Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[Betty1]

Here are my 11 week old chicks, one boy has lots of copper and the other one hardly any, which is best?
Very coppery boy


Not very coppery boy (left) and girl (right)


I still don't have names for them, any ideas?
No roast, gravy, or chicken nuggets!

 

[bardies]

I posted this in the general Marans thread as well, so I apologize ahead of time if you are seeing it again!

I recently got some lovely dark Black Copper Marans eggs, and want to set them in the incubator - but I honesty cant tell which end is up! They really look identical on both ends. I hope that the seller set them into cartons correctly. I tried candling to look for the air cell, but can only see it on a few. I thought about floating them, but don't want to harm the bloom. PLEASE any ideas?
I am terrified of trying to hatch an egg upside down!

 

[chicken pickin]

I posted this in the general Marans thread as well, so I apologize ahead of time if you are seeing it again!

I recently got some lovely dark Black Copper Marans eggs, and want to set them in the incubator - but I honesty cant tell which end is up! They really look identical on both ends. I hope that the seller set them into cartons correctly. I tried candling to look for the air cell, but can only see it on a few. I thought about floating them, but don't want to harm the bloom. PLEASE any ideas?
I am terrified of trying to hatch an egg upside down!

I also have this same problem with my Marans eggs. The shape of them makes it very difficult to tell which end is which. The best way is getting a really good flashlight I use a small LED flashlight in a pitch black room and you should be able to see the aircell slightly. If you need to I don't see why a quick float would hurt the bloom just let them air dry and don't wipe them dry.

 

[carriebain]

Sometimes I can't tell by looking at them. I usually put them in my hand and feel for the pointy end. Pointy end down

 

[bardies]

Thanks! I'll try candling them - like I said, a few I could see the air cell - completely dark room - led flashlight....
Then feeling, then floating the others. Do any of you guys sand your eggs for better evaporation?

 

[Betty1]

The very coppery boy got attacked by the not coppery boy yesterday, he had blood dripping from his comb down his beak! I cleaned it and he's all better now, but he has a couple of chunks taken out of his comb.

 

[chicken pickin]

Thanks! I'll try candling them - like I said, a few I could see the air cell - completely dark room - led flashlight....
Then feeling, then floating the others. Do any of you guys sand your eggs for better evaporation?

No I have never sanded my eggs, but I also have not had an issue hatching my Marans eggs. I have a very good hatch rate just incubating them normally.

 

[DMRippy]

Thanks! I'll try candling them - like I said, a few I could see the air cell - completely dark room - led flashlight....
Then feeling, then floating the others. Do any of you guys sand your eggs for better evaporation?

I don't understand where this comes from! Why would you sand an egg but refuse to wash one? If the bloom is there for a reason why would you sand it off and maybe actually PUSH bacteria into the egg?

NO don't sand eggs. No need to.

 

[bardies]

I don't understand where this comes from! Why would you sand an egg but refuse to wash one? If the bloom is there for a reason why would you sand it off and maybe actually PUSH bacteria into the egg?

NO don't sand eggs. No need to.

I actually wouldn't want to sand one either - same reason as why I don't want to wash or get it wet...

I have found a thread or article somewhere and this person went into detail on sanding a dark egg to assist in the evaporation necessary for the chick to develop properly... I have just finished hatching a few of my own eggs - one of which was a marans egg for a marans cross chick. It did not hatch, and when I opened it - it looked like a fully developed chick but there did not seem to be an air cell.... making me think about this problem that the sanding person talked about. The sanding person acknowledged the loss of bloom issue and did a disinfectant routine for them.

Personally, I would not want to raise birds that HAD to have assistance in their reproduction - but in this case, if it were the thing to do - I would consider it as the chicks here will mainly be used for enhancing my egg crop - not for future breeding projects.

So, was just throwing the idea out there to folks that have way more marans experience than I do.

 

[bardies]

Sometimes I can't tell by looking at them. I usually put them in my hand and feel for the pointy end. Pointy end down

Thank you so much for this advice!!!!
I was able to tell 45 of 48 eggs. A few of them HAD been place upside down into the carton by the seller. Out of the three I couldn't tell - One I had picked an end, and candleing revealed tht I was wrong - but could tell the difference after trying again.
One, I am pretty sure that I could find the outline of an air cell.
The last, I couldn't do it - with the light or feeling - so I floated that one briefly (well, not floated as it sank) but IT knew which end should be up!

So, out of 4 dozen eggs, only one had to get wet.