Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[scflock]

SC, Take another look as there are more than one Blue here unless the camera is playing games. No the comb just has a little twist and would not worry at this time. He also does not have the Coronation Comb as it would be in the blade area.

Thanks Don, and Wynette, too. I've always been confused as to whether it was carnation or coronation, so now that's settled. It appears that the rear of his blade may possibly be set to produce a few more points, and I thought that's what coronation was. Nothing definite yet, maybe I'm gunshy after my last rooster. I'm glad the wave isn't something to be concerned with yet.
There is only one blue, but I understand what you are saying. There is an undertone of blue to the black, especially visible in the sunlight. Do you think that's a product of blacks produced from a black/blue pen?
Wynette, I appreciate your feedback on the feather quality. I didn't order blue, but one found its way into my order, and I'm fine with that.
Guys, I'm not starting over again. These birds are leaps and bounds ahead of my first flock. This is where I start. Don, if you think the blacks are from a BBS program, then that is how I will breed them, and be very upfront with customers about what I have. 95% of my customers want dark eggs and could care less about SOP. I want to try and find a happy medium. I want you guys to help me learn to breed to SOP, but I'm not starting with SQ birds. This is what I have, this is what I move forward with, and I really appreciate the feedback you guys have given me

 

[KYBOY]

Starting back this season we are going to be hatching a lot to well basically start out flock of BCM's over..We have one nice rooster left(another "backup") and one hen(out of three) that I feel good about breeding..Her eggs are have been about this color for a while and shes getting pretty far into her cycle so they will be lightening up for sure but what do you all think of this color right now?

 

[Chooks man]

that is sublime colour .that hen need to be bred .

 

[Blarneyeggs]

Starting back this season we are going to be hatching a lot to well basically start out flock of BCM's over..We have one nice rooster left(another "backup") and one hen(out of three) that I feel good about breeding..Her eggs are have been about this color for a while and shes getting pretty far into her cycle so they will be lightening up for sure but what do you all think of this color right now?

Very Nice!

 

[Metella]

Don, if you think the blacks are from a BBS program, then that is how I will breed them, and be very upfront with customers about what I have. 95% of my customers want dark eggs and could care less about SOP. I want to try and find a happy medium. I want you guys to help me learn to breed to SOP, but I'm not starting with SQ birds. This is what I have, this is what I move forward with, and I really appreciate the feedback you guys have given me

I'm curious about this too - I purchased from 4 different breeders pure Marans with very dark eggs .... but I lost my BCM roo ... I was gifted a very lovely pure Marans all white roo ... who came from a dark egg ... has leg feathers - his body type is really good ...

My customers just want to purchase a dual purpose breed that lays dark brown eggs - but I want them to know what they may be getting as far as looks - will the white be dominate over the BBC and the one Blue copper hen I have ?? What mix of colors may the chicks grow up to be ?

THANKS

 

[Wynette]

I used their entry form.... so I think so.

Okay, you may have sent them to the Lima, OH show? There were 14 entries in that show, and I am told the entries were overall quite nice! Let me know if this was the show you sent your entry to and how you did. Hope you came out on top!

Thanks Don, and Wynette, too. I've always been confused as to whether it was carnation or coronation, so now that's settled. It appears that the rear of his blade may possibly be set to produce a few more points, and I thought that's what coronation was. Nothing definite yet, maybe I'm gunshy after my last rooster. I'm glad the wave isn't something to be concerned with yet.
There is only one blue, but I understand what you are saying. There is an undertone of blue to the black, especially visible in the sunlight. Do you think that's a product of blacks produced from a black/blue pen?
Wynette, I appreciate your feedback on the feather quality. I didn't order blue, but one found its way into my order, and I'm fine with that.
Guys, I'm not starting over again. These birds are leaps and bounds ahead of my first flock. This is where I start. Don, if you think the blacks are from a BBS program, then that is how I will breed them, and be very upfront with customers about what I have. 95% of my customers want dark eggs and could care less about SOP. I want to try and find a happy medium. I want you guys to help me learn to breed to SOP, but I'm not starting with SQ birds. This is what I have, this is what I move forward with, and I really appreciate the feedback you guys have given me

It's "carnation," not "coronation." If you are seeing a few more small points coming out at the blade end, then it's very likely this is the carnation comb INFLUENCE. Many breeders used Penedesenca to improve egg color years ago (which I find interesting, since I've personally never seen a Penedenca egg that was darker than a Marans, but perhaps at one time they were). It can crop up generations later after not seeing it for awhile, unfortunately.

