Dark Brown Egglayers: Help me decode breeders lingo and choose!

[NeeleysAVLChicks]

Hi guys, I'm looking to add some good dark brown egglayers to my small flock and are going to look at a few this weekend. I've been emailing with the seller and he's got some Welsummer females that are 2 wks old for $4 a piece. He also has some month old Black Copper Maran females, both English and French strain for $15 a piece that come from C-1, C-2 bloodlines (what does that mean?) and were hatched from #6-#7 eggs.

So guys, which would you choose? Though egg production is very important to us, its also important to us to have friendly birds as well. The price is a concern, but would go with the Marans if the birds are high quality enough to be really worth it. This is the guy's website, http://williamschickens.webs.com has some pictures of his breeding stock, but I don't know enough about Marans or Wellies to know what to look for. I'm going to do some research on breed standards for both before I go out and look, but do you guys have some tips for knowing if they are from good stock?

THANKS!!

 

[pinkchick]

Quote:
C-1 and C-2. I think that stands for Copper-1 line being the first generation of Black Copper birds bred by Wade Jeanne and the C-2 would be the next generation. I am not real familiar with Wade Jeanne Birds and this is the line that these birds C-1 and C-2 came from and Wade Jeanne was the breeder. I do not believe he has his C-1 lines any longer. If I am wrong please someone come by and correct me.
Hatched from a #6 and #7 egg is a good thing.

I have both breeds of birds and recommend getting one or two of each and seeing which breed fits you.

Both are great birds. Both breeds have super personalities in my opinion. Good price for those Wellie pullets.

Hope this helps and someone else comes by to give their opinion.

 

[NeeleysAVLChicks]

Thanks pinkchick! Glad to hear that you're happy with both, though my husband won't

 

[amazondoc]

C-1 and C-2 really don't mean a heckuva lot of anything, especially because it's been a coupla years now since they left the Jeanes.

Originally, "C-1" simply meant "coop 1" and "C-2" just meant "coop 2". Wade also sometimes called them "Copper 1" and "Copper 2". That's the only difference. But since all those birds left him....what....two or three years ago now, the birds currently being sold as "C1" and "C2" may or may not even look like those birds any more.

If egg production is important to you, then Marans are not a good choice. They are NOT heavy layers. It takes a long time to lay down the dark color on the eggs, so the birds with the best egg color will tend to be slower layers.

Wellies are good, basic, all-around farm birds. If you just want birds who lay good numbers of pretty eggs, you can't do much better than Welsummers.

Whatever you choose, enjoy them!

 

[countrygurl]

Marans are pretty good egg layers around 200 a year Thats not bad in my opinion. The wade jean line doesn't lay very dark eggs from the pictures i'v seen. I would recomend Bev's Marans she has the best egg color i'v seen yet. A very nice person too.

 

[blackdotte]

Black Copper Maran females, both English and French strain

There has never been a clean shanked Black Copper (English Marans) recognised in any country in the World. They are only known in the US and are the result of crossbreeding.
As stated C1 & C2 mean nothing as the original breeder has not had birds for a considerable number of years, so could not be responsible for how they have been bred since leaving him.
Marans as a heavy breed tend to lay less eggs but are a placid bird, Welsummers being a light breed lay more eggs but are also more flighty.
david​