Education with the improvement of Black Copper Marans breeding

[Promiselandfarm]

I would like this thread to share information about how to best improve the breed of Black Copper Marans. If you are knowledgeable about how to improve, with specifics, the breed here is the place to share information with others so we all can help improve this specific breed in the physical body and egg color at the same time. I have heard that one should not cross breed two lines such as Bev Davis lines x Wade Jean lines. This to me seems to be wrong as it limits the gene pool. Maybe in poultry there is a difference. I have bred horses and an outcross every so often can be beneficial. Is line breeding in poultry acceptable? Would inbreeding extremely prepotent dark egg layers back to their dad or full brother work with hard culling? Looking at this from a purely professional and intellectual point of view what is the best wisdom on this subject? These wonderful birds are getting ever so popular and if we were to educate and work on improving them it would help us all in the long run. Thanks for your consideration and knowledge. Sincerely, Willie Lyle

 

[ninjapoodles]

Great idea for a thread; thanks for starting it! Our plans for the first year are super basic--we know we should put the heavily-coppered males with the nearly-black females, and vice-versa, but beyond that, we're at sea. This will definitely be a learning journey for us. I love that the French site has an illustrated standard--that makes it SO much easier to see who obviously does NOT fit the proper outline, etc.

At this point, we don't think we're going to have a "free-for-all" just to get lots and lots of eggs. We are thinking more along the lines of carefully selected trios, which will be thoughtfully rotated as time goes on. It's tricky, since you're not just seeing what you produce with each pairing, but what the produce produces, so to speak!

Anyway, I'm looking forward for lots of input on this!

 

[Promiselandfarm]

Good comment but share why you are going to pair the heavily copper males with the nearly all black females. Let 's have everyone share the DETAILS of why they are going to do what they are going to do. What should it accomplish by doing this? I have 17 BCM and am building a special pen for them that will house all the hens in their own individual pen so that I will know which hen is laying which egg. I will rotate the Rooster with two hens each. After 3 months I will know which hens are consistent in egg color and darkness of color. I am not sure how line breeding and inbreeding should work but I may try it on a select few for experiment sakes, and gaining first hand knowledge. I will also use a digital camera and take pics of each hens eggs over time for comparison sake.

 

[ninjapoodles]

If I'm understanding what I read correctly, then it seems that, in order to have both hens and roosters which comply to breed standards, you have to kind of run two "lines," one which concentrates on the proper coloration of the hens, and another of the roos.

The way I understand it (and Lord KNOWS I could be egregiously mistaken), if you mate your heavily colored males with your heavily colored females, the offspring will have way too much copper feathering, with the converse being true if you cross your roos of little coppering with your nearly-black hens. It makes sense on a gut level, but of course I have zero experience to back it up.

 

[tadkerson]

Try the following site. They should be able to answer your questions.

http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Marans_Chicken_Club/

There is nothing wrong with crossing two lines. If both lines have equal or better egg color. I am assuming both lines score at least a 6 or better.

Tim

 

[ninjapoodles]

Quote:
Yep, I belong to that group, and I love it. It is a lot harder to search topics there than here, though, IMO. It's really great, if you have time, to go through the MCC's archives chronologically from the beginning.

 

[JamesA]

So I am trying to learn as well.I only have the Wade Jean lines. Should I or should I not mix another line that lays very dark eggs?

 

[tadkerson]

There is no problem with breeding one line with another line. Both line should be very similar genomes therefore the breeding of one line with another should not be a problem. The only reason you would not want to cross one line with another is if some recessive gene was causing problems in one line.

Tim

 

[helenwagner1]

Similarly as with all breeds, I would suggest just bringing forth eggs of the correct shape and the correct size for the breed. There's a tendency to breed as fast as possible from the birds and numerous breeds are being spoilt by individuals incubating an inappropriate state of eggs. It is more challenging for chicks to hatch from an inappropriate shape of eggs so ability to hatch goes down.

essaytyper​