Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[brkuk]

Hey Wynette. Wanna critique my new BCM Rooster?????? He's 20 weeks old.

 

[FOGELLY]

Quote:
thanks for the feed back. I do have a mossy pullet that is my sons favorite.
Speaking of tails what do you make of this guy. Hatched at the same time as the other one.

 

[FOGELLY]

Quote:
Geebs, a critique would be great. you won't hurt my feelings, I didn't spend alot on these chicks and when I got them did not intend to get as caught up in them as I have become. So my hope now is to learn from them and use them for a base to work from.
Thanks

 

[greatergraceoffbg]

Quote:
Dittos here!

 

[Debbi]

Geebs,

Have you ever purposely tried breeding an over-melanized roo to an over-melanized hen? Do they just go super dark, as in darker mahogany, or go black altogether, or do some odd things pop up when you double up on the mahogany?

 

[Wendy'sChicksRock]

Quote:
I did not get her name ( I know, I know wrong thing ) my kids were making me crazy at nationals so I was a little distracted. BUT it was the thin,dark haird lady who all the eggs on display in the hallway. We also got a splash who was older and lays a nice med brown egg.she said these two BCM were bev dav lines and should lay nice dark eggs. She was very nice and I hope one of the others is going in and laying in the coop where these girls are.

 

[pinkchick]

Quote:
I agree with Wynette.

I say test mate him to a hen that has the best or most amount of good colored copper in the hackle and correct eye when he is mature and grow out what would be in your opinion your best male and a female from him, watch hackle color in females and watch hackle, wing bow and saddle color in the males. You might be pleasantly surprised and get a male that shows more copper and I'm not certain about how the female would turn out, possibly a tad dark in the hackle and you may find that this could be corrected in her offspring by breeding them back to the other cockerel that you have that has more copper. I think that upon maturity we may see a little more copper come in on him (the 1st cockerel shown) but perhaps only in his wing bow area, with maybe a smidge more coming in in the saddles. The second cockerel looks to have nice overall balance of copper coming in with some in the breast, IMO, he would be worth trying over some pullets or hens that may have some mossy and/or show very little to no copper or dark copper in the hackles and with correct eye color, again grow out the best looking male and female that you like and see how they color up and what egg color is like and then I would base my future breeding decisions on that, you may find that you have found a good jumping off point for you future stock. Keep in mind that they are still pretty young and still have a lot of filling out ahead of them and it looks like you have a nice start with your birds. Can't wait to see them in a couple of months.

 

[Wynette]

Fog - that 2nd boy - better color balance, but his comb looks funky - in the first pic. It looks partially carnation in type, or does he have side springs(?) Some breeders used Penedesenca as an outcross, and this is a telltale sign of that, if he has side sprigs.

He also has a very upright body; the angle he carries himself at is too high (too uphill), at least in my amateur opinion. He does have a nice, long back. Tail angle is good, and tail is not too long (sometimes you see the WAY long tails...I don't know if it's a point deduction or not, but I feel like the preference is for a shorter tail). His eyes may be a bit too light, and his neck is short, but it could be that he's jsut holding it in. His shank feathering is incomplete, but that's an easy fix.

Debbi, I've done so (bred overmelanised roo to overmelanised hens) not purposely, I have to admit, did it because I thought it was the right thing to do. What I got was pure black hens, and overmelanised roos - even moreso than I started with.

Wendy - just from the pics you posted, and it's hard to tell, to me, they look a bit light. I realize they're young, so they have more time to grow. But, in my experience, Bev's line typically shows both sexes to have broader and deeper chests. But, again, they are young, and it could be that they dropped some weight in the stress of moving them...my very best Bev hen is quite dark as well, having just a bit of copper coloring in her hackles.

 

[pinkchick]

Quote:
I know I'm not geebs, but I have bred a very dark rooster to a very dark pullet/hen and got very dark female offspring, the boys seem to have always have some sort of color happen, mostly too dark, but they usually always show more than the females, but they are all just pretty darn dark.

 

[Wynette]

brkuk - your cockerel has a nice tailset, nice back, proper shank feathering, good horn color, eyes may be a bit light, and he's got a bit too much copper color in him. I can't see his shank color well - it looks like it may be solid pink (?) If so, that's not to the proposed standard but I can't tell in the pic for sure. He looks like he has good size, but needs to fill out more; he looks gangly to me right now, but he's young. Also, (and bear in mind that I'm a comb snob) his comb is a bit oversized for my personal tastes, but that's just me. I would watch him closely; he may be a good match for those pullets/hens we've been talking about that are too dark.

Fog - I looked at your 2nd boy again, and he appears to be just a bit roach backed. Could be picture angle.

Folks, don't take my opinions as "the word" - I'm still beginning, too, having only been breeding Marans for four years now. This thread is about discussing, critiquing (in a helpful way), and possibly offering feedback on good matches for birds!!