Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[scflock]

Thank you for posting the pics SC. I know you have posted them before and you're just trying to give folks an educational example and I really appreciate it.

Some people don't want to post their faulty birds, but you know me. I have no shame

 

[snowbird]

SC, The sooner you cleanup what the male has produced the sooner you will be on the track to breeding some good Marans. Find a person where you can go and look at their Marans and not have to start with Marans that are not good enough to breed APA type Marans from them. Now a days internet eggs just will not work. When I started several year ago with Internet eggs there were a couple of decent Marans breeders selling on ebay. All of the eggs I bought came from the same place and believe me I culled thousands of young for about five years. When I cut back on Marans four year ago I had around a thousand Marans and they went to butcher and only two people got any of them. One Lady still has the line I was working with at the time.
I am mating up some matings at present and if they produce what I am looking for will send you some eggs free of charge in the spring soon as they are growing out.

 

[GaryDean26]

Gary, I suggest you go to the SOP general Disqualifications Under SHAPE down to Comb and read (D)#1 If the female is more than slightly lopped it is still a DQ.

Yes I understand the requirements for the comb. Any comb that is more than "slight" lopped over while in production is also going to be lopped over when not in production. The standards do however say that points should not be unduely taken away for flopped combs on pullets and hens that are in or close to production. I think the flopped comb is more of a pride thing for breeders. Since they can see it they blow it up to something bigger than it is while minimizing other non-visible traits that should command more of their attention. It is not a DQ for a slight flopped comb and the instruction are to not "unduley" take off points either when hens/pullets are in production. There are many good breeding hens that have bigger problems than slightly flopped over combs. When paired with a cockerel with a good comb you can get get good results from those hens. People really should be more concerned when they go to a breeder's farm if they see high tails angles, curved backs, narrow bodies, weak wings, and lean breast than they should be with a lopped over comb. If their isn't a fold to the comb then it isn't something a Judge is going to worry much about on a hen that has bright red wattles and comb form laying. You may not want to show a hen with a slight flop to the comb but you may need to keep some with slightly lopped combs to breed if they excel in other areas. I would NOT be concerned if I walked into a farm and saw hens with lopped over combs unless the cockerel had over over grown combs.

 

[scflock]

SC, The sooner you cleanup what the male has produced the sooner you will be on the track to breeding some good Marans. Find a person where you can go and look at their Marans and not have to start with Marans that are not good enough to breed APA type Marans from them. Now a days internet eggs just will not work. When I started several year ago with Internet eggs there were a couple of decent Marans breeders selling on ebay. All of the eggs I bought came from the same place and believe me I culled thousands of young for about five years. When I cut back on Marans four year ago I had around a thousand Marans and they went to butcher and only two people got any of them. One Lady still has the line I was working with at the time.
I am mating up some matings at present and if they produce what I am looking for will send you some eggs free of charge in the spring soon as they are growing out.

The roosters from that male are already headed for the freezer, and I am hanging on to the pullets just to check egg color. I also have 2 extra Am roosters that I could put with them. If the eggs are pretty, I will sell them as eating eggs and hatch them as EEs.
Given how much time and money I lost on this initial flock, I am not opposed at all to paying a high price for adult birds, especially the rooster. It's just hard to find anyone within 100 miles of here that has decent SOP birds. I don't want to show, but I do at least want to raise breeder quality. That was my whole point of showing how far off my rooster is. I paid $100 for 10 straight run chicks, and would have come out much cheaper to pay $250-400 for a good rooster and a few hens.
I appreciate your offer, and if you decide to start sending a few eggs out, let me know. I'd be more than happy to pay shipping

 

[happyfrenchman]

I have been having a terrible time trying to post a pic on here.... it tells me I don't have permission... I give up.. anyway, I wanted some advice. I have three roosters left (out of 20) that look pretty good. Color is balanced and type is good. One is odd looking in his type... but his color is great.... but the real question, without the picture, is what is the story about white underfluff.... I have one rooster, his color is great, balanced etc... no halo.... but his neck cape has white bases on the feathering.... When his feathers are not ruffled, you cannot see it. And when he grows in fully I think it will not be as visible but it is still there. What is that all about? He is a great looking young bird otherwise.

 

[scflock]

I have been having a terrible time trying to post a pic on here.... it tells me I don't have permission... I give up.. anyway, I wanted some advice. I have three roosters left (out of 20) that look pretty good. Color is balanced and type is good. One is odd looking in his type... but his color is great.... but the real question, without the picture, is what is the story about white underfluff.... I have one rooster, his color is great, balanced etc... no halo.... but his neck cape has white bases on the feathering.... When his feathers are not ruffled, you cannot see it. And when he grows in fully I think it will not be as visible but it is still there. What is that all about? He is a great looking young bird otherwise.

You must be trying to post from mobile. It's probably logging you out when you "submit" the picture. My phone does that sometimes. Wait an hour or so and try again. I don't know why it does that

 

[snowbird]

Quote:
SC, I would just send you eggs as I do not sale eggs, chicks or adults. Regardless of who you get a fresh start from you will have a lot of Culls to sort through with the Marans, You will also have to be on the alert when buying Marans as most will not reproduce themselves. Will send you info on a couple of sites where there are a lot of good breeders working on Marans.

 

[scflock]

SC, I would just send you eggs as I do not sale eggs, chicks or adults. Regardless of who you get a fresh start from you will have a lot of Culls to sort through with the Marans, You will also have to be on the alert when buying Marans as most will not reproduce themselves. Will send you info on a couple of sites where there are a lot of good breeders working on Marans.

Well, I would at least pay shipping. I really have appreciated all of your help, Don. If I hadn't joined this thread, I would just be another one of those people hatching these out and selling them, without a clue as to what I was doing to the breed

 

[Red Banks]

SC, If you plan on still using this male as a breeder you will not live long enough to get good Marans on a regular basis from him. He has just about every fault that a marans could have. He has a terrible Comb, Stance is too close together, no width between the legs. He is mixed with Wheaten Marans, He has a wry tail. It looks like most of the young are real Mossy. Do yourself a favor and take a trip to the hardware.

When I have a roo I think is worth keeping I am going to post it to this thread. I hope and pray that someone will give me this kind of advice if it is warranted. Vague sugar coated critiques don't get the job done half as well. Even though we know what is wrong with our stock we think "well maybe" but I need all the help I can get and I would want someone to tell it to me straight.

 

[scflock]

When I have a roo I think is worth keeping I am going to post it to this thread.  I hope and pray that someone will give me this kind of advice if it is warranted.  Vague sugar coated critiques don't get the job done half as well.  Even though we know what is wrong with our stock we think "well maybe" but I need all the help I can get and I would want someone to tell it to me straight.

   

Don never sugar coats
I love that guy