Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[Ihilani Coffee]

The eggs may get darker later on, that is very dark for the first egg. Our Buff Orp first egg was much lighter tinted than they were later on!

Two schools of thought on this. I have heard from many breeders that they lay the darkest first and then fade through the cycle, then darken up when they start laying again, etc. My (limited) experience is that my pullets start out with a very respectable egg color and they are darkening somewhat as they get into the lay cycle (in winter!) Some lay 3-4 eggs a week, but I have one BBS that just gave me 7 eggs in 7 days (she knew I was going to set a hatch!). All those eggs are uniformly lovely speckled and dark enough that I would keep growout chicks from them. Good girl!

 

[DMRippy]

most of the mossy chicks I have had molted it out. I don't breed mossy adults.

 

[snowbird]

most of the mossy chicks I have had molted it out. I don't breed mossy adults.

Donna, Not trying to be disagreeable here. In my experience the juveniles that are kept and lose the mossy after the juvenile molt will be the the females that produce the mossy chicks in future breedings. I have kept records of this in my BC Marans matings. When I am breeding for proper SOP color I will cull all the mossy chicks at about 4-5 weeks of age.

I will only have about 5-6 singles mating of BC this coming year. I got rid of all Marans except for the BC. We are working with about 10 other breeds this year. Hope everyone has a great hatching season for 2014.

 

[DMRippy]

I am sure you are right but I have not seen HUGE amounts of chicks here.that are mossy. some get culled because they can have too much color on the breast too. usually my mossy chicks are not mossy at at about 2 months. if they are they go too. my first Marans the hens were all mossy lost it pretty quick and it does pop up some. I do find they darker eggs and that is something I want in my birds too. every year I cull harder and harder as some things seem to get less and less of a problem. 3 years in and I have some really dark layers and some with copper on the pullets. just harder now without my original roos. I would have maids some huge leaped this next season if I still had those roos.

the good news is that my 5 best hens from last year are trying to start laying again so I can see what that new roo will bring. he still looks quite ratty though.....

 

[carriebain]

I'm trying to understand what mossy is....is it when the feathers are more red than black? What do you think of her? Mossy?

Can someone please explain mossy to me?

 

[snowbird]

Quote:
Mossy is what you see on the last picture. It can be a small amount of Brown or it can be a lot. Usually in the wings and back, in the females it can also be over the entire body. Some of the Mossy chicks will be males and will have way too much brown in the breast area.

Go to my profile page and you will see two 1/2 BC and 1/2 wheaten that have Mossy going on. Just click on the picture to enlarge. I made this mating just to show everyone what happens when you mix these two colors.

 

[carriebain]

Mossy is what you see on the last picture. It can be a small amount of Brown or it can be a lot. Usually in the wings and back, in the females it can also be over the entire body. Some of the Mossy chicks will be males and will have way too much brown in the breast area.

Ok thank you! I just wanted to make sure I understood. So she might give me dark eggs but wouldn't be a good breeder?

 

[snowbird]

Quote:
As a rule the Mossy female lays a darker egg.

 

[iambebabeba]

Do you have any super dark maran eggs for sale right now? I saw some pics on another thread and they are impressive

 

[chasehope]

So, I know that the black coppers are not supposed to have a green sheen to them, but all of mine do. There is no mossiness and they have a good amount of copper, I am just not sure how to breed out the green sheen.