Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[DMRippy]

I have heard it several times..." farmer so and so sells his for 5 each and will let me pick out only pullets." I also get the odd email..."why are your birds so high?". I just move on. I know my prices are fair for my birds.

 

[scflock]

I have heard it several times..." farmer so and so sells his for 5 each and will let me pick out only pullets." I also get the odd email..."why are your birds so high?". I just move on. I know my prices are fair for my birds.

I agree with you, and would pay the price for your birds if you were about 5 hrs further south. I would also never sell my birds and try to represent them as something to compete with yours. The question is, do the lesser birds hurt your business, or are you still able to sell your birds for what they are worth to people that know what they are looking for? I have been going back to the beginning of this thread and have read through the first 35 pages so far. There were some heavy hitters early on, and it's incredible the work that the true breeders have put into this breed. I would love to have SQ birds, and I could afford them if someone near me had them, but the ones I bought were the best looking I was able to find close. I didn't know about the shanks. If I'm totally honest with myself, I probably would lessen the quality of a breed if I started with the winner bought at a show. I'm not set up, and don't have the knowledge, to ruthlessly cull and breed to the SOP religiously. If I were to keep these birds, because I like them and they lay dark eggs, would it be unethical to sell them as "pet quality" at $15-20, and is that a slap in the face to breeders trying to perfect the line?

 

[johnderosa1]

I have hear similar about that line.  LOTS OF CULLS.  Pay top dollar does not assure you of good birds. 

You need to look at the chicks are they black and white like they should be? 
Are the parents correct?
What is the egg color like?

Don't ask for chicks from only the darkest eggs ( you are probably not going to get the darkest eggs)
Don't ask for the DARKEST layers they have (those are not going to leave there farm anytime soon)

Understand you best bet is chicks BUT you are going to have to cull for the best birds of that group.  EVERY breeder has to cull for the best they hatch.   If you buy older birds, they are probably culls from their breeding program.  That does not mean they are not good birds, just not the BEST that breeder has.

Donna, all good advice here. I have a question regarding the chick color... I agree with you for the most part here, black and white or they likely have something else in there. In the case of Brenda Little's birds, the chicks are pretty much black. Therefore this would be an exception to this rule. Would you agree? I am currently growing out 8 of her chicks and they were really black when they hatched definitely way different than any others i ve hatched.

 

[DMRippy]

Quote:
When birds are not up to par most breeders just sell them as dark egg layers and don't put a breed tag on them. $15-20 for what? Chicks or started pullets? I sell chick for anywhere from $6 - 12 each (depending on color and quality). Started pullets over 4 months are $30-35 each. My blue coppers are a little more and cuckoos are more. My Lavender Coppers will be a LOT more.

 

[DMRippy]

Quote:
No, there is something missing genetically in those chicks. They SHOULD have white on them. You will find issues with the birds.

 

[johnderosa1]

No, there is something missing genetically in those chicks.  They SHOULD have white on them.  You will find issues with the birds. 

Ha... Do you know of any without issues... So far s few have too much copper on their chests but other than that no major flaws at 2 months. I will not cull any until after they grow out. The one thing that I have noticed is how black their feathers are compared to any I ve raised to date. It will be interesting to watch them develop.

 

[DMRippy]

Quote:
Good luck.

 

[Zanna]

Donna, all good advice here. I have a question regarding the chick color... I agree with you for the most part here, black and white or they likely have something else in there. In the case of Brenda Little's birds, the chicks are pretty much black. Therefore this would be an exception to this rule. Would you agree? I am currently growing out 8 of her chicks and they were really black when they hatched definitely way different than any others i ve hatched.

Do they have white stomachs, just no white or very little on the face? Just curious as I am just finishing up test mating to get rid a recessive white gene in my flock that I unknowingly introduced a couple of years ago with a very expensive, very nice new cockeral (except for the hidden gene!). I have been using pullets who hatched white from the matings using this cock to testmate over two of his cockeral sons. The resulting test mate chicks are very black but have white stomachs. So far no white hatchers and I am almost there, fingers crossed!!!

 

[johnderosa1]

Do they have white stomachs, just no white or very little on the face?  Just curious as I am just finishing up test mating to get rid a recessive white gene in my flock that I unknowingly introduced a couple of years ago with a very expensive, very nice new cockeral (except for the hidden gene!).  I have been using pullets who hatched white from the matings using this cock to testmate over two of his cockeral sons.  The resulting test mate chicks are very black but have white stomachs.  So far no white hatchers and I am almost there, fingers crossed!!!

They were pretty dark on the stomachs... I wish I took some good pictures to show but never quite got around to it . They have no white feathers at all.., the black is very , well... Black if that makes any sense

 

[desertmarcy]

Ha... Do you know of any without issues... So far s few have too much copper on their chests but other than that no major flaws at 2 months. I will not cull any until after they grow out. The one thing that I have noticed is how black their feathers are compared to any I ve raised to date. It will be interesting to watch them develop.

Isn't that the truth! I am growing 8 of the LP chicks out. Mine were also solid black, no white. Interesting, none had any mossiness, which I've seen in other lines, and none had any middle toe feathers, another fault that crops up. So not all bad! Mine are only just shy of 3 weeks, so too early to tell anything else. I don't plan to cull any early on like I would if I hatched them myself. Will grow them all out and see what's what. I would like to know @DMRippy , where it is stated that BCM chicks MUST be black and white? Because the birds pictured on the LP website are to die for, they look fantastic. If some of these all black chicks turn out like that, I'm not complaining about chick down color!