing LOL!!!!

 

[marquisella]

Hello... I have been "lurking" on this thread and I have learned alot from you guys. I have 11 BCMs that I got from a fellow on Craigslist as chicks. The father looked pretty good as near as I could tell from examples on the internet, However as the roosters mature, I am seeing alot of variation. I intend to cull anything that does not meet the standard. (I have feather footed birds). I had a couple of questions. The Cockerel I am leaning to keep is still not fully feathered, but he appears to be closest to the standard as I have seen it. He has the copper back hackles and wing patches. (not fully developed obviously) but he also has black on his face... as if he had been shot with a black ink shot. Is this against the standard? I have another bird that is close and does not have the black on the face. I am very familiar with Rhode Island Reds, I know the white feathers will likely go in the first molt. And I know the eye will not be right yet in the new birds but is there a way to tell early on? Some of my birds have white and black skin on the feet. It should be black no? I would not cull a hen for that. (I would likely not cull a hen for any reason at this point because I apparently only have 5 of them.. If I can manage it, and post pictures of the 6young roosters, would you fellows be willing to look at them and advise me which ones to put in the soup and which one to try to improve my flock with? Thanks.

Also, what are comb sprigs?

White on feet is good, all black not good. Combs will change. Its hard to judge a roosters comb until he is fully grow, unless he has side sprigs, or something else that is absolutely wrong. Sometimes it looks like the comb points are squished together, but they spread out as the comb grows.

 

[salt and pepper]

Well, my two younger pullets have moulted any mossy, or white feathers they had, their legs feathers are uniform, and their coloring is perfect! One has a wider tail than the other, and is slightly heavier, so I'm hoping for good things in her offspring! Pics soon!

 

[pawtraitart]

Hello... I have been "lurking" on this thread and I have learned alot from you guys. I have 11 BCMs that I got from a fellow on Craigslist as chicks. The father looked pretty good as near as I could tell from examples on the internet, However as the roosters mature, I am seeing alot of variation. I intend to cull anything that does not meet the standard. (I have feather footed birds). I had a couple of questions. The Cockerel I am leaning to keep is still not fully feathered, but he appears to be closest to the standard as I have seen it. He has the copper back hackles and wing patches. (not fully developed obviously) but he also has black on his face... as if he had been shot with a black ink shot. Is this against the standard? I have another bird that is close and does not have the black on the face. I am very familiar with Rhode Island Reds, I know the white feathers will likely go in the first molt. And I know the eye will not be right yet in the new birds but is there a way to tell early on? Some of my birds have white and black skin on the feet. It should be black no? I would not cull a hen for that. (I would likely not cull a hen for any reason at this point because I apparently only have 5 of them.. If I can manage it, and post pictures of the 6young roosters, would you fellows be willing to look at them and advise me which ones to put in the soup and which one to try to improve my flock with? Thanks.

Also, what are comb sprigs?

Are your birds siblings? If so, you'll need to take that into consideration when deciding which birds to keep. Starting a flock with siblings isn't ideal, but sometimes that's all there is to work with. Feel free to post pictures. Everyone here is really great at helping spot ideal breeding birds.

 

[ashandvine]

White on feet is good, all black not good. Combs will change. Its hard to judge a roosters comb until he is fully grow, unless he has side sprigs, or something else that is absolutely wrong. Sometimes it looks like the comb points are squished together, but they spread out as the comb grows.

Miss Sue, why is white on feet good and black not? What about combs? I notice that some combs are nearly black and others are promising to be red.

 

[RedBugPoultry]

Question for the thread~I purchased some eggs this summer to add a little different blood to my flock. I had a bad hatch which is not anything odd with shipped eggs but this is the only rooster I got from the hatch. As you can hopefully see, he has a very light neck color of almost straw. I have not seen this before in my Marans(and like many I have seen many variations) but these birds were said to be Bev Line birds. Can anyone tell me if this is common in Davis birds? I do not like his wattles either as they curl under but other than that he is developing well.