Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[lonnyandrinda]

Tell me what you think please.

One think I like- he has really good width and well spaced legs! His legs are decently feathered, it would be even nicer if there wasn't a "break" in the feathers at the top of his leg, my understanding is you want a thin unbroken line of feathers from the top down to the outer toe. He's pretty young for me to tell much else besides some color notes. Chest is solid black which is good, but I see a "halo" effect in his hackles? You want the color as even as possible from top to bottom. Also his eyes seem too dark, not a bright orangey-red, although he is young enough that could still change. And his earlobe is black, I know copper is preferred. Between the black earlobe and dark eyes this guy may have too much melanizer genes, according to my limited genetic understanding. This can lead to female offspring with no copper markings. Hopefully someone else will chime in that knows more about the melanizers.

 

[SIMZ]

Here is my oldest boy to choose from. He's right around 6 months old. That's his bantam girlfriend with him. She sleeps under his wing on the roost.

I like him - he has a monstrous chest and very wide back. His front view is amazing. He just seems "scrunchy" to me (short back) and almost hen shaped. It doesn't help that he's missing his tail (there must be a tail puller in the house...), but he's always had that shape.

Thoughts

 

[happyfrenchman]

I always thought the sheen of a birds wing was a product of the light, reflecting through the finer structures of the healthy feather. If the color green is a sign that the bird is overmelanized, and blue is worse.... are there other colors? .. I have only ever seen blue or green or violet. Violet is closest to red.

 

[maryhysong]

Here is my oldest boy to choose from. He's right around 6 months old. That's his bantam girlfriend with him. She sleeps under his wing on the roost.

I like him - he has a monstrous chest and very wide back. His front view is amazing. He just seems "scrunchy" to me (short back) and almost hen shaped. It doesn't help that he's missing his tail (there must be a tail puller in the house...), but he's always had that shape.

Thoughts

wow, loving that chest! How much does he weigh? He looks pretty hefty!

 

[maryhysong]

All right time to start making some serious decisions around here. Although most of the girls are molting and I am still not sure what kind of egg everyone is laying, it's time to start narrowing the field. I have a number of breeds/projects going on and would like to get down to 40 birds or less in the next couple of months.

Revisiting some of my BCM boys. If it was your choice to eat or to breed which one of these would you keep?

First, #49 With the setting sun coming from the right side it makes his halo look a little more defined than it is in normal light. but still his copper is not even from neck to back. His comb is too big. I think his back and his tail angle are pretty good. I think his eye and ear color are ok. He does have feathers all the way down the outside toe, tho they are sparse right now from molting. (but he's not got a huge amount of them normally either.) He normally holds his wings up a lot higher. I'm not sure why he has them so low in the pic.


TX is really tall, reminds me of a game bird. He is flat on the lower chest, has an even uglier comb than 49. Has a funky tall tail. His back slopes like a ski jump. I think his eye and ear color are OK. He doesn't have the halo effect on his hackles but still not evenly colored between hackle & saddle. Sparse feathering down the shanks with just stubs on the toe. I'm sure it's just a minor point, but I think he has too much black on his beak



I am personally inclined to keep and breed #49 and eat TX. What say ya'll?

 

[lonnyandrinda]

All right time to start making some serious decisions around here. Although most of the girls are molting and I am still not sure what kind of egg everyone is laying, it's time to start narrowing the field. I have a number of breeds/projects going on and would like to get down to 40 birds or less in the next couple of months.

Revisiting some of my BCM boys. If it was your choice to eat or to breed which one of these would you keep?



I am personally inclined to keep and breed #49 and eat TX. What say ya'll?

That would be my call as well.

 

[DeltaBluezTess]

Use 49for Breeding
Use TX for Baking.

Tx has squirrel tail, too short back, too lean neck. 49 need better color and bigger chest but tail and structure is good. You can fix that but not what TX.

 

[Runawaylobster]

That would be my call as well.

X2

 

[chicksnthestiks]

All right time to start making some serious decisions around here. Although most of the girls are molting and I am still not sure what kind of egg everyone is laying, it's time to start narrowing the field. I have a number of breeds/projects going on and would like to get down to 40 birds or less in the next couple of months. Revisiting some of my BCM boys. If it was your choice to eat or to breed which one of these would you keep? First, #49 With the setting sun coming from the right side it makes his halo look a little more defined than it is in normal light. but still his copper is not even from neck to back. His comb is too big. I think his back and his tail angle are pretty good. I think his eye and ear color are ok. He does have feathers all the way down the outside toe, tho they are sparse right now from molting. (but he's not got a huge amount of them normally either.) He normally holds his wings up a lot higher. I'm not sure why he has them so low in the pic. TX is really tall, reminds me of a game bird. He is flat on the lower chest, has an even uglier comb than 49. Has a funky tall tail. His back slopes like a ski jump. I think his eye and ear color are OK. He doesn't have the halo effect on his hackles but still not evenly colored between hackle & saddle. Sparse feathering down the shanks with just stubs on the toe. I'm sure it's just a minor point, but I think he has too much black on his beak I am personally inclined to keep and breed #49 and eat TX. What say ya'll?

I have to say it is a terrible angle to judge from on TX. He looks like he is getting ready to crow or something has his attention as he has himself pulled up. Just saying it is not fair to judge him from one bad photo. Not trying to offend your photo skills but you are trying to make a decision on his life. I keep hearing to keep a back up rooster just in case. I also like the chest from what I see on TX better.

 

[chicken pickin]

I thought I would post some updated pics on my 2 BCMS

Roo 1 is Rebel he is about 20weeks old. He is so handsome and beefy I am im love with his body type. I know he is way over melanized.




Roo 2 is CJ he is about 18 weeks old. He is tall and a little more slender he has better color but looks to have a slight halo(the sun was shining on him).

These are offspring from my stock. I think I may bring in new Marans in next spring to hopefully get better offspring.
I had 6 roos to choose from unfortunately a predator got 4 of them These are my remaining 2.

I was thinking of pairing Rebel(roo1) to Olive eggers to make F2 Olive Eggers