Here is my take on getting blacks. They come from mating blue x blue or blues to blacks. I am sure everyone's flocks are different but in mine I always get way more black pullets than black cockerals when it comes to pure blacks. Mating black to black of course always yields blacks. I know everyone's Marans are subtly different. My blues and blacks also often may start out with lighter eyes then darken up to the correct color on maturity.
I don't think getting mostly girls is specific to my black and blue Marans though, because in some of my other breeds like Key West, I almost always get mostly girls too, lol. I have read you can mate silver cuckoo to black as well to try to get blacks. Mine came from nice stocky blues so I haven't tried the cuckoo thing. I would not attempt to use Black or Blue Coppers to try to achieve all black because the hens will hide the copper and then somewhere down the line you will end up with roos expressing the copper gene.
As far as breeding for dark eggs, I have found the egg color the rooster comes from does count as much or perhaps even more than the egg color of the mama hen. If you can keep track of your roosters from the darkest eggs, it will help you darken up your egg color much quicker in your flock.
Now this is a Black Copper baby roo as you can tell by the white speck by the eye but this is just an example...I take pics of my males with their eggs upon hatch and then band them according to the egg coloring. You can label your photos with a number and then also put that number on your chicks band etc. That way one can cull for the other traits I want balancing with the egg color the roo came from.
I don't think getting mostly girls is specific to my black and blue Marans though, because in some of my other breeds like Key West, I almost always get mostly girls too, lol. I have read you can mate silver cuckoo to black as well to try to get blacks. Mine came from nice stocky blues so I haven't tried the cuckoo thing. I would not attempt to use Black or Blue Coppers to try to achieve all black because the hens will hide the copper and then somewhere down the line you will end up with roos expressing the copper gene.
As far as breeding for dark eggs, I have found the egg color the rooster comes from does count as much or perhaps even more than the egg color of the mama hen. If you can keep track of your roosters from the darkest eggs, it will help you darken up your egg color much quicker in your flock.
Now this is a Black Copper baby roo as you can tell by the white speck by the eye but this is just an example...I take pics of my males with their eggs upon hatch and then band them according to the egg coloring. You can label your photos with a number and then also put that number on your chicks band etc. That way one can cull for the other traits I want balancing with the egg color the roo came from.
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