Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[Raven1]

That White pullet is very nice! Her legs look good too which is one of those things you have to watch in the White also and with her from a sport of BCM you got very lucky she does not have smutty legs. Very nice can't wait to see what she lays.

 

[SIMZ]

I have a Black Copper Marans hen (just over a year) that is having a crop issue. She hatched from the egg of one of my two hens last year - one of which developed a bizarre crop issue that was possibly pendulous crop. This hen looks just like I remember the other looking. Are crop problems inherited? Was that possibly a genetic weakness that was passed on or is it just a coincidence?

 

[happyfrenchman]

I had a bird that had a pendulous crop. I removed her food for a couple of days and the crop issue went down. She looked good. But when she was put back with the feed, it returnedl very shortly.. It was an issue because she would leak feed into the water or onto the ground, whenever she tipped forward. This worried me because the other chickens would then eat the feed. It seemed like she was always hungry. Like the food was not being processed. I culled her when the problem returned so I cannot help further than that. .

 

[SIMZ]

I had a bird that had a pendulous crop. I removed her food for a couple of days and the crop issue went down. She looked good. But when she was put back with the feed, it returnedl very shortly.. It was an issue because she would leak feed into the water or onto the ground, whenever she tipped forward. This worried me because the other chickens would then eat the feed. It seemed like she was always hungry. Like the food was not being processed. I culled her when the problem returned so I cannot help further than that. .

Thanks! Unless it goes away and never returns, I won't keep her and will treat it as a genetic weakness. I have some of her eggs in the incubator, so I can see if it turns up with them if I keep any.

 

[Wynette]

I have a Black Copper Marans hen (just over a year) that is having a crop issue. She hatched from the egg of one of my two hens last year - one of which developed a bizarre crop issue that was possibly pendulous crop. This hen looks just like I remember the other looking. Are crop problems inherited? Was that possibly a genetic weakness that was passed on or is it just a coincidence?

It's genetic in my opinion. I had a cross bird that developed it and hatched some of her eggs - a very small number, as I recall (she was an "olive egger"), and one of her female offspring developed it as well. I feel like it results from crop statis (crop not "moving" food along as it should). I also had a bird of another breed that developed an extremely pendulous crop; I removed her from my breeding pen & put her in the layer pen, where she lived without any health issues to be about 5 before passing. I sure don't recommend keeping them (I was new to chickens back then and didn't know any differently), as they do suffer since they're not getting the nutrition they need. Since the crop moves too slowly, they're not getting nutrients, which compels them to eat more, causing the pendulous crop. The food can go rancid in the crop.

 

[lishanicole81]

I hatched a batch of bought eggs last week. They were marketed as Black Marans. Problem is that I am not certain what the chicks should look like. Right now they are black with white on their wings and undersides. Is this correct coloring for Black Marans?

 

[happyfrenchman]

Quote:
Thanks DM. That is what I am seeing and that is what I was afraid someone would say. Where does this green come from? The fellow I got them from got the parents from a guy who advertises and sells "Wade Jean" birds... I do not doubt my friend. I got a couple of blacks from him as well. I need to look very closely at them. I know yellow skin is an issue and I see it in the toes of these birds in question. There is alot of wheaten influence in my line and I do not need any yellow skin on top of that. As for the cock, I think you are right about favorites. I see him mount the birds I want him to mate, but he does not make contact with them. In any case, I like his son better for color. He is more uniformly copper. But he has some white in his feathering as well. I was hoping one of these "Wade Jean" birds would be a good input but perhaps not.

 

[Raven1]

I hatched a batch of bought eggs last week.  They were marketed as Black Marans.  Problem is that I am not certain what the chicks should look like.  Right now they are black with white on their wings and undersides.  Is this correct coloring for Black Marans?

Were they sold as solid Black Marans as in no Copper genes? Yes your chick down is right for solid black or coppered black.

 

[lishanicole81]

They were sold as solid black. I hatched 4 our of 18. 3 of them have a golden undertone to the white down, and 1 of them has a bluish tone to the white down.

 

[DMRippy]

Quote: The green look comes from the yellow skin and the dark leg coloring mixing to look green. your friend was sold birds and told they were wade jean birds..... but how far back that was and what they were breed with..... they have not been wade jean birds for several generations I am sure. Since wade jean is not breeding them they are not his birds.

It is VERY hard to get rid of yellow skin. It is recessive so you would have to breed them to a yellow skinned bird like a Barred rock, WL, Wyandotte to see if they produce ANY chicks with yellow skin if they do they carry it and should be culled.