Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[flgardengirl]

Quote:
She is a little smaller than the rest but I wouldn't say dwarf. I keep her in the egg laying pen because she lays a tasty egg and is a good girl. No hatching babies for her. Come to think of it, she is one of the few Marans girls I have that has never gone broody at all.
Hmmm I best not say that too loud around here, I got chickens and ducks going broodly left and right... its getting crazy LOL!

 

[OHmamma]

I am so isolated....I tried my first Poultry show last week, I drove 75 miles only to find one Black Copper Roo showing and a trio of Wheatens. so much for variety......Hopefully the Ohio National show will prove to be more exciting.

 

[geebs]

OHmamaFirst thing first

... that is a nice looking fella (comb aside). I will have to say that his wings look "dropped' to me. I do hope you take lots of pictures at the Ohio Nationals... I may have a bird or two going.

On that note: We all have our points of tolerance... Everyone puts up with something... I personally would not put up with the dropped wings but might overlook the "thumbprint" in a comb or wrong color coverts etc... that is my way..

I have had marans for longer than I have posted on this forum. I have no hidden agenda as I am not a seller of eggs and chicks. What you get from me here is based on more than one year's experience with the breed. I shoot from the hip. What you get is my best answer... Other answers may differ.. The key is find what your tolerance is and live within it... I offer up this thread as a place to discuss breeding strategies and best practices for the BC... There is more than one... Culling is a part of the process, however with a breed that is such a Kaliedescope of genes (some lines more than others) choices are made... Ruthless culling is important, however, we all have to start somewhere.. I am so glad to have started close to the point of import on these... But having done that I have found that sacrifices are necessary to move forward. They didn't come with instructions and they were far from perfect... Most of what the folks these days are starting out with is better (in a lot of cases) than what was available just a few short years ago...

Something has to give as there is no Perfect bird.. There wasn't one last year and I haven't seen on yet...

Don as you have worked on this color in this breed for just now over a year I can see why you use ruthless culling...I don't have the luxury of being able to purchase 600 eggs and cull all but 5 as I assume most ppl can't so this is only one strategy for the layman. I am just another hobbyist.. that is all.. I do believe in culling and you have a great eye.. I am curious of what tolerances are you willing to put up with??? I hear of all the culling practice...white legs, brown feathers, white hackles, narrow backs, pinched tail, side sprigs, etc... What is the best bird you had and what did you put up with to move forward... for me it was ignoring the comb...

Geeky spot... Low riders....Love the short legs and wide bodies... Everyone can stamp the bird out their own way and still remain within the standard.. that is what is soooo great... My birds are easy for me to recognize...Love a long skull on my females. Some ppl love the cottage feathering look, others a little more sparse... both fit in the standard. Bottom line... Enjoy your project and lets try not rain on each other's parade... We are a passionate collaberative that is what make this (BYC) such a unique and wonderful forum!!!

There are mistakes I made along the way... Boy it is a big list..... But here on this thread we (together) can learn more than one person can by themself... so of course lots of opinions are welcome. Crawling off soapbox now...

 

[Lotsapaints]

This is a much better picture than the other one...I like this guy better though he still looks light in build I find it difficult to believe that he's that light with only one copy of the barring gene he must be blue too? I like that he's missing white tail feathers lots of cuckoos have them after a year or so. If you're craving Birchen buy some from a reputable breeder Cullpepper has them and so does Bev Davis and Julie Gabbard is selling them too but hers don't always have feathered shanks get as good as stock as you can afford they all cost the same to feed.

 

[OHmamma]

Thank you both. Last year I spent A TON of money on Chickens/eggs/chicks etc. I will admit I was only experienced in the chickens as far as knowing they laid eggs and you could eat them. I knew there is a huge difference between hatchery chicks and show quality birds but I certainly did not realize how unsrupulous people could be about chickens. With out something like tattoos and pedigrees like with goats and rabbits there isn't really anything to keep people even remotely honest. I ended up having to cull most of what I had.
There are not a lot of Marans breeders around me so I had to order chicks and eggs.

I am going to have to try to make do with these for a while. I know that may be hard to take by some but it is what it is. I do have hatching eggs in the incubator right now from a more honest person that was reffered to me by Bev Davis so hopefully I will have a better selection next year. I never expected to have show quality right off. I have raised both show goats and rabbits and I know how seldom you get a near perfect animal. Luckily with them I was able to buy my base stock right off the show floor. The closest I could come to that with these is they came from very dark eggs.

