Blue copper maran roo x

[Doudna2163]

So my roo is a blue copper maran and the breeds of hens I have are Rhode Island Red, Columbian wyandotte, calico princess, black sex link, light brahma, buff brahma, and barred rock. I also have a hen that's the same as the roo but I think I know what will come from that lol. My question is how many of you have done blue copper maran roo to one of these breeds of hens or the ones below and if you have do you have any pictures or updates on these offspring? How many eggs they're laying? Or if you butchered the offspring do they have a decent amount of meat? I also read marans struggle to fertilize more then 8 hens. I'm already at 12 hens and I would like to add a couple more a salmon faverolles, Orpington, and a Cochin. If you were gonna add a second rooster to keep fertility rates up what would you pick? I would like something that's completely different then the blue copper maran but would still up meat and egg production with his genetics.

 

[NatJ]

So my roo is a blue copper maran and the breeds of hens I have are Rhode Island Red, Columbian wyandotte, calico princess, black sex link, light brahma, buff brahma, and barred rock. I also have a hen that's the same as the roo but I think I know what will come from that lol. My question is how many of you have done blue copper maran roo to one of these breeds of hens or the ones below and if you have do you have any pictures or updates on these offspring? How many eggs they're laying? Or if you butchered the offspring do they have a decent amount of meat? I also read marans struggle to fertilize more then 8 hens. I'm already at 12 hens and I would like to add a couple more a salmon faverolles, Orpington, and a Cochin. If you were gonna add a second rooster to keep fertility rates up what would you pick? I would like something that's completely different then the blue copper maran but would still up meat and egg production with his genetics.

I have not personally done any of the crosses you are discussing.

But based on what I have read about various crosses, I would expect:
--chicks about the same as many other dual purpose breeds (OK for meat, but not nearly as meaty or fast-growing as the common Cornish Cross meat chickens that were bred only for meat qualities.)
--laying will probably be an average of the mother's and father's laying ability. This would mean the daughters of the best layers will lay better than the daughters of the worse layers, but all should be reasonably good.

As regards Marans and fertility: your specific rooster may be fine or he may not be.

You can crack some eggs and see if they look fertile (some people say they can tell by looking for the light spot on the yolk: bullseye indicates fertility, other shapes/sizes indicate infertility. Some other people, including myself, cannot tell accurately enough to be useful.)

Or to be really sure, you can incubate some eggs and see how many of them develop. If your rooster is managing very high fertility with the current hens, he might be able to handle a few more as well. If he is not managing to fertilize all the current ones, then yes you would probably want a second rooster if you add more hens.

For what breed of rooster to add, if you do get a second one, you might consider a Red Sexlink rooster (ISA Brown, Golden Comet, Red Star, etc.) He is likely to produce chicks in a variety of colors that the Blue Copper Marans will not, and his daughters will probably be good layers. I'm not as sure about meat qualities, since the sexlinks are mostly selected for good egg production.

 

[Doudna2163]

I have not personally done any of the crosses you are discussing.

But based on what I have read about various crosses, I would expect:
--chicks about the same as many other dual purpose breeds (OK for meat, but not nearly as meaty or fast-growing as the common Cornish Cross meat chickens that were bred only for meat qualities.)
--laying will probably be an average of the mother's and father's laying ability. This would mean the daughters of the best layers will lay better than the daughters of the worse layers, but all should be reasonably good.

As regards Marans and fertility: your specific rooster may be fine or he may not be.

You can crack some eggs and see if they look fertile (some people say they can tell by looking for the light spot on the yolk: bullseye indicates fertility, other shapes/sizes indicate infertility. Some other people, including myself, cannot tell accurately enough to be useful.)

Or to be really sure, you can incubate some eggs and see how many of them develop. If your rooster is managing very high fertility with the current hens, he might be able to handle a few more as well. If he is not managing to fertilize all the current ones, then yes you would probably want a second rooster if you add more hens.

For what breed of rooster to add, if you do get a second one, you might consider a Red Sexlink rooster (ISA Brown, Golden Comet, Red Star, etc.) He is likely to produce chicks in a variety of colors that the Blue Copper Marans will not, and his daughters will probably be good layers. I'm not as sure about meat qualities, since the sexlinks are mostly selected for good egg production.

Yeah I was reading about that with black copper maran crosses. And yeah those would make some nice crosses with my hens. I appreciate all the help.