Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[lonnyandrinda]

Thank you very much I appreciate and respect your opinion. Love this breed and want to do my part to keep it looking good- I will post a pic of my only hen later (!!! stupid dog that only killed hens left me with only one out of 5...) but most likely will have to start over next year.

 

[lonnyandrinda]

Here's my only remaining hen. Abt 17 weeks. Compared to my cockerels she has very nice leg feathering. Sorry about the quality of the pictures- she is a bit skittish and not near as friendly as my cockerels. Always trying to hide especially if I squat down to take a picture. My gut feeling on her though is she is beginning to show a little mossiness on her wings. So probably not good for a breeder program. But she will hopefully be a nice dark layer for a layer flock.

 

[Wynette]

lonny, I do not see the mossiness you speak of, but my eyes are not 20:20. She appears a bit slight of frame, but she's young yet - I like her shank feathering, and she has pretty good type in my opinion (I do not claim to be an expert, however).

 

[lonnyandrinda]

Wynette, if you click the second picture to enlarge it and look at her wing tip that is what I believe is called mossiness? Thank you for your opinion. She is from the same breeder as Hugger (roo #1 with too much chest color and wrong body type) but that is much better stock than my other group of FBCM in my opinion.

-Rinda (LOL I know our screen name is lonnyandrinda but it is 99.99% me on BYC, hubby and I just share all internet accounts that way)

 

[Wynette]

Rinda (what a pretty name, by the way!) - I do now see the mossiness in the wing. Also, her eyes are too dark. Goodness, seems like there are some things to be worked out...so sorry!!

 

[snowbird]

That Brown wing triangle makes one think wheatem Mix, also the brown tint soft feathering.

 

[lonnyandrinda]

Thanks everyone, just confirming more and more what I thought... will talk with hubby later and we will see about starting over with reputable hatching eggs most likely. Especially since Lonny is addicted to hatching- it will give him something productive to hatch instead of whatever he can get his hands on at the auctions!

These were the first chicks we had ever bought so I will just take it as a learning experience and go with it. It has been a steep 6 month learning curve but BYC has been a fantastic resource and I feel we have a good handle on things now. We have good quality cream legbar and isbar stock (two sources of each) for our breeding pens, so will probably just focus on them for now.

 

[laughingclown]

Its so funny how at that age they look like vultures lol.

 

[RedBugPoultry]

I would like to have some honest critique of my FBCM cockerel I am thinking of using for a breeding program, he is about 16 weeks now. FYI I THINK my 4yo may have pulled out some of his tail feathers because it only recently started looking "short." The feathers on his back are NOT white, it is just the way the sun was catching them through the leaves. I know his leg feathering could stand to be heavier, and I am a little concerned he is going to end up TOO colorful.

I have about 7 cockerels to choose from but the others are from different (poorer) stock and each of those has their own issues (leg color, non-feathered leg, lack of copper, no tail, etc). Of the FBCM traits, which are vital to have right in breeding stock and which are somewhat "easier" to improve upon?

The back of this guys comb looks a little odd to me too.... Not sure if anyone has mentioned that?

 

[Sally8]

I hate computers! I posted this last night and nothing this morning. So, I'm re posting. Anyway, I bought 5 eggs off ebay in April and it turned out that they were only 30 miles away. 4 out of 5 hatched, the 5th wasn't fertile. I received my first egg yesterday. I haven't been able to tell if any are roosters. The woman I bought them from shows them successfully. They are from the Wade/Davis line. They are truly beautiful but I don't think they follow "the perfect" guideline. I started reading this thread, it's so full of information. Thanks. I just love my "girls" (maybe boy) No crowing.