International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[marchick]

Since it has been so slow on here. I thought I would post some update pictures. This girl is really beefy. She is really starting to fill out. What do y'all think? Last picture is of the 5 that I just incorporated into the flock. All my roosters went into the batchelor pen last night. It is so calm and quiet in the main pen. Got to love that! It is the first time I have had a separate pen for the boys.

 

[KF0002]

Since it has been so slow on here. I thought I would post some update pictures. This girl is really beefy. She is really starting to fill out. What do y'all think? Last picture is of the 5 that I just incorporated into the flock. All my roosters went into the batchelor pen last night. It is so calm and quiet in the main pen. Got to love that! It is the first time I have had a separate pen for the boys.
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She is really beautiful! Very good mass on her and her color is nice also. I am a big sucker for blue coppers. lol You've got a really nice start there.

I'm sorry I haven't been as active on the forum, as the weather cools hopefully things will settle down and I can put in more time. My husband has been working long hours and I've been required to care for our birds on my days off from work. That is a big task and takes me a lot longer than it takes him to get everything done. lol I also have to keep up with my assignments for school also so things have been very busy.

 

[KF0002]

is everyone sleeping these days?

I am going to start some works in my new place in the country. I will do some things before I get the permits. that way I hope to move there around christmass.

Congratulations on moving to your new home in the country! How exciting! Sounds like a wonderful new chapter for you.

I check in on the forum when time permits, but there just isn't enough hours in the day it seems. I swear I feel like I need a vacation just to get caught up with housework with everything else going on. lol

 

[KF0002]

I hope this post finds you all well, my friends. I know our thread has been slow but hopefully with the Fall comes some downtime so we can share pictures and chat more. The heat is hard on the birds and requires more work on our part to keep everybody healthy and with fresh clean water. Kentucky's weather has been uncharacteristically wet and we've had more rain than normal this year. When we're not having spells of intense heat and humidity, we've had many days of rain and muddy pens that require fresh straw. These birds keep us busy that's for certain, but it is a labor of love.

One update I can share is that I am seeing improved egg color in my blue copper line. Here is a pullet egg from one of the blue copper pullets I raised this year. It is only her second egg and she has been a very sporadic layer so far, but I'm happy with the color.

 

[WVduckchick]

A few group shots I got today.

 

[Hensndoes]

Some lovely birds everyone ty for showing them off! I'll try to get some good picks of mine this morning. They look very close to laying and everyday I'm anxiously checking. It's a true lesson in patience.

I've been super busy as well with prepping for fall and harvest season. My cuckoo is doing a great job as a mom - but I already knew she would as I let her raise last year. I have her in the new coop with my 22 week old BCM cockerel and a polish and faverolle hens. The 3 of them were truly terrified of mama for the first week. It was hilarious to watch them all hide on the high roost in the run when she came out. I would have to pick them up out of the run and put them on the roost in the coop for the first 3 or 4 days because they wouldn't walk past mama who is nesting on the floor by the pop door. Now the cockerel tidbits the babies and the screaming for dear life has subsided

 

[Hensndoes]

I think 21 or 22 weeks now. Tails are springing up but I still look forward to using them next spring. These are some big girls - same size as my roo and the cockerel is already bigger than him. Hard to get good pics though. The cockerels eyes are starting to look better. They were quite marbled before.

 

[WVduckchick]

View attachment 1535441 View attachment 1535438 View attachment 1535433 View attachment 1535432 View attachment 1535431 I think 21 or 22 weeks now. Tails are springing up but I still look forward to using them next spring. These are some big girls - same size as my roo and the cockerel is already bigger than him. Hard to get good pics though. The cockerels eyes are starting to look better. They were quite marbled before.

I like the consistent color in the hackles in the first pic! Mine are 25-26 weeks, and bodies still haven’t filled in fully, but getting better.

 

[Hensndoes]

I like the consistent color in the hackles in the first pic! Mine are 25-26 weeks, and bodies still haven’t filled in fully, but getting better.

He has really nice coloring. Thankfully I have 2 very dark hens with minimal copper to put him over

ETA: that is not a halo. Lighting. He has no hint of a halo

 

[chickengr]

It has been very slow on here lately. How exciting! Do you have any pens to keep chickens at your new place?

I will build everything from scratch. fence first. my mother saw a hawk so I will put some net over the chicken's run as well.