Black Copper Marans

[Mahonri]

Well, I've got 11 BCMs. (all 10 day old chicks)

I will only be using 8 of them for breeding.

I still don't know how many cockerals and pullets I have. If I end up with wheatens down the line, I suppose I'll try another breeder.

 

[Mrs MIA]

This is a very helpful discussion (for the most part, anyway).
I JUST set my first generation of eggs in the incubator today, and now have the joy of waiting 3 weeks to see what my keep/cull decisions have done to my small flock.

If I were to find myself in the OPs position, I would simply sell the wheaten chicks or raise them for the freezer. Is the OP raising them for his own pleasure, or raising them to sell as pure BCMs? If it's the former, then work with them. Even throwbacks are wonderful birds. If it's the latter, then yes, you need to make the decision as to whether or not you want to spend the next year or so trying to figure out who has the gene, or start over. Some of our best breeds today were happy "genetic accidents".

 

[tgcole]

In the Summer of 2008, I was busy hatching Black Copper Marans from the Wade Jeane line. Imagine my surprise when little yellow chicks started popping up among the black and white babies!

During a two week period, we hatched 5 little yellow chicks among a hundred or so BCs. I received lots of advise about what to do with the yellow chicks. The consensus was they were wheatens and this happened occasionally in the Jeane line. Most folks said they wouldn't be true wheatens and wouldn't breed true. The one exception was Bev Davis who encouraged me to keep them and see what they grew to be. Bev alone said they could breed true.

I've hatched a couple thousand BC chicks since then, and have not seen another yellow chick. Would 1995 out of 2000 be considered breeding true??????

I suspect they came from a BC Roo I culled that was a bit too red breasted. I still have 4 of the 5 original yellow chicks. They turned out to be beautiful Wheatens! They consistently lay the darkest eggs of anything I have. I am hatching from the 3rd generation from the original yellow chicks. I have hatched hundreds of their eggs, and gotten nothing but Wheaten.

So, I would look at the little yellow chicks as an opportunity! And don't be too quick to cull your BCs. Your recessive Wheatens may disappear as mysteriously as they appeared.

Greg

 

[Byrdj]

A lot of times you can spot the Black Coppers with recessive Wheaten genes by looking at their plumage. The hens usually have excess brown (not copper) stipling in their breasts, and the roosters have an excess of gold or straw (not copper) coloration in their neck hackles. This isn't always accurate, but is a good palce to start for test matings.

 

[Jimmiaandboys]

This is a great thread! I'm awaiting the arrival of my first BCM hatching eggs this week and am excited about all I'll be learning and comforted that there are so many more experienced than me on BYC. I'll be devouring so much info and hopefully adding some as I go along. This site is sooo addictive!

 

[drom]

Quote:
What a great story. Your Wheatens look really nice. I have a question regarding that as well. If they do breed true, doesn't that mean that this would be a new Wheaten line? Which would seem like a very good thing. And, one that has the egg genes from the BCs which is also really nice.
Too bad the BCs aren't recessive like that or perhaps more new BC lines could be established.

 

[amazondoc]

Quote:
The problem with breeding wheatens from BCs is that they are likely to have certain color genes which are good for BCs, but bad for wheatens -- namely mahogany and melanizers that you don't want in the wheatens. So you may have to do some extra selection before you start producing "good" wheatens. But it is certainly not an impossible project!

 

[Mahonri]

I think those are beautiful wheatens and the egg color looks great.

Good on ya for continuing with the 'new line'!

 

[drom]

Quote:
The problem with breeding wheatens from BCs is that they are likely to have certain color genes which are good for BCs, but bad for wheatens -- namely mahogany and melanizers that you don't want in the wheatens. So you may have to do some extra selection before you start producing "good" wheatens. But it is certainly not an impossible project!

Ah, well, if you had the time and the space, it sounds like a really fun project actually.

 

[john in wa]

Thank you all. You have given me some great info. I have 20 more bought eggs in the incubator from Wade Jean and Ron Presley lines. They should be hatching around the 18th/19th. I think i will keep the Marans i have now and try another roo with them. i do have 2 other roo's that should be ready for hens in about a month. I think i will do some reading on genetics and go from there.