Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[FOGELLY]

I everyone
I have five BCM pullets that are 21 weeks old today. As I have said on here before these are my first BCM's. In the past I have always started moving my other pullets to layer type food at around 18-20 weeks. When do ya'll start switching them. The breeder I purchased my chicks from said that most of hers have not started laying until 25-27 weeks with some even going as long as 32 weeks. Thanks in advance for your knowledge. This is a great forum!

 

[VillageChicken]

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Being on this forum must be having its positive effects: first thing that jumped out at me when I looked at the photos is
"I wonder how big that guy is... I wonder if he's undersized... hmmm, he seems to be missing some fullness in the chest."

Thanks math and others for putting your insights out there.. I'm still not bold enough, but I'm seeing alot of the same things as all you pro's these days!

 

[Hens and Roos]

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You could probably wait until 1 starts laying and then switch over, hopefully someone else will have a better answer for you. In all truth we have a feed mix that all the birds get from start to finish- it's much easier for my kids to help with feeding this way(even DS-5).

 

[math ace]

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OMG - - Don't put me in that pro status. I am way toooo green still.

I promised a picture of my roo to compare him to. HERE is my DISCLAIMER - - - my roo has a ton of faults. . . He has too short of a back, his tail is Way to HIGH, and he has a HUGE HONKIN COMB and Wattle. . . I am not saying my boy is all that and a box of cracker jacks. . .

BUT LOOK AT THE SIDE VIEW of his chest and see how it is rounded and expands. . .

The front on shot did not come out the greatest. I think he turned slightly so that he looks thinner in the picture than he really is.
HOWEVER, I am posting it so we can still compare apples to apples. You can still see that his chest stays rounded.

 

[math ace]

HOW MANY PINK ROOish combs can you see - -- I saw so many that I am temporarily blinded!

PINK - - THE first cockerel to crow EVERY MORNING out of this bunch is a BLUE COPPER MARANS!

 

[Lotsapaints]

Wow Math I see 3 girls for sure you having company over for Bar-B- Que? I'm seeing the same thing with my Indian Rivers and Cuckoos I'm fixing mine when they are 12 weeks as they have good size by then it should be nice weather for BBQing it's going to get over 70 today yeah for spring.

 

[math ace]

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Last weekend we did the 20 week olds. The BCMs are not as big as my delawares of the same age. We had a harvesting get together last weekend. Everyone took a look at the delawares and could not believe they were the same age as the BCMs.

If you have a lot of roos to harvest, it is not nearly as arduous of a task if you can get others to come over and harvest their roos at the same time. . . .

The squimish ones are in charge of the water hose and rinsing things off. The physically strong handle to actual culling and others handle the food preparation. We even had a BIOLOGY class at the end for the kids getting ready to go to high school next year. We identified the gizzard, heart, liver, intestine, etc. Of course, we had to interupt their Wii time in order to teach the lesson.

The whole time I am thinking I should post a sign in the front yard saying - - -

"You might be a redneck if you clean the lawn furinture for a chicken harvesting event"

 

[Lotsapaints]

I've decided to process early on the ones that are obvious culls to have less feed in them..those bigger ones I sell for 10.00 and have people waiting for them....I have turkeys now for roasters though I'm going to save a couple of those Del crosses for roasting too. I'm working on getting my Marans as big as the Dels culling all the smaller hens...did that with the Dels and went down to 4 hens they have got to make SOP those all lay great can't always say that about the Marans. When I went to the show those White Rocks were so big......there were many Marans there too and they were on the small side there's just so many things we are all working on with them now if I can grow out a nice BC rooster....at least they taste good I don't need to work on that!

 

[Germaine_11.20]

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That is too funny! :

I do the same thing, thinking I MUST be looking at the same bird...over and over again. Maybe it's my glasses...?

Your boy does have a very nice chest, wing carriage and lovely coloring. I have one I am keeping that has too short a back and a rather high tail -- to make it worse he has dark eyes. But he made the cut due to coming from the darkest egg I have ever held in my hand.

I haven't used him yet on my girls, he is the last of the three roos I am going to test hatch from. I am really looking forward to see what the results are. I just wish we didn't have to wait 6 plus months for the end results. They may all be culls but that is how I learn the best, by doing

 

[cook_kaka_ook]

Thank you for all your feedbacks. I've weighed my rooster today and it registered at 7.3 lbs. with an empty crop. Is this a normal weight for a year old BCM? I do like his coloring except for some mossiness appearing on his chest. Is this something that will go away after he molts? As for the white feather on his toe, that's a hay he is stepping on. It's just a bad angle using my cellphone's camera. Maybe I should use a better camera for future BYC postings.

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