Lotsapapaints~yes he is cucu/blue over black copper blue. Out of the dozens of chick I hatched I only had three of this color the other guy was too runty, and the pullet went in with my Davis BlkCop roo. Paulie is from Davis lines. I also like that he has no white feathers in him. He also has a great personality. (for a chicken)


Geebs~interesting about the droop wing. I am going to look closer at him today to see if it was just a bad camera angle he was moving at the time, he is one of my free rangers right now because......I am not crazy about cucus. I kept him for the color, I am going to pen him with a few ladies and see what he makes.

If I hadn't wanted honest opinions I wouldn't have asked so I do appreciate your advice. Of course I know it is always just an opinion, and how I take it or what I do with it is up to me. I have spent a lot of money trying to buy good starter birds but I didn't want to do this to continue what someone else has already done. I have researched the Standards but I am a visual learner so it is hard for me to read a description and know what I am seeing fits it. Did that make sense?? I figured by posting these I could get more of an idea. I see these boys everydya and right now they are calling for me.

Thanks again. I am off for a photo shoot....I might get annoying.

 

[geebs]

Did that make sense?? I figured by posting these I could get more of an idea. I see these boys everydya and right now they are calling for me.

Thanks again. I am off for a photo shoot....I might get annoying.

I totally understand.... I am a visual learner also... Really I am asthetic but since I can't feel your bird.... LOL The visual is my second strong suit

You cannot possibly annoy me by posting pictures... SPAM the post with all the visuals you want!!! Looking forward to it!!!​

 

[Wynette]

I'm with geebsie on this one; as I said just yesterday, I have the unfortunate personality type that each bird I see, I see something I can use to move forward. I work really hard on this, and call in feedback from many trusted breeder friends to collaborate with me on my decisions, as I don't have a ton of room, and thus must make choices that are critical to my flock, such as only being able to keep 2 cocks.

I think for me, and all of us who have small flocks, they key is to REALLY know your birds. Know their size: weight, height, length of leg, length of back, length of tail....etc. All that stuff. Each individual bird. The better you know them, the better decision you can make as to who to breed to so as to get the very best combination in the offspring. ANd like geebsie said - figure out what's important to YOU. First, for ALL of us, should be type. Then...what can you live with? What do you detest in the looks of your bird, while keeping within the SOP? Lastly, keep very, very detailed notes so you know how you got where you are.

This thread is priceless!

 

[OHmamma]

More from Gary tell me if the collage works. Here is what I think his black is pretty saturated and his tail too erect. I also notice a white spot on one of his leg feathers. However I want to use him for my birchen project so this might not be a bad thing.

Other misc. things...so glad I quarantine, he has chicken cooties and worms. At first I thought he had been beat up on by older roos at his old home and that was why his neck feathers were broken. He is in a good mood today so I looked him over real good and found a few crawlies. So I called the breeder to let them know about it so they could treat the rest. I like to assume people just didn't realize their animals had a problem

Anyway I found out he is only 6 months old born on Halloweeen. I noticed the hook worms when he happily took a squirt as soon as I put him in the bathroom to take the pictures. I should have let him perch on the toilet.

I am going to take care of his medical issues and see how he feathers over summer. Looks like I have another free ranger!

Wynette~ I am lucky to have a 10 acre farm. Of which two acres and half of my barn are dedicated to my chickens. I originally set it up for raising Dairy goats but that proved to be quite a costly venture. What I found was the when you go straight purebred from regional stock the intense repetitive inbreeding/linebreeding makes for beautiful animals with weak immune systems and genetic disorders. I finally sold the reaminder of my goat herd and decided to focus on the chickens. I repurposed many of my goat pens and turned my 30x20 kidding room into an incubation room and two smaller brooding rooms. I did a lot of researching before I chose Marans and honestly it was because I am a cook and I wanted a bird famous for its egg and its meat.

I knew that breeding for show quality can take a lot of tries. I intentionally bought birds form different flocks across the US so that I would hopefully have more of a diversity. I know that it will take time to get what I want or anything near the SOP but since I started this venture in hopes of having some kind of progress within 4 years I think I am doing fairly well. I do sell my extra chicks but to people that are looking for good multipurpose layers and meat birds. I also raise up and have a lot butchered and what my family doesn't need I give to others that do.

I get to know all of my animals very well I agree it is the best way to go. I keep a smaller flock for that reason. Plus I run out of names if I get too many.

Time to roll some eggs. Look at these whites I am setting today..just beautiful.

 

[poularde]

Wow! Those are whites?

where did you get those lovelies?

 

[OHmamma]

my hen house.