Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[cmfarm]

This is my 2 cents on the subject:
I think it is great that there are dedicated breeders out there that are trying their best to breed to the SOP. But not every one (or not really that many people) want to breed chickens to the SOP for any breed. Most are breeding chickens for eggs/meat. That is what chickens have been bred for a very long time before there where even chicken shows. The Marans was first bred as a meat breed. So if someone wants to breed a chicken to produce meat/eggs but doesn't care as much about color, comb, eye color and such that doesn't mean that they should banned from raising a certain breed that they like and selling their offspring. If everyone was only aloud to breed chickens that bred to SOP standards we wouldn't have very many people left with chickens. Not everyone wants to pay show quality prices for a chicken they don't intend on showing and just want for meat/eggs, but like a certain breed. But if a person breeds to different breeds together I think they need to state that and not say it is a pure breed when it is not. I think it is the buyers responsibility to make sure they get what they want. If you don't ask questions then it is your fault if it isn't the quality you want. Okay, I think I'm done now.

 

[TDM]

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No rocket science for me. What I do with my birds is wait until the tail end of their laying cycle and separate the best layers from the others and use their eggs for the next batch. Broody hens tend to disqualify themselves.

My BCMs are from the Wade Jean and Bev Davis lines. They are pure BCMs, and not mutts.

These birds must earn a profit. If they can't, then they are of no use to me. My customers want to be awed by really dark or spotted eggs, and I need a lot of them. They couldn't care less that the hen had feathers on their legs or not. My best sellers are half dozen eggs sold in clear plastic cartons with an assortment of eggs from leghorns, easter eggers, production reds, cuckoo marans and black copper marans.

When I sell my BCM chicks, I include the actual eggshells. Customers are free to view the parent stock if they like. Furthermore, my BCM chicks sell for $3 each, as compared to some places that charge up to $9 for a BCM chick. I think the novelty is soon to be over, and prices will fall nationally. As you mentioned, they are a large bird and not a very economical layer. It's the dark egg that made them famous, and not the color of their eyes.

 

[geebs]

 

[newlyweds]

Do BCM's tend to be broody? The reason I ask is because 2 out of my 3 hens have been broody this spring, not that I am complaining, I actually love it. What's your experience?

 

[kathyinmo]

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Mine go broody! OH YES ! ! !

 

[Medicine Man]

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agreed.

 

[AyeUpChuck]

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One of those test eggs is pipping!!!!!! I hear a FEMALE chirp.

 

[Sparklee]

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That's where I have trouble. I can't tell (easily) who's laying. Looking at their vents isn't an easy way to tell who's still laying - for me. And I don't particularly want to compare skeletal measurements and go to the trouble of tracking that. Call me lazy, but this is just a backyard flock, not a commercial operation (nor a chicky mill!). Of course, I can look at their combs and wattles and often tell what's going on. But mine are usually molting at the end of their cycle. I guess many say that the early molters are the worst layers which would mean that breeding from the later molters is one way to increase production without going to the trouble of setting up a trap nesting program. And then I can make sure the later molters also have good looks at that point to before using them as breeders for next year. But most of my hens all look exactly the same.

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Yep. Some of the prices for BCM hatching eggs from relatively prominent breeders going for $16 a dozen ... the thrill is gone, so to speak. Well, not for me because I've never sold hatching eggs, but for sellers who used to get $100 a dozen for BCM eggs. Those were the days.

I will say, though, that I really like the dark eggs. I don't think that folks will ever stop wanting a few of the dark eggs. They really spice up an egg carton. And BCMs are a really calm bird to raise. Sweetest little things.

 

[Schroeder]

Sparklee wrote that BCMs are very calm birds to raise.


I have 20 3-week old BCMs that I bought from a BYC breeder. They are the most hyper chicks I've ever been around! Should I expect them to calm down with age or do you suppose this trait is reflective of the particular parent stock?

 

[Sparklee]

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Oops. So sorry. I should have said, "Mine seem like very calm birds to raise." Yes, it's likely reflective of the particular parent stock, though you'd think that environment could have something (10%?) to do with depending on things like housing, space, flock mates, nearby predator load, other stressors, etc.

But I've never had one of my BCMs (except that extra red one that's now gone) roosters so much as peck at me. They don't even give me the stink eye.

I did think that most BCMS were fairly peaceful, though, and had though that many other folks felt the same way.