Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[familypendragon]

I hear you - I usually get blurry pics of fuzzy butts as they run away.

 

[Broad St Farm]

It is probably Fowl Pox - do a search and you will see what I mean. I am dealing with this right now. Its carried by mosquitoes The black spots are the dry pox - the head shaking can be an indicator of the wet pox - mine are doing this as well that have the wet form. Its in their throats.

I can appreciate your help and concern. But it is not fowl pox. I know this because I have seen these spots off and on the birds for 3 years. That male I spoke of just started to do that, and not before I washed him. These birds have no signs of illness. These scabs are very small and hard to notice until you get close. My oldest male has had them before and he's healthy and a tank. I has to be from blood drying. Every time I see blood on them it drys like these spots. One of these days I will figure it out.

 

[johnderosa1]

Could it be from mites?

 

[Chad Cool]

Quote:
Cant find her do you have more info?

 

[math ace]

I hope! Getting pretty cold up here and its rainy. I havent seen a mosquito for a while.

They tend to hang out in the coop waiting for a nightly feed when the birds go to roost.
RAIN.... oh RAIN is a good indicator that mosquitos are going to be nearby. As far as it being cold, my first and only episode with fowl pox was during the winter.

 

[maryhysong]

Hi, Mary - this pullet has a nice topline - the angle of the back should run uphill slightly from the base of the tail to the base of the neck. However, there are some issues which you will not want to breed forward. First, her eye is much too dark. This is a problem in the breed that I am seeing more and more. Also, her feathing is much too loose, appearing almost like an Orpington. If she is a hen and in molt, that may explain the loose feathering (sorry, I don't recall if she is a hen or pullet). She does have a nice underline, and has nice balance. Is she a black copper? If so, she definitely would need to be paired with a male with some flecks of copper in his breast to increase the color of the female. Okay, I just re-read your post, and you indicate she's in heavy molt, was hatched in 12/12, but you do not yet know her egg color? Am I understanding correctly that she has not yet begun to lay?




Red 59 has issues as well...wing carriage is too high (much less common that too low) and topline isn't great. Also, tail is a bit high. But, she does have nice eye color. The clean shanks is almost a deal breaker (for me anyway) and she's too dark, as well. However, her feathers are tighter than the other female, which I do like. She also appears to have a nice underline.

If they are all that you have, maybe the thing to do is pair them up and do single matings to see what you'll get? If you pair each with a male that has features that offset the negatives in the females, you will move forward next generation.

Wynette, thank you for that critque. These girls have all been penned together so I have not been positive who is laying what. I have been rotating them one at a time to my layer pen full of BO and EE girls to try and discover egg color. I am pretty sure that one or two of the smallest girls have never laid an egg (all of my girls were hatched Dec 2012) At the beginning of the summer I got several very strange eggs, one appeared to be nothing but a lump of calcium, like just layers and layers of shell, several with soft wrinkled shells, ect. So some of these seem to have some reproductive issues. I have had two birds that have laid dark fairly regularly over the summer. The lighter of the two I have discovered who she is. (I just haven't been able to get decent pics of her to post yet) But when the heavy molt started the darkest eggs quit coming. Waiting now for them to show up again so I can figure out who they belong to. It's red59 that I don't think has laid an egg, or at least not recently. orange54 is wider between the pelvic bones so she has probably been laying until she began to molt.

This has been a crazy year in my personal life so some things just haven't happened around here. I am still trying to finish my new chicken house with breeding pens so I can separate birds. Out of 7 pullets so far two have laid what I feel is acceptable egg color. I am hoping they also turn out to be acceptable type wise for breeding. As soon as I discover who the other girl is, then pretty much everyone else is gone.

 

[Broad St Farm]

N

Could it be from mites?

Deffenatly not mites. I stay on top of my birds and inspect them regularly. They are in tip top shape. I have also sprayed them as a preventative. Only thing I can think of is they scratch their combs and the get a bit of blood to come out like we would get little scabs from a rash. I will post a pic later if I have time.

 

[snowbird]

If you have these entered in the show this weekend I would get someone knowledgeable about Pox to say they did not have the pox or would not show then. This is the time of the year here in Michigan that the Pox usually shows. Very easy to Vaccinate for the Pox, using the wing puncture method, then you can not show for several weeks after.

 

[Wynette]

Don, are you coming up for the show?

 

[Ray from PA]

Nice to see Don adding something here again, hope you are doing well !