Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[Alaskan]

OK... Here however, is another question, not answerable by the standard


A have a bunch of cockerels that have made it past the first rounds of culls....

Crazy what came out.

All but one are WAY SUPER black. (Not surprising since my hens are way too black). But then I have one cockerel that is WAY CRAZY COLORED!!! That boy has so much copper his breast is mostly copper, we are talking COPPER!!

Sheesh, I was hoping that if I grew out enough chicks, I would get a cockerel that was close to a normal copper level. Nope.

Anyway, super copper boy is the best of the bunch in regards to body shape, leg set, shoulders, etc. As well as the best comb. His tail set isn't the best, but isn't horrid.

So.... I guess I will be using Copper Boy.... ..... ... I am just a bit worried that I will regret it

 

[OneMountainAcres]

How hard is it to breed out a carnation comb gene? I have a young pullet who has perfect leg coloring and feathering and hatched from a superbly dark egg but she has a carnation comb. She also has a bit of a low set tail but my current roo has a bit too high of a trail and his legs aren't as dark as they should be. I'd like to pass her good attributes on and maybe replace my boy with a son from the two of them but I don't want to be struggling to get rid of carnation combs and side sprigs. Is it worth it to attempt it? She was the only chick to hatch from expensive shipped eggs and she's just about at the point of lay.

Also, all of my girls are too dark. If I hatched a boy that had too much copper, would he be good to keep to breed with the girls to improve the next generation's coloring?

 

[tao chick]

Carnation comb and side sprigs. Now I know the terms to describe what I'm seeing on my growing chicks. I'm not a breeder, so it's not devastating, but I'm glad I know not to use them for sale as breeders or for breeding pures at my farm. I'll have to send pics to see if any of my four hatched chicks are worth breeding programs.

 

[desertmarcy]

OK... Here however, is another question, not answerable by the standard


A have a bunch of cockerels that have made it past the first rounds of culls....

Crazy what came out.

All but one are WAY SUPER black. (Not surprising since my hens are way too black). But then I have one cockerel that is WAY CRAZY COLORED!!! That boy has so much copper his breast is mostly copper, we are talking COPPER!!

Sheesh, I was hoping that if I grew out enough chicks, I would get a cockerel that was close to a normal copper level. Nope.

Anyway, super copper boy is the best of the bunch in regards to body shape, leg set, shoulders, etc. As well as the best comb. His tail set isn't the best, but isn't horrid.

So.... I guess I will be using Copper Boy.... ..... ... I am just a bit worried that I will regret it

If one or more of the black cockerels have good type--especially nice tail set--what you could do is hang on to a couple of them. Breed your super copper colored one to your hens, which should help with the color of their offspring. Using the overcolored male will likely produce sons with too much color; if you don't get any with black breasts, or only a little copper on their breasts, then you could take your best colored hens and breed one of the darker males to them the following year.

 

[desertmarcy]

How hard is it to breed out a carnation comb gene? I have a young pullet who has perfect leg coloring and feathering and hatched from a superbly dark egg but she has a carnation comb. She also has a bit of a low set tail but my current roo has a bit too high of a trail and his legs aren't as dark as they should be. I'd like to pass her good attributes on and maybe replace my boy with a son from the two of them but I don't want to be struggling to get rid of carnation combs and side sprigs. Is it worth it to attempt it? She was the only chick to hatch from expensive shipped eggs and she's just about at the point of lay.

Also, all of my girls are too dark. If I hatched a boy that had too much copper, would he be good to keep to breed with the girls to improve the next generation's coloring?

Don't do it. If you use one with a carnation comb, you will be asking for trouble, especially if you are thinking of back-breeding a son.

 

[blackbirds13]

These are my 5 Little Peddler BCM chicks. They are 4 weeks old.

 

[blackbirds13]

These are my Grewnfire chicks. They are 2 weeks old.

 

[Alaskan]

@blackbirds13 odd how they started out so dark, and now one already has a bit if copper on the front neck. Hmmm

Fun watching them grow.


@desertmarcy as to my back-up cockerel....

I had one male blue Marans hatch from shipped eggs.... He is not excellent, but pretty good (in regard to type, leg color, tail, etc. Etc. Etc.) but he has zero copper and came from a much too lightly colored egg.

I have no blue in my Marans, and am drooling at the blue.... But I keep smacking myself on the head, trying to remind myself that breeding him in will probably ruin my lovely egg color that I am so very proud of (and that I need to keep dark to keep customers happy), not to mention that if I am not careful I will have to start marketing my Marans as Black, not Black Copper.

So I do have to get rid of him.... Right? Right? If I kept him I would need to have a totally separate breeding pen/program just for him so that I could use him, produce a few females, and after four years maybe get the egg color back up. Right?

 

[sideWing]

How hard is it to breed out a carnation comb gene? I have a young pullet who has perfect leg coloring and feathering and hatched from a superbly dark egg but she has a carnation comb. She also has a bit of a low set tail but my current roo has a bit too high of a trail and his legs aren't as dark as they should be. I'd like to pass her good attributes on and maybe replace my boy with a son from the two of them but I don't want to be struggling to get rid of carnation combs and side sprigs. Is it worth it to attempt it? She was the only chick to hatch from expensive shipped eggs and she's just about at the point of lay.

Also, all of my girls are too dark. If I hatched a boy that had too much copper, would he be good to keep to breed with the girls to improve the next generation's coloring?

I think the problem is that it can pop up later after you think you got rid of it. Most would say start over.

These are my Grewnfire chicks. They are 2 weeks old.

Thank you for posting these. I'm really interested to see how they turn out.

 

[blackbirds13]

@blackbirds13 odd how they started out so dark, and now one already has a bit if copper on the front neck. Hmmm

Fun watching them grow.


@desertmarcy as to my back-up cockerel....

I had one male blue Marans hatch from shipped eggs.... He is not excellent, but pretty good (in regard to type, leg color, tail, etc. Etc. Etc.) but he has zero copper and came from a much too lightly colored egg.

I have no blue in my Marans, and am drooling at the blue.... But I keep smacking myself on the head, trying to remind myself that breeding him in will probably ruin my lovely egg color that I am so very proud of (and that I need to keep dark to keep customers happy), not to mention that if I am not careful I will have to start marketing my Marans as Black, not Black Copper.

So I do have to get rid of him.... Right? Right? If I kept him I would need to have a totally separate breeding pen/program just for him so that I could use him, produce a few females, and after four years maybe get the egg color back up. Right?

If you use your blue you will have a BBS flock. You could do a blue pen but you would not want to breed any back into your Black Coppers. You could try breeding your colorful boy but that may perpetuate it in the males but some say they get good results or you could use your best dark male with your best colored females and hatch those eggs. Regardless it will be work ahead.

The LPs are dark and not as tuxedo marked as chicks like i am used to seeing. This holds for both batches i got this year. I hope to keep one male from each line (GFF & LP) if possible or just the best male depending. If nothing pans out I'll give it a go again next year.

I too would not breed a carnation comb.