My two roos barely had tails at a week. At two weeks they had cute little wide downward pointing tails. And notice the pink wattles coming in on both of them!
I just hatched a blond chick in the middle of the black and white chicks! What does that mean?
Ah - so interesting. If I breed this boy it will just be for my own "barnyard mix" babies. I've got another Copper Marans egg in the incubator, but if its a pullet it would be his sister or half sister, so I wouldn't hatch eggs from her if I keep Patrick as my flock papa.
Hi,
It's hard to say exactly what will be expressed this time. It could be mossiness (watch especially on wings, and tail), brown fluff, copper leakage, white feathers or down, straw hackles, etc. It would be interesting to find out what it will do on her. Make sure the duck doesn't take her swimming!
Ah! Thanks @One Chick Two . Really good to know that about Patrick's funny toes. I definitely don't want to contribute to gene pool problems!tworockchicken
The white lacing is its own issue- unrelated to everything else. This hen was not barred or come from barring- she was the only one from that pairing like that.
Ideally, it would be better for your own home breedings if you had another black copper as your flock master. In case you ever gave away birds any, or they got somehow into a breeder's hands or back into circulation, they wouldn't add to the Marans gene pool problems. I know that seems impossible, but, some breeders will breed very poor genetics just to make a quick buck if the eggs are dark enough. Not inferring that this would happen here by any means. But, it has happened to others and this is one of the reasons why there are a lot of issues to clear out of Marans.
Patrick carries the toe mutation, then, he should never be used for breeding- even in a home flock situation. You never want to use a known gene that involves taking away body parts.You will experience constant feet issues, and they will all carry the genes to pass it on worse too- it would soon become a mess.
