Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[maryhysong]

Body type IMO. Test mate (single pairings, hatch 20 -25 chicks from each pair ideally if you can) and be looking for a better roo in the meantime. Often an owner at a show can be talked into selling if you are willing/able to pay enough.

That was the way I was leaning also. Just not many shows out here and so far as I have seen desertmarcy is the only person showing....

 

[Wynette]

frenchman - based on THIS PIC alone, which is the best profile shot, this bird is not one I would use for breeding. His shape is more like that of a Rhode Island Red (rectangular). His tail is a bit too long/full for marans (and is also a bit steep), his color balance is not great, and he has the halo effect in his hackles (where it turns lighter toward the bottom, sort of like a halo). This male would be a cull in my program, but this is just my own personal opinion, and I am not an expert. For good points, he doe shave a nice topline, and appears to have good shank feathering.

 

[dvoice]

I posted this on the Maran page and haven't had a response. Hoping to get one here....
Could I please get as much feedback as possible from those of you that incubate Maran eggs. I've got 70 on day 12 now and have heard they are tricky, I know I can't see anything but the air sack when candling. Is there anything special I should be doing as in humidity etc.


? Thanks and hoping for some good info.

 

[snowbird]

Would ya'll be so kind as to offer your opinions on this bird? He is my rooster. I picked him from a group of 9 cockerels (and 3 hens). He has a flock of three black and three blue hens. I do not know their provenance. The blacks lay a fairly dark egg. The blues lay a caramel colored egg.

Would it be possible to see a photo of the BC female behind the male? I would not be afraid to use this male if he is what you have. I would like the Hackle to be more Copper but could live with this to start with. If you want to improve the Hackle color try and find a male with the more Mahogany color. This male shows good type.

 

[Wynette]

frenchman, here is the sketch to use for evaluating type (this is from the French site, and was used in preparing the SOP for America):


I have this posted in my barns, on the pens, in my notebooks...and refer to it often.

 

[marquisella]

I posted this on the Maran page and haven't had a response. Hoping to get one here....
Could I please get as much feedback as possible from those of you that incubate Maran eggs. I've got 70 on day 12 now and have heard they are tricky, I know I can't see anything but the air sack when candling. Is there anything special I should be doing as in humidity etc.


? Thanks and hoping for some good info.

I found that having less humidity works better for all my eggs. I actually do the "dry incubation " method. I put water in the incubator once a week, and then boost the humidity in a separate hatcher to about 60. I don't candle until the day I move them into the hatcher. Then, if they are developing, the whole egg will look black inside except the air cell, it will appear lighter. If the whole egg looks light, its a dud. Too much humidity drowns the chicks when they pip the inner membrane. You will know that is what happened on an egg that doesn't hatch if you open it up and see it look squishy or actually see the contents move around as you move the egg. Also, if the air cell is small when you candle at day 19 or so, you will know that the water didn't evaporate enough and the chick will drown. You should see about 1/3 of the inside of the egg as the air cell.

 

[dvoice]

I found that having less humidity works better for all my eggs. I actually do the "dry incubation " method. I put water in the incubator once a week, and then boost the humidity in a separate hatcher to about 60. I don't candle until the day I move them into the hatcher. Then, if they are developing, the whole egg will look black inside except the air cell, it will appear lighter. If the whole egg looks light, its a dud. Too much humidity drowns the chicks when they pip the inner membrane. You will know that is what happened on an egg that doesn't hatch if you open it up and see it look squishy or actually see the contents move around as you move the egg. Also, if the air cell is small when you candle at day 19 or so, you will know that the water didn't evaporate enough and the chick will drown. You should see about 1/3 of the inside of the egg as the air cell.

I'm at 36-38% now. With my last batch of RIR PBR I was at about 40% and LD at 63%. with the aircells I find that they quickly get larger on the last few days, they seem a little small right now.

 

[Wynette]

dvoice, I don't dry incubate like marquisella, I incubate them just like any other eggs and they hatch just fine here. However, I do believe that incubating/hatching has a lot to do with altitude; you need to figure out what works for your specific incubator and stick with those settings.

What works for me or marquisella may or may not work for you as well.

Many folks prefer the weight loss method; it's a bit lengthy to type out, but if you search on here you'll find info. on it. With that method, you will not go wrong. It's calculated on teh amount of weight the egg should lose during incubation. You weigh a random selection/percentage of eggs every 2 or 3 days to be sure they are falling on the chart where they should be as far as weight loss. If they've lost too much on one weigh day, you increase humidity; too little, you decrease. I did this for several incubations until I was comfortable with what worked for my unit.

 

[DMRippy]

I dry incubate all my eggs. you have to find what works for you. many things can change how you incubate. type of bator your location (very humid here most of the time) but your hatches will tell you what they like. my bator runs from 40% down in the summer. if it gets higher I have to do something to get the humidity down.

 

[dvoice]

dvoice, I don't dry incubate like marquisella, I incubate them just like any other eggs and they hatch just fine here. However, I do believe that incubating/hatching has a lot to do with altitude; you need to figure out what works for your specific incubator and stick with those settings.

What works for me or marquisella may or may not work for you as well.

Many folks prefer the weight loss method; it's a bit lengthy to type out, but if you search on here you'll find info. on it. With that method, you will not go wrong. It's calculated on teh amount of weight the egg should lose during incubation. You weigh a random selection/percentage of eggs every 2 or 3 days to be sure they are falling on the chart where they should be as far as weight loss. If they've lost too much on one weigh day, you increase humidity; too little, you decrease. I did this for several incubations until I was comfortable with what worked for my unit.

Thanks Wynette, I also do the weight loss, I chose 4 eggs and avg the loss. Do different breeds require different loss% ? I really don't understand when ppl say it all depends on climate or altitude. as for climate if my incubator is reading 40% here in British Colombia it should be exactly the same if it was reading 40% in Florida. I have a humidifier hooked up to my controller so I can keep the humidity steady, I usually have a 2% on/off.