Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[Debbi]

This is "straw"?


Will track down the WHeaten thread.

Nope, the two tone hackles are of the Wheaten influence. Two seperate bands of colors, copper at the top, then the gold/yellow color. My Pip is colored this way, and all the time I knew it was incorrect for BCMs, and thought he may have something else going on in there. At 22 months of age, he started to get in feathers edged in cinnamon in his primary feathers! So as many breeders did in the past, evidently, he is a cross of BCM and Wheaten somewhere down the line. I tried to post a pic of him yesterday with no luck, will try againg today. To look at him, you would think Wheaten, even down to his very light slate legs. Staw is still straw colored, a brownish / yellowish hue. Here is the link to the Wheaten thread. You may have to go back a page or two, Randy just loaded a bunch of pics!
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/426622/wheaten-and-blue-wheaten-marans-discussion-thread/2430

Lots of pics on this page, scroll down https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/426622/wheaten-and-blue-wheaten-marans-discussion-thread/2410

 

[nuthatch]

Hope nobody minds, but could I get some opinions on this? I'm afraid I may have 4 cockerels and one pullet out of 5 BCMs in this photo. Shy pullet in the back right. I'm holding out hope that the one in back on the left may be a pullet. Comb is just pink, not red, and smaller than the rest. All hatched at the same time. 5 1/2 weeks old.

 

[blackbirds13]

I know the conversation is on hackle color but I have one on foot color.

I have a few like this - males only and this I have not seen before as I am too new to the breed. Some have less pink showing but some have it so much the back of their legs appear pale. This is my second year with Marans and I am re-starting my flock so should I just cull these guys? They all have a May 29th (thereabouts) hatch date, so about 8 weeks or so.









The rest are like this.






I have decided that I will keep only 1 male from this batch if it's not too faulty and if they all turn out bad then I'll look for a male to breed next spring. I'm down to 5 females and I'll be keeping all of them for layers or breeders depending on how they turn out - taking a more long term view on getting a decent breeding pair or trio. I did post on the other Marans thread. Thanks for any opinions.

 

[blackbirds13]

Hope nobody minds, but could I get some opinions on this? I'm afraid I may have 4 cockerels and one pullet out of 5 BCMs in this photo. Shy pullet in the back right. I'm holding out hope that the one in back on the left may be a pullet. Comb is just pink, not red, and smaller than the rest. All hatched at the same time. 5 1/2 weeks old.

Hi,
I am a newbie but mine are just a bit older and I had the same issue with 2 of my own... definitely now both roos, unfortunately. Once that comb start growing, pink or not, it seems the wattles follow. I marked them both with 2 bands (male/female) took the female band off today. Mine are 8 weeks now and I have more males than females but that has been my story with all my birds this year. Maybe your luck might be better...

 

[Debbi]

Hope nobody minds, but could I get some opinions on this? I'm afraid I may have 4 cockerels and one pullet out of 5 BCMs in this photo. Shy pullet in the back right. I'm holding out hope that the one in back on the left may be a pullet. Comb is just pink, not red, and smaller than the rest. All hatched at the same time. 5 1/2 weeks old.

I see 4 roos, 1 pullet. The one in the back on the left is a roo, see the color coming in on his back? Sorry, I know that feeling all too well!

 

[Debbi]

I know the conversation is on hackle color but I have one on foot color.

I have a few like this - males only and this I have not seen before as I am too new to the breed. Some have less pink showing but some have it so much the back of their legs appear pale. This is my second year with Marans and I am re-starting my flock so should I just cull these guys? They all have a May 29th (thereabouts) hatch date, so about 8 weeks or so.









The rest are like this.






I have decided that I will keep only 1 male from this batch if it's not too faulty and if they all turn out bad then I'll look for a male to breed next spring. I'm down to 5 females and I'll be keeping all of them for layers or breeders depending on how they turn out - taking a more long term view on getting a decent breeding pair or trio. I did post on the other Marans thread. Thanks for any opinions.

Like Don said on the other thread, they are young, give them some more time. I have never seen this in any of my chicks though, so you will want to watch them as they grow some more.

 

[blackbirds13]

Patience ....

... okay

... thanks

I'll watch and report back

 

[ashandvine]

I see 4 roos, 1 pullet. The one in the back on the left is a roo, see the color coming in on his back? Sorry, I know that feeling all too well!

At least they make really good sized roos and then... soup, but don't overlook waiting to see who looks the best.

 

[Debbi]

Patience ....

... okay

... thanks

I'll watch and report back

I hear ya, patience is not one of my virtues either. But if you are going to be in this breed, it is something you must learn....

 

[conserverica]

New here, we have a Black Copper Maran rooster that I want to find a home for. We bought 2 pairs of M & F marans for my kids to show in our county fair for 4-H. One of the hens died during shipment--they were born in April. The M & F pair that we brought to the fair won 2nd place, so they showed very well. and they are so shiny and healthy and colorful--the tail feathers are actually irridescent and look multi-colored in the light and you have to see them in person to appreciate their beauty. My kids have babied them, carrying them around like babies anad feeding them from hand. The 2 roosters are beautiful and active and strong, but unfortunately it is too many roosters for what we need around our kids. In fact I'm not even sure I want to keep one and will probably find homes for both--still deciding if we will keep one or not. I live in Central Ohio and bought the roosters from Meyer Hatchery and have all the paper work to show that they are Pollarium free. As I said, we just showed the pair at the Franklin County Fair where they were checked by a vet there too and checked out with a clean bill of health. We paid $9 each as chicks from Meyers in April which I thought was rather pricey for chicks from a hatchery. I'm not trying to make a profit or anything like that--would be nice to at least recoup the $9 each but at this point I really want to make sure the rooster(s) go to a nice home to someone that will appreciate that it is a special rooster and not just a "mutt" to eat. I especially want to find a home where the roosters will not be used for fighting or anything like that. Because my kids have babied them, I feel like we are giving away a family pet! However we just had to kill our Americana rooster today after it attacked me, and I don't want to risk another rooster turning aggressive on our kids. It seems that once the hormones start going in the roosters, they lose their little minds! (Our Americauna was sweet when he was young but apparently the hormones changed him because he really got fiesty and aggressive lately.)

Please email me at conserverica at gmail dot com and let me know if you are interested in providing a home for one or both Maran roosters. Thanks, Erica