Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[kathyinmo]

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For example, the SOP for the Delaware comb is much more clear.....
COMB: Single, moderately large, well developed, set firmly on head, perfectly straight and having five well defined points, those in front and rear smaller than those in center, blade smooth; inclining slightly downward, but not following contour of neck too closely.
Marans says simply:
COMB: Single, moderately large, straight, upright, evenly serrated with five points; the blade not touching the neck.

In the general scale of points, the comb is worth a total of 5 points. Deductions are for the number of points, twisted, thumbmark, texture, oversize or undersize.
The deduction for wrong color of eyes is only 1/2 to 2 points, so why is the eye color a bigger concern than the comb?

Just curious on this.

 

[Wynette]

OHBig - my goal this generation was to lengthen the back and increase color in the male a bit. My hens are overmelanised, so I need just a hair more color in the hens. I REALLY want to try to do this without having to double mate, as I just don't have the facilities to do that. In the past, I made breeding decisions and went way overboard, and had to rein it back in. Now, I am making incremental changes...seems to be helping much more.

ETA: Kathy, the Delaware SOP was approved...when? The SOP for the Black Copper Marans was approved last month. There will most definitely be changes. You may want to contact Snowbird (Don) directly on this, as I believe he is more "in the know" on future SOP changes.

 

[kathyinmo]

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Oh, I did not realize...........

 

[snowbird]

Well I have been doing some research this morning on the word SPARSE feathering on shanks and toe. There is nothing in the MCCUSA approved standard saying anything about sparse. I have no idea where this started at and who started it,

The approved APA Marans standard just says "lightly feathered shank" " lightly feathered outer toe" It says nothing about being feathered to end of toe.

The sparsely comes from the French Standard and I caution everyone that their standard has nothing to do with the American Marans being promoted by the MCCUSA and approved by the APA SOP.

Lets move on with our American Marans.

 

[Bravo]

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Wynette, he looks like a very nice boy! I think he will definitely compliment your darker hens. I cant wait to see what he produces!!

 

[Kensfarm]

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They hatched from a dark egg (not sure if that matters) which is why he thought they came from the marans. Your "different" comment is what I've been thinking this whole time as I watch them grow. I keep going to feather site and looking at the colors and they dont seem to match very well. I keep trying to find what they could match and come out empty everytime.

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I agree with Geebs, something just is not "right" and makes me think they are mixed with something.
Ignoring the question about pure or not. moving on to the question about looks and color. .. .

The cockerel and pullet have too much brown on the chest. The pullet should not have any brown ( copper) on her chest and the cockerel to be SOP should knly have a tiny amount, a sprinkling of copper on his chest.

If you breed these two, the offspring will have even MORE copper. They are not complimentary opposites.

Thank you for the good input on color and breeding. They change so much as they grow, it is very interesting. They started out little black and white chicks, and feathered in a dark solid black, then started getting all this brown coloration. I don't know what to expect next.

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I agree with Geebs, something just is not "right" and makes me think they are mixed with something.
Ignoring the question about pure or not. moving on to the question about looks and color. .. .

The cockerel and pullet have too much brown on the chest. The pullet should not have any brown ( copper) on her chest and the cockerel to be SOP should knly have a tiny amount, a sprinkling of copper on his chest.

If you breed these two, the offspring will have even MORE copper. They are not complimentary opposites.

With those blue black legs and dark creepy eyes, I would have to wonder if the breeder had Wheaten Penedesencas running around.

You're not the first person to mention Penedesenca to me, acutally the 3rd or 4th. They also lay a dark egg, which is what mine hatched from. I have this whole list of breeds from which I see characteristics of in my chickens, but I don't know enough about chicken genetics to know what show through on breeding and what doesn't. Breeds like brahma, cochin, penedesencas and even the color variations among these breeds, including the marans.

Thanks a bunch guys, I hope my ignorance doesn't give you all too much of a headache. My curiousity about the breeds my chickens could be is killing me. (I don't even know why, lol) I am happy with them and I love watching them grow. I really look forward to when they start to lay, maybe down the road I'll even hatch some just to see what comes out. My free batch of eggs has given me quite the adventure so far and I'm only 9 weeks in!

 

[Wynette]

Don - on the leg feathering - I was taking "sparse" to indicate "thin" feathering. That's probably not the correct word. But - for example, if I had a bird with very thick feathering on the shank...and "along" the outer toe but not to the end - in your opinion, the heavy shank feathering - would that be "showable"? I'll see if I can dig up an example & post a pic in a bit.

Okay, to ME, the following pic is sort of "medium" feathering on the shank - it goes down the outer toe, but not all the way to the very tip of the toe. Is this more what we should be looking for? Or, is this shank feathering too thick?

 

[Wynette]

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None of us knows it ALL for goodness' sake, Kensfarm! That's why we are here - to share information and learn from each other and, hopefully, what we learn from each other we can all use to move this breed forward. I still say that regardless if you are just after a super dark egg, or are wanting the perfect "type" marans as identified by the SOP - either is just fine, so long as you are having FUN at the end of the day!

 

[snowbird]

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wynette, what I see on this male is light shank feathering and there is nothing in the standard that says it has to be feathered all the way to tip of toe.

I prefer heavier feathering than this and that is what I am breeding for at present. The thing is if you use more feathers as long as you keep it off the middle toe it will probably come in just right after they Molt. All this stuff is averages and a balancing act. I believe the male should be heavier on the shank and toe feathering as I believe the male has more to do with the amount of feathering.

 

[Zanna]

For any/all of you that single mate, how many eggs do you usually set to develop an idea of what the offsprings tendencies/consistency of that pairing will basically be like?