Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[Ihilani Coffee]

I would be so appreciative of any help or advice with my two males. My intentions are for my daughter to show at the fair,
and to sell a few extra hatching eggs & chicks that I might have in the process of hatching for myself. I also use my BCM male to hatch sex-links. Here are my 2 best males out of around 15 + males hatched this year. I've been keeping them both around for as long as I could, but I really should narrow it down to 1 for harmony in my small flock.

#1 is on the left and is about 8 months old. #2 is on the right and about 20 weeks old. This shows their usual stance. #1 is normally "scrunchy" like that, but has an enormous chest. #2 is just big - I love that about him. He also tends to stand more upright. Both have "halo" going on.


Here's the catch: #2 has rudimentary toe. I've seen many of you say you would never breed a male that displays that. If it isn't a fault or DQ, could you explain why it's a problem for breeding?

Thank you for any insight you can give! (Yes, I'm ready to hear it - no matter how horrible!)

I'm a newbie so my opinion should not carry too much weight. From these photos, I prefer #1. The solidness of him may be only a function of age however. It's very hard to see much detail without clear closeups (I know how difficult they can be to photograph from my own attempts!).

 

[SIMZ]

Here are some closer pictures of #1. This also shows the "halo" that both of my males have. Is this what you are talking about that you won't use?

He just seems so short & stout to me. He started looking like that at around 6 months. He is short - not much taller than my hens.

Comment?

 

[Wynette]

SIMZ - That comment about him not being much taller than your females throws me a bit (some folks actually prefer a shorter bird - we call them "lowriders"). Still not the best pics to see all that much, but as far as type, from THESE pics, he just looks "okay" to me. His back appears to be short, and he doens't have the proper include to his topline (back). I can't see his legs well enough to make a call on color or shank feathering. Nor can we see his eye to know whether they are the proper color (they should be "bay" which is orange looking). It appears his tail is carried at a reasonable (may be a bit low) angle. I do see that the bottoms of his hackles lighten; but this isn't as much of a color difference as we usually see. (these are my opinions only, I do not claim to be an expert) Again, it's very difficult to provide good feedback from the pics. Is there any place you can put him that is better lit, and you could get a closer picture? I like to use hay bales to form a sort of "platform" and surround the bales to make an open box of sorts. They seem to almost enjoy (at least from my perspective) posing for you (not a Marans) - I've set them up in a horse stall, so that in the event he should decide to hop down, he'll still be contained:

 

[blackbirds13]

Thanks for critiques of my boy. They are what I was expecting. I will definitely be looking for a new one but I will just go with the Splash boys until next spring. All the boys I have get along pretty good together so far so I'm not going to rock the boat in the bachelor pad for right now and with all my extra pens cleaned out it's too late in the season for me to add new stock before winter comes - don't want to clean again after quarantine.

Marquisella, I had a really nice boy I got from you last year at Springfield when I purchased some chicks from you there. I wish I still had him.

 

[marquisella]

Thanks for critiques of my boy. They are what I was expecting. I will definitely be looking for a new one but I will just go with the Splash boys until next spring. All the boys I have get along pretty good together so far so I'm not going to rock the boat in the bachelor pad for right now and with all my extra pens cleaned out it's too late in the season for me to add new stock before winter comes - don't want to clean again after quarantine.

Marquisella, I had a really nice boy I got from you last year at Springfield when I purchased some chicks from you there. I wish I still had him.

Where did he go? I am growing out 6 cockerels, and I can find something I don't like about each one, but I will have to choose the lesser of 6 evils I guess. And they all were from the same roo. My pullets look more consistant but those gosh darn boys are mixed up...

 

[bribre]

Hi. I'm a newby to the BCM that would love some feedback on this young cockerel. He was hatched march 11 this year.

Thanks
Bre

 

[blackbirds13]

Quote:
I culled him this past spring during the huge MG outbreak we had here in New Hampshire. We had a bunch of farms test positive for MG and MS that did the swaps and the state came in and tested everyone's birds that had anything to do with the swaps. They ended up testing thousands of birds and quarantining farms, some of which are still under quarantine as they chose not to cull their flocks so they can keep them but cannot sell or give away any of the birds. I don't do the swaps but had accepted chicks and visited the property of someone who did and who did have some birds that ended up testing positive. None of my birds appeared sick and I was not mandated to test but I called the state and had the tests done. I only had one bird test positive out of all my flock but was too paranoid and culled every bird that was in the pen with him. The state did not require me to do so. They recommended I only cull the single positive bird and then totally clean and re-test. I cleaned and disinfected with DC&R and my re-test was all good and fully negative and I am currently MG and MS free but I culled the single Marans, all the birds in the pen and all the chicks that I had hatched from him or that had been in contact with his chicks. It was horrible as it was a lot of birds, so I am only taking birds from folks I had before that tested negative and your boy tested negative but unfortunately was in the pen so he had to go. I culled my whole Marans flock because of just one bird. Some folks called me all sorts of names and a government sheep and that I was inciting paranoia but I just wanted to ensure that my flock was clean and that if I sold birds to anyone they were clean. I just could not keep anything in that pen that had been in contact with the infected bird. I feel so much better about it than I thought I would as I lost a lot of money with the birds I culled but I feel assured when I look at the flock I kept.
Your boy was a bit dark but so nice and solid looking. I had thought about giving him to a friend but just could not part with him when it came down to it but then had to. This whole experience has taught me a lot about Bio-security and is the reason I have decided to only keep 2 breeds.

