Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[DMRippy]

Quote: No. I had 2 roosters one died.... I started hatching like crazy from his pen. Then I merged the pens and used his brother.... HE DIED within a few months of the other roo. I hatched like crazy but still not easy finding replacement roos. Still hatching still looking for mister right. I tried a couple of other roos but didn't like what I saw so they left. 3 roos, 3 roos is all I can say.

 

[Wynette]

When I first started breeding Marans my pullets were covered by Pinks Roos. I lost egg color. When I breed the next gen of pullets back to Pinks Roos.... came back in SPADES darker eggs than I had ever seen. Then Pinks Roos died had find another roo.... lost egg color. We will see what happens the next generation. Maybe it will comb back the next cross but we will see. I still have those dark layers and I am going to keep them for another season. I only have a few pullets to add to the pen and not sure what the egg color is yet.

Hope you're able to hatch a ton off those dark layers!! BEST of luck for a really good year!!

It does happen with some lines but I would not call it COMMON.

BTW it is spelled WheatEn

It's been said that the W. Jeane line has recessive wheaten in it. Some folks look at that as a bad thing, but from I have understood, that's where we got our wheaten variety, from a sport out of that line. I got some Black Copper hatching eggs from Linda Hamid in California about 5 years ago - quite nice birds, and good, dark, eggs (and she's a lovely person to work with...however, I believe she's gotten out of Black Coppers now), and I hatched two wheatens from those eggs. I sort of wish I'd have kept them now - both were pullets and I wasn't interested in anything that wasn't Black Copper at the time, so I sold them as layers. I hear tell those birds lay uber dark eggs, so someone may have gotten quite a surprise when those birds began to lay for them!

I've heard this before. But if you knew you were adding to your line a bird that came from a line of very dark egg producers, surely it would help color…correct?
I'm just trying to clarify. Since I've read this a few places. I can't see how in that case you'd lose color. But I need to know this stuff, so that's why I ask

Again, there is not a lot of research that's been done on egg color, so I honestly don't think anyone can answer this question with a huge degree of certainty. It does seem that it's common for the first generation of a newly added line to an existing line for some folks (maybe for many?) produces females that dont' lay quite as dark as the parent stock; however, that F2 generation, when bred back to the father/cock bird, does seem to pull some of the dark genetics for the eggs back in.

For sure, the whole dark egg thing isn't any easy one to work on...if it was, we'd all have 9's in our nest boxes every day, eh?

 

[chrissyr]

You can never know the egg color genetics in the cocks.... even if he hatched from a dark egg you don't know what genes he got in the egg department.

Hope you're able to hatch a ton off those dark layers!! BEST of luck for a really good year!!

It's been said that the W. Jeane line has recessive wheaten in it. Some folks look at that as a bad thing, but from I have understood, that's where we got our wheaten variety, from a sport out of that line. I got some Black Copper hatching eggs from Linda Hamid in California about 5 years ago - quite nice birds, and good, dark, eggs (and she's a lovely person to work with...however, I believe she's gotten out of Black Coppers now), and I hatched two wheatens from those eggs. I sort of wish I'd have kept them now - both were pullets and I wasn't interested in anything that wasn't Black Copper at the time, so I sold them as layers. I hear tell those birds lay uber dark eggs, so someone may have gotten quite a surprise when those birds began to lay for them!

Again, there is not a lot of research that's been done on egg color, so I honestly don't think anyone can answer this question with a huge degree of certainty. It does seem that it's common for the first generation of a newly added line to an existing line for some folks (maybe for many?) produces females that dont' lay quite as dark as the parent stock; however, that F2 generation, when bred back to the father/cock bird, does seem to pull some of the dark genetics for the eggs back in.

For sure, the whole dark egg thing isn't any easy one to work on...if it was, we'd all have 9's in our nest boxes every day, eh?

Thank you ladies. I love learning about this stuff

. Just being on these threads I feel like i learn what years ago would have taken years to learn on our own.

 

[flgardengirl]

Hope you're able to hatch a ton off those dark layers!! BEST of luck for a really good year!!

It's been said that the W. Jeane line has recessive wheaten in it. Some folks look at that as a bad thing, but from I have understood, that's where we got our wheaten variety, from a sport out of that line. I got some Black Copper hatching eggs from Linda Hamid in California about 5 years ago - quite nice birds, and good, dark, eggs (and she's a lovely person to work with...however, I believe she's gotten out of Black Coppers now), and I hatched two wheatens from those eggs. I sort of wish I'd have kept them now - both were pullets and I wasn't interested in anything that wasn't Black Copper at the time, so I sold them as layers. I hear tell those birds lay uber dark eggs, so someone may have gotten quite a surprise when those birds began to lay for them!

Again, there is not a lot of research that's been done on egg color, so I honestly don't think anyone can answer this question with a huge degree of certainty. It does seem that it's common for the first generation of a newly added line to an existing line for some folks (maybe for many?) produces females that dont' lay quite as dark as the parent stock; however, that F2 generation, when bred back to the father/cock bird, does seem to pull some of the dark genetics for the eggs back in.

For sure, the whole dark egg thing isn't any easy one to work on...if it was, we'd all have 9's in our nest boxes every day, eh?

Is that Bayhorsebonnie line? I have it written down in some file on my old computer lol. I will have to look. BUT, I hatched a BTB from the Bayhorsebonnie so that must be in there as well if its the same person. Nice large BCMs hens from that line with nice big dark brown/red eggs. I have them separate from my other lines because I do not like the way the roosters combs are from that line. No sprigs but big super thick ugly combs.

 

[FVRM]

How would I add more copper to the hens? They are almost completely black

 

[GaryDean26]

It's been said that the W. Jeane line has recessive wheaten in it. Some folks look at that as a bad thing, but from I have understood, that's where we got our wheaten variety, from a sport out of that line.

You are correct the first Wheaten Marans in the USA were home grown. The only imports involved were made many years earlier. The Wheaten foundation started with sports produced from the Kellerman's line of Cuckoo's that Terry Kellerman brought back from Canada. To my knowledge, Ron Presley was the first to have produced Wheatens in the USA and they were from the Kellerman line.

 

[Ripster]

How would I add more copper to the hens? They are almost completely black

I would use a male that has too much copper showing on his breast to add more copper to your females. This is what breeders of Brown Red Old English Game Bantam breeders do to correct that problem.

Ripster

 

[Ron Presley]

Dean,

You are correct. THANK YOU!

Ron

 

[desertmarcy]

I would use a male that has too much copper showing on his breast to add more copper to your females. This is what breeders of Brown Red Old English Game Bantam breeders do to correct that problem.

Ripster

Won't that produce more males with too much copper, forcing one to double mate?

 

[Ripster]

Once you get the color in the females you can go back to using properly colored males. However, the Old English breeders do double mate that color pattern and others as well to get properly colored show birds.

Ripster