Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[Deckgirls]

Close up of its head

 

[XxMingirlxX]

I would say pullet.

 

[ochochicas]

At 7 weeks I'm going with pullet. My cockerels had big combs at 4 weeks and at 6 weeks were obviously red and rooster like, plus the wattles came

 

[Deckgirls]

ah good news!!!! we can't have roosters she must just be going through that gangly teenager shape right now. her stance is so roo looking i've been stressed LOL

 

[desertmarcy]

Still confused by gender...its stance is very rooisb but its very docile. It never tries to challenge me. Its waddles and comb aren't really growing either. 7 weeks old

Pullet.

 

[Scatterknit]

One of my cockerels has no feathers growing in! He has plenty of energy, acts normal, eats and drinks fine, normal weight and size compared to others, nobody is picking on him. I have examined him and see no bugs or mites and he doesn't groom himself anymore than normal. He just has no feathers. It's like they are not growing in.

Here are pictures. He's pitiful.

Anybody ever seen anything like this? Should I call him or wait? He doesn't seem unduly cold or uncomfortable. He seems perfectly happy. Weird!

 

[Zanna]

One of my cockerels has no feathers growing in! He has plenty of energy, acts normal, eats and drinks fine, normal weight and size compared to others, nobody is picking on him. I have examined him and see no bugs or mites and he doesn't groom himself anymore than normal. He just has no feathers. It's like they are not growing in.

Here are pictures. He's pitiful.





Anybody ever seen anything like this? Should I call him or wait? He doesn't seem unduly cold or uncomfortable. He seems perfectly happy. Weird!

I have had the very occasional chick like that. Super slow to feather, they do come in eventually. Not what I want to breed forward so they are culls in my program.

 

[GaryDean26]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Scatterknit

One of my cockerels has no feathers growing in!

You need to read the section on Slow Feathering genes under the genetics tab of the website for the Marans Club du France. It talks about the slow feathering gene in the Black Copper Marans gene pool.

They French say to cull for it so if you are breeding to the French standard you will want to breed this out of your flock.

After the birds reach maturity there is no different from their hatch mates with fast growing feathers. The slow feather gene is desirable for some of the cuckoo varieties because the barring is cleaner on birds with slow feathering. Also red plumage is brighter on slow feathered genes but for black coppers there are no advantages for slow feathering and it means that chicks have to be on heat longer, mature slower, are picked on by other chicks, etc. so it is considered a defect in the Black Copper Marans.

 

[Ihilani Coffee]

I bought a box of chicks from him a little over a month ago. I already have two lines of Black Coppers, but looking to diversify the flocks and darken the egg color. I bought some of all 3 of his lines, one is his own line, one is Bev Davis' line, one is Little Peddler. Brian must be doing a good job since Bev entrusted him with her birds to be a western distributor, so to speak. I am impressed with Brian's integrity and honesty. Of my Little Peddler chicks, all 8 are pullets. What are the chances of that? Most people would be happy, happy, happy! I wanted a few males so I could keep that line pure! I'm hoping Brian will have an extra male later in the year.

Brian Parks is indeed a breeder with integrity and a nice set up. We hatched out some of Brian's LP eggs. All the cockerels had excessive copper on the breast (like 80+%) and were culled, but some of the pullets look good. We have one of Bev's cocks (from Brian who hatched him from her eggs) and some laying LP pullets now.

 

[DMRippy]

Quote: That seems to be an issue in LP line birds. Might have something to do with why they hatch almost solid black.