We've been talking on other boards for years now about folk breeding birds that are not to the SOP. There are several opinions out there, and it doesn't matter what mine is - YOU need to be happy with what you decide to do.

However, I do feel a responsibility to explain where those of us breeding to the SOP are coming from. By propagating birds with DQ issues (such as the carnation comb issue), it's putting more poorly bred birds out there, for more folks to pick up & breed MORE poorly bred birds from. Many of these folks will eventually wish to get really serious about exhibiting, and find that the stock they've invested many years in will not work for exhibition, and they end up needing to start over. We see this time & time again. Please do not misunderstand me. I'm not attempting to put down your birds at all. Without lots more pictures, or video, or (best case scenario) laying hands on your birds, I am by no means qualified to make the assumption that your birds have DQ issues or are not exhibition worthy. Just stating where some of us are coming from.

The whole feather quality issue is a whole other issue, and again, it's common with most breeds that have blue or self blue varieties. It's NOT a DQ, but it would be a tie breaker, so to speak, if two birds of the same breed/variety/gender and were otherwise very equal. I see lots of poor feather quality in show pens on birds that have gone on to win their class. Just something to keep in mind.

Starting back this season we are going to be hatching a lot to well basically start out flock of BCM's over..We have one nice rooster left(another "backup") and one hen(out of three) that I feel good about breeding..Her eggs are have been about this color for a while and shes getting pretty far into her cycle so they will be lightening up for sure but what do you all think of this color right now?

Very nice egg color here! The sheen is great, too, which is one of the hallmarks of a good Marans egg. Great work here.

 

[Blarneyeggs]

Quote: I wish I knew about the Lima, OH show. I saw some of the entries and they did look nice. I sent my eggs to a show in Texas, the show is on the 26th? so I'll be waiting a while before I know how they did. This is our first try at this, and these birds have just come into lay so I don't expect that we'll do very well. I hope to learn more about the criteria used for egg judging, I wasn't sure how much uniformity was judged over darkness or shape. Those were the three things we kept in mind while choosing ~ the birds are actually my son's so we chose together which eggs would go. And this morning (of course) I got a nice dark very rounded egg, but alas...too late for the show.

 

[Wynette]

Well hang onto the ones you think would be good entries - just pop them in the fridge, and they should last a good 2-3 weeks. Several things are taken into consideration, first and foremost the egg color, of course. Then, uniformity of color among the set of 3 eggs - all 3 eggs should look as similar as possible. We like eggs that are solid color from tip to tip; often times, you get eggs that are super dark on one end, but lighten up toward the other. Those would not make good egg show entries. Bigger is better and a larger, evenly colored egg may get placed above a darker pullet egg, because we know that pullets lay darker anyway. Sheen is important as well. A fresh egg has the best sheen. It's against the rules to "treat" them in any way, so don't rub them with oil or butter or anything like that. And rounded eggs are the preferred shape, although I do not believe shape is judged. I'll have to check on that!

 

[KYBOY]

Tnks for the comments on the eggs guys. Have been working on those for a couple of years, sorry no pic of the hen but shes pretty nice. Good copper, good feathered legs and pretty decent tail..Im looking forward to seeing what I get from her.

 

[chickengr]

That comes from someone using one of the dark egg layers over Marans trying to get dark eggs. It happens in the USA also.

my pullet has red earlobes again! she was a bit sick and had an overload of minute tape worms (I cannot get rid of them). is it possible that she was anemic so she had white on her earlobes for that reason? she is about 10-11 months old.