Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[snowbird]

Quote:
I suggest you read the thread that has all the flaws noted and also shows pictures of them. I pulled the thread up front a few days ago. Don

 

[KernH]

I myself try to get the darkest eggs I can get. I put the darkest ones in the incubator. I cannot keep more than two cocks so the genetics are kind of take what you can get. You might get someone to give up some older hens. I don't like to cull hens because they still make breakfast if nothing else. But I would give some older ones away to someone that wanted to start out. Of course the eggs from older hens are tough to incubate... so there is no free lunch is there? perhaps get some eggs and hatch them yourself. If you can get the strain, you can work out the details yourself over time. The major things like yellow skin and no feathers on the legs are warnings that perhaps they are not pure Marans... That is what you have to learn at first. Sometimes the seller does not know themselves.

I was thinking darkest eggs referred to the eggs out of a flock not darkest eggs from a particular hen. I am sure all the eggs from any one hen no matter how the color varies carry the same genetics. Kern

 

[scflock]

I think it all boils down to the fact that most are not equipped with cages to single mate or have a trap nest setup to know who lays what. I agree with you all the way on your post. Don

I am just geting started in this, and quite obviously know nothing, but I do have the room and can get the equipment. My plan is to trap nest to find out which hens are laying the darkest eggs. I know they aren't always the same, get lighter through the cycle, darker after molt, etc... I just want to know which hens are laying the darkest eggs on average, and then go from there. Then I can get you guys to teach me about single mating

 

[KernH]

Here is a picture of my two Marans thinking maybe they should be in the house. Kern

 

[scflock]

I suggest you read the thread that has all the flaws noted and also shows pictures of them. I pulled the thread up front a few days ago. Don

I had not seen that, Don, and just read it all. That was the single most helpful visual reference I have gotten since I started looking. Thanks!

 

[happyfrenchman]

Kern...yes Some of my hens lay a lighter egg. Some a speckled egg. I only put the dark ones in the incubator. And over three years now, I have noted my young hens are laying a much darker egg. Now the egg will lighten some as the hen goes through the cycle, but they are still overall much darker. So I can say that I am controlling the hen side of the equation, but the rooster, I just go with the one that looks best. Of course, by now, that bird is also hatched from a dark egg. Not very sophisticated, but it seems to be having an effect.

 

[happyfrenchman]

I see a lot of people commenting in different forums about always "incubating the darkest eggs." I understand if that means incubating eggs from the hens that consistently produce the darkest eggs, however...

Each bird carries the DNA it was hatched with. If a hen can and does lay for example #7 on the Marans egg color scale, why does it matter if you incubate eggs from her that may only be a 5 if she has proven her ability to lay 6 and 7 in a different time in the lay cycle? It's not like the genetic capability is going to change if she has a day or two of lighter eggs. I understand if a hen usually lays a 3 or 4 and one day has a 6 that it doesn't make sense to set eggs from those genetics

Please help me understand if the propensity for setting only the darkest eggs from a particular hen has some scientific merit or if this is just superstition. TIA~

I understand what you are saying. In my case, my hens all lay in the same boxes and I don't necessarily know who is laying what. But I can tell an egg from a younger hen. (smaller and better shaped) And it is the younger ones that are consistently laying darker. You are correct,to say the genetics do not change, but I am not talking about a variance. These are consistently darker and distinctive from some of my other hens. And the older hens lay a larger egg. There is one older hen whose eggs I incubate as well. I suspect she is the mother of the younger ones. But I am not certain that is true.

 

[Nickie616]

These are the 4 BCM chicks we hatched about 5 weeks ago. I think we have 3 pullets and 1 cockerel. But I don't know if it's too early to really tell. 3 of them look just like the one in the middle and then we have the one all the way to the right

 

[snowbird]

These are the 4 BCM chicks we hatched about 5 weeks ago. I think we have 3 pullets and 1 cockerel. But I don't know if it's too early to really tell. 3 of them look just like the one in the middle and then we have the one all the way to the right

the one on the right is for sure a male.

 

[happyfrenchman]

Be careful with the free rooster if you are trying to breed a really good quality bird. People often mess up there worrying more about the hens and what color egg they lay and then not think that the rooster is also 50% of the genetics. The rooster might even be more important because its going to breed every hen. Just something to think about. It cost alot to ship but you can often get a roo for free almost and just pay someone to ship it to you but then get exactly the line you want. I like Bev Davis lines, but LP are great birds also.

That is all true about the genetics rainbow... the rooster is probably the most important piece of the puzzle and it is the part that I have the least control over with my method. I just don't have the inclination to go through all that. And I don't really care to keep my chickens penned up to preserve the genetic integrity. It would take 6-8 months per generation. A process over years really. I like letting them run around on the property. Two roosters, 15 to 20 hens. Give the older hens away to good homes. Eat the young roosters.

Now I would definitely be interested in an outcross rooster from a known good line. But I don't know how to go about getting such a bird. That, to me, would be the ideal solution. A rooster with the dark egg gene, from another line outside of my own. Let them run around and incubate the darkest eggs from a select couple of hens. Do people really sell or trade good stock like that?