Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[Arielle]

Don, let me rephrase and be specific.

I have 5 hens from breeder A, ( and 2 roosters) and
from breeder B I have 2 roosters
and breeder C I have one rooster.

The best rooster IMO from the breeder C died . THe next best is a slow to develop boy that was being picked on so I put him in a crate and he is looking very promising.

Should I divide up the 5 hens into 3 breeding pens and pick one male for each; raise up the offspring and see what develops from this cross. ??

Edited to add: my goal is to understand what quality I do, or don't have.

 

[snowbird]

Don, let me rephrase and be specific.

I have 5 hens from breeder A, ( and 2 roosters) and
from breeder B I have 2 roosters
and breeder C I have one rooster.

The best rooster IMO from the breeder C died . THe next best is a slow to develop boy that was being picked on so I put him in a crate and he is looking very promising.

Should I divide up the 5 hens into 3 breeding pens and pick one male for each; raise up the offspring and see what develops from this cross. ??

Edited to add: my goal is to understand what quality I do, or don't have.

Arielle, I prefer to work with only two lines as you will need more breeding pens the more lines you have. Also take into consideration that you can stagger the matings so you can have less breeding pens. Make sure you mark all eggs and toe punch all chicks with the leather punch we have talked about in the past. Band all breeder females and males and record all numbers for different matings. Have your record book set up before hand..

You will be able to breed Mother to son or to a male from one of the other matings, the fathers can be bred to daughters and also females from other matings. Just stay away from the brother-sister matings. Keep in mind do not use any fowl with very poor sketal Body design going on.

 

[Wynette]

Wynette , if you know someone on BYC who has good BC why not say who it might be for everyone to see. The best evidence is a picture.

Well, just looking through the first few pages of this thread, I saw, in a quick look, members geebs, illia, sonew123, and sewandgrow all have (or had) nice stock in Black Copper. Unfortunately, I don't believe any of them are still posting in the Marans threads, if at all. But, they are out there, to be sure, and that was back in 2011.

 

[Wynette]

Wynette, love the new pic in the avetar!

Awe, thanks, Arielle! DON - DON'T READ THE FOLLOWING: that chick is a little mutt that a broody hatched off...to the best of my knowledge, it was fathered by a Splash Giant cock bird and the hen was a production layer; when she grew up:



She's really quite lovely, and an excellent layer of Jumbo-sized eggs!

 

[CountryFriedChicken]

Hi CountryFried and Arielle,

I agree with your request...I posted pictures of my boy on page 484 and asked for comments about type (his breast has too much red) but didn't get much specific feedback on anything but color. It's clear that I messed up with the copper spotting but hope that I did ok with the rest. Barngoddess was nice enough to make a general comment about him however additional comments from the forum members would be very appreciated.

BTW math ace, very interesting comments regarding color fade. My birds are looking pretty washed out right now after being in the sun all summer. I am not sure how black they started but I do notice a significant change. Some of my hens are looking almost chocolate...

Hi - I am still learning. I hope more experienced people will pipe in. I am still learning about the type as I go on...

 

[CountryFriedChicken]

Look around at the Marans posted on BYC and you will see very few with the right body structure and overall type. It is a must for anyone looking to study type of poultry to have a copy of the SOP.

The only real good body and type Marans I have seen on BYC belong to Vicki and she has a long history of being around Show Poultry. I also like the Black Marans male belonging to Kim.

Once you see a good Marans if you keep an open mind you will know what to look for in the future.

WHo is Vicki on here? Thanks

 

[CountryFriedChicken]

I have read almost everything on BYC on marans, and most of the chatter is about color; HOWEVER, when type is mentioned it is clearly stated that type is the most important thing to breed for. I too wish there was more type discussion so I can better "see" what I am shooting for.

I agree... the barn must be built before it can be painted.

But good thing about the marans is that we can start to cull by the color of the egg, then type (clean legged chick, obvious defects, etc) then color and type as the bird grows. I realize it does take a long term commitment to get good egg color and hope for a bird with good type. It is not a 2-3 year thing for sure. It might take at least 5-10 years with 5 generations minimum. Just my very very humble observation (not opinion ).

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Wynette , if you know someone on BYC who has good BC why not say who it might be for everyone to see. The best evidence is a picture. Not very many good type and body structure Marans have been pictured since I have been on BYC.

This is what I was talking about when I said we have to keep and open mind and be acceptable to taking constructive critiqueing.

Don, I'm sorry, but I've seen VERY experienced judges judging Marans at shows - BIG shows - in person, and they disagree about what makes a good "Marans" and which bird most closely fits the SOP. Neither is necessarily wrong. They just have different priorities. I think it is NOT cool to name names on BYC and suggest they are the only ones that have Marans worth commenting on. I'm a photographer. Pictures are NEVER a substitute for the real thing. Especially in this day and age.

Not cool .....

Yes, I'll crawl under my Canadian rock again

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Look around at the Marans posted on BYC and you will see very few with the right body structure and overall type. It is a must for anyone looking to study type of poultry to have a copy of the SOP.

The only real good body and type Marans I have seen on BYC belong to Vicki and she has a long history of being around Show Poultry. I also like the Black Marans male belonging to Kim.

Once you see a good Marans if you keep an open mind you will know what to look for in the future.

This advice is just wrong.

If you are truly serious about poultry, you won't be making decisions based on pictures posted online. You will get out and pound the pavement and see the birds in person.

As much as I have nothing against the folks whose birds are being praised here (although I've never actually met them in person or seen any of their birds - in person) --- this sort of advice is truly scary. You will ONLY know a good (or bad!) Marans if you see the whole bird with your own eyes and actually get to handle it.

 

[nicalandia]

This advice is just wrong.

If you are truly serious about poultry, you won't be making decisions based on pictures posted online. You will get out and pound the pavement and see the birds in person.

I begg to differ, if you cant tell a good bird or bad bird from picks what makes you think you could do the same to a live moving bird? anyways this is a Online Genetic forum, if we are not able to learn or teach from online sources then what is this forum for? to chit chat? I dont think so