International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[Hensndoes]

Question on breeding my new cockerel- do I want to? He's feathered on his middle toe and has white tips on some of those toe feathers. His copper is nice and dark, no halo at all and I love his shape. And he has a great temperament. He's a little over colored but the 2 pullets I will breed are very dark with low tails. The other pullet had white tips on her feathers and and also feathered on her middle toe so she goes to the laying flock.

Will those white feathers go away or will I battle that middle toe feathering too much? He has such good qualities. My blue copper roo has a slight halo and his copper is more straw like coloring. Both have high tails.

 

[Magnolia Hill]

View attachment 1523481 Question on breeding my new cockerel- do I want to? He's feathered on his middle toe and has white tips on some of those toe feathers. His copper is nice and dark, no halo at all and I love his shape. And he has a great temperament. He's a little over colored but the 2 pullets I will breed are very dark with low tails. The other pullet had white tips on her feathers and and also feathered on her middle toe so she goes to the laying flock.

Will those white feathers go away or will I battle that middle toe feathering too much? He has such good qualities. My blue copper roo has a slight halo and his copper is more straw like coloring. Both have high tails.

Feathers on the middle toe are fairly easy fix, and the white on the toe feathers can be causes by damage so it's hard to tell there. does he have white in the wings? Looks like he's got copper all down his chest, now most would tell you to stay away from that but in certain situations I wouldn't, Roosters with that copper leakage on thier chest will put color on overmelanized hens in one generation. That high tail will be the cause of more frustration than any of your other problems.

 

[Hensndoes]

Feathers on the middle toe are fairly easy fix, and the white on the toe feathers can be causes by damage so it's hard to tell there. does he have white in the wings? Looks like he's got copper all down his chest, now most would tell you to stay away from that but in certain situations I wouldn't, Roosters with that copper leakage on thier chest will put color on overmelanized hens in one generation. That high tail will be the cause of more frustration than any of your other problems.

Ty! The hens in going to use have hardly any copper and so far very low tails. I'm so glad you said that because I really love this boy.

Edit: I don't see white anywhere else. He's still recovering from being spanked by my roo and the guineas so hopefully those 2 tail feathers fall out and don't come back.

 

[Magnolia Hill]

Ty! The hens in going to use have hardly any copper and so far very low tails. I'm so glad you said that because I really love this boy.

Edit: I don't see white anywhere else. He's still recovering from being spanked by my roo and the guineas so hopefully those 2 tail feathers fall out and don't come back.

Lol, Yes ma'am, i wish it was that easy. Truth is, it will take generations to get that tail down. Im dealing with the same thing, takes time and patience but you'll get there. Work one flaw at a time and eventually you'll get there.

 

[Magnolia Hill]

Got small hurricane heading this way. I been on vacation since Thursday, had no clue till woke up and watched the news this morning. Now im scrambling to get the coops and chickens situated, never a dull moment.

 

[marchick]

View attachment 1524676
Got small hurricane heading this way. I been on vacation since Thursday, had no clue till woke up and watched the news this morning. Now im scrambling to get the coops and chickens situated, never a dull moment.

Praying you and your family are safe.

 

[chickengr]

View attachment 1524676
Got small hurricane heading this way. I been on vacation since Thursday, had no clue till woke up and watched the news this morning. Now im scrambling to get the coops and chickens situated, never a dull moment.

praying for you

 

[Magnolia Hill]

Praying you and your family are safe.

Thank ya'll, luckily it was just small one, hardly any damage.

 

[KF0002]

I think sad news. The last egg pipped and appears is trying to come out of the shell but was in the middle of the coop just now. I thought mom or one of the babies may have pecked it. I went and go a baggie to remove it and see it's still wiggling. Maybe trying to work out of the shell still? I've never done this but I thought I saw blood. I put it back under mom I hopes I'm wrong and this is just what hatching looks like...

Edit: mom isn't interested. I made a contraption in the bathroom and turned it into a sauna. Go back to check =Baby is chirping and making it hard for me to do what I think I need to. It looks like it broke its upper beak when it went to hatch. Mama knew best and left the nest. Now I'm the jackass trying to intervene. Wish I wouldn't have checked on them. Sad.

Aww I'm so sorry. This is a sad ending to a situation that was less than ideal, but these things happen. Any time there are eggs of various ages of development in the nest the end is rarely good for the remaining eggs. Usually the hen leaves the remaining eggs to tend to her chicks so the unhatched embryos inside the eggs simply chill and die after a time. It isn't uncommon for hens to share a community nest as I call them, so when one goes broody there are still other hens adding to her clutch each day as they continue to lay. You will know for next time to remove the broody or mark the original eggs a broody begins to incubate so that when new eggs are laid by the other hens, they can be removed daily. The best option is to remove the hen so she can incubate her eggs peacefully. Hens squabble and fuss over their turn in the nest and break eggs in the process.

I'm sorry about your little chick. The chick likely didn't break its beak on its own. Sounds like the hen has attacked it as she felt like it wasn't one of her chicks since her other chicks are now several days old or older..? Chicks just don't break their beaks hatching.. she was trying to kill it.

I know this is going to be difficult to hear, but the way I kill young chicks is simply snipping their heads off with a pair of sharp scissors. It's quick and efficient. The chick will writhe and squirm afterwards, but I assure you it is dead and the remaining movement is simply its nervous system continuing to fire after its death. Once the head is removed or the spinal cord severed, there is no pathway from the nerves in the body to the brain so no pain is felt.

*hugs* I know it isn't easy. It took me a long time to be able to kill a chick. I mainly rely on my husband to do the deed, but when he isn't around and I don't want a chick to suffer I do what has to be done.

 

[KF0002]

View attachment 1523481 Question on breeding my new cockerel- do I want to? He's feathered on his middle toe and has white tips on some of those toe feathers. His copper is nice and dark, no halo at all and I love his shape. And he has a great temperament. He's a little over colored but the 2 pullets I will breed are very dark with low tails. The other pullet had white tips on her feathers and and also feathered on her middle toe so she goes to the laying flock.

Will those white feathers go away or will I battle that middle toe feathering too much? He has such good qualities. My blue copper roo has a slight halo and his copper is more straw like coloring. Both have high tails.

His tail is 80-90(ish) degrees, but isn't squirrel tailed so that is a plus. The white on the toe feathers isn't a big as that can occur due to damaged feather follicles I've been told. As long as he has no white anywhere else you should be good to go. If he is overcolored and his mates are darker, they will balance each other out.