copper not showing in Blue copper marans

[merrydancer]

I am hoping to understand the genetics for this better

I recently hatched some blue copper eggs... got the usual black , blue and splash chicks.

But only the two black hens have copper...and lots of it. None of the blues - pullets or cockerels.

do you need two "copper" genes for copper to show?

if I breed the blue pullets to my black copper roo... will all the babies show copper if the young all blue pullets are carrying the gene?

will they show lots of copper? or just flakes as I have seen in some blue copper girls?

I have tried to search for info... but not much luck.. asked the breeder and she said she would answer me when she had time but it has been about a month or so .... I know she is very busy.

wondering if I need to buy another line of blue copper to actually get blue copper hens and roo.

I've seen pics of other folks "blue copper marans" and any hens seems to have little or no copper???

appreciate any help in understanding all this
thank you

 

[cottagegarden]

It sounds like your birds are pretty young, they can take awhile to "color out"-dont fret yet. Different Blue and Black Copper lines have different amounts of Copper Coloring. While you want to stay within your genetics line so you dont lose egg color, you can breed the Black Copper and the Bleu Coppers.
Without having pics or info I think it would be safe to say if you have a BCM roo that is close to standard you could breed it to your new BCM pullets and get something close to standard. If they are too coppered you can breed them to the Blue Copper to balance out the color. In general it would appear you need the coppering on both parents to get it to show up in desired quantities, and a roo who has the Copper Coloring on his breast to put the color back on the chicks of hens that dont have color on their hackles. Check out this thread if you need to find someone who has a similar genetics pool if you need more birds.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=155981
These are my blues. they are 4m and only just started to show any Copper, it could still change alot. The two other birds from this hatch are solid black and the third has some Coppering. The breeder had a Standard colored roo over hens that had no copper in the hackles. So the offspring technically have less Copper than what would be desired in a Standard Bl/Blk CM.

[I

 

[merrydancer]

Any body out there with blue copper marans? Did you have trouble getting the copper to show on your hens?

 

[Benny777]

I have 4 blue copper Maran pullets aproximately 7 weeks old and there's no copper at this time.

 

[Benny777]

I have 4 blue copper Maran pullets aproximately 7 weeks old and there's no copper at this time.