 

[CristinaB]

Since lots of opinions are flying and we are all showing off our boys... Here is the bird I acquired last week. I plan to cover my two hens with him. Hoping for some beautiful babies. Of course, I would love feedback on what the experts (or more experienced) think of this boy as a good choice for a breeder. Lots of pictures.


Left Side








Looking strait at the camera


Right side, He was picked on by his previous flock as he was the low man in that flock.
He has some white showing at the base of his tail, not sure if this is a DQ, nor do I know if it is permanent or a result of the picking.





Toes are strait, center toe is without feathers.






Put the cat in her place, she goosed the hen.


Non aggressive rooster, very respectful of humans.


Rooster with one of the hens I have.

This boy was acquired by his previous owner by mistake. Two FCM eggs were sent in a batch of eggs she ordered from a reputable breeder. Breeder says he is the offspring of two birds imported from France. I have no idea what this means in all honesty other that he might be a little less dilute. I accepted him because he was amazingly glossy and healthy, great temperament and had no wheaten showing at all. He is a PERFECT gentleman with the ladies and I hope to breed him, maybe even show him!

Thoughts?

 

[marquisella]

Quote:
I culled him this past spring during the huge MG outbreak we had here in New Hampshire. We had a bunch of farms test positive for MG and MS that did the swaps and the state came in and tested everyone's birds that had anything to do with the swaps. They ended up testing thousands of birds and quarantining farms, some of which are still under quarantine as they chose not to cull their flocks so they can keep them but cannot sell or give away any of the birds. I don't do the swaps but had accepted chicks and visited the property of someone who did and who did have some birds that ended up testing positive. None of my birds appeared sick and I was not mandated to test but I called the state and had the tests done. I only had one bird test positive out of all my flock but was too paranoid and culled every bird that was in the pen with him. The state did not require me to do so. They recommended I only cull the single positive bird and then totally clean and re-test. I cleaned and disinfected with DC&R and my re-test was all good and fully negative and I am currently MG and MS free but I culled the single Marans, all the birds in the pen and all the chicks that I had hatched from him or that had been in contact with his chicks. It was horrible as it was a lot of birds, so I am only taking birds from folks I had before that tested negative and your boy tested negative but unfortunately was in the pen so he had to go. I culled my whole Marans flock because of just one bird. Some folks called me all sorts of names and a government sheep and that I was inciting paranoia but I just wanted to ensure that my flock was clean and that if I sold birds to anyone they were clean. I just could not keep anything in that pen that had been in contact with the infected bird. I feel so much better about it than I thought I would as I lost a lot of money with the birds I culled but I feel assured when I look at the flock I kept.
Your boy was a bit dark but so nice and solid looking. I had thought about giving him to a friend but just could not part with him when it came down to it but then had to. This whole experience has taught me a lot about Bio-security and is the reason I have decided to only keep 2 breeds.
Wow, that is sure terrifying. I was under the impression that one had to depopulate all birds that were in a farm with MG, and leave it emply for 6 months before introducing any new birds.

On another note, I have heard of people that tested positive for MG, and after using Denegard for 6 months, had all their birds test negative. Too late for you, but I think that info should be out there.

 

[marquisella]

Since lots of opinions are flying and we are all showing off our boys... Here is the bird I acquired last week. I plan to cover my two hens with him. Hoping for some beautiful babies. Of course, I would love feedback on what the experts (or more experienced) think of this boy as a good choice for a breeder. Lots of pictures.


Left Side








Looking strait at the camera


Right side, He was picked on by his previous flock as he was the low man in that flock.
He has some white showing at the base of his tail, not sure if this is a DQ, nor do I know if it is permanent or a result of the picking.





Toes are strait, center toe is without feathers.






Put the cat in her place, she goosed the hen.


Non aggressive rooster, very respectful of humans.


Rooster with one of the hens I have.

This boy was acquired by his previous owner by mistake. Two FCM eggs were sent in a batch of eggs she ordered from a reputable breeder. Breeder says he is the offspring of two birds imported from France. I have no idea what this means in all honesty other that he might be a little less dilute. I accepted him because he was amazingly glossy and healthy, great temperament and had no wheaten showing at all. He is a PERFECT gentleman with the ladies and I hope to breed him, maybe even show him!

Thoughts?

the glaring thing I see is the white in the base of the tail. That is a dq for sure. Otherwise, not bad, color is on the mahogany side, rather than copper.