International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[KF0002]

@kfelton0002

stunning egg you have there .my favourite type of all the marans eggs .
what the name of the hen who laid it ? are you breeding from her this season ?

in France marans eggs competition . when 2 eggs are #9 the dotted one win ever time . you have to breed that trait true .

you really have very interesting marans flock ,many great trait to work with .All the best .

chooks man

I'm not sure which one laid it.. lol. One of the pullets free ranging. I have a few Mashburn x Sheraz pullets free ranging, several Max x Queen pullets, and one or two Max x #8 pullets out there.

I noticed something very peculiar though.. remember when I told you that Max x Queen threw offspring with crooked keels? Well the ones I have checked no longer have crooked keels as adults. Would they still be okay to breed? It's like they straightened out as they grew.

 

[KF0002]

@kfelton0002
this tail is not squirrel tail type .too small in shape maybe high but not Squirrel .

the game rooster in a far back has a squirrel tail .large and long . well arched .

here Djabel with his true squirrel tail .View attachment 1696986

Tails genes are Autossomal .both parent has some thing to do with it .
even Djabel mated to the right hens ,manage to throw some lovely progeny with a correct tail .shape ,form and Angle

here his son ,K2View attachment 1696990

you need him to breed out the parasitic white and fix the black under fluff . your cockerel has a stunning pure black under fluff , look to me any way .can you check him please when you have time .
you lost a lot genetic diversity by loosing some of your chooks to the vermin so try to keep what you have .

chooks man

Yes I have had a rough year with varmints killing chickens but luckily we found the major culprit and hopefully have that issue resolved. It was a new neighbor's dog down the road who was just allowed to roam all over and do whatever. When we told him that she had killed so many of our chickens he said he would "get rid of her." What he chooses to do with his dog is his business, but people shouldn't own dogs if that is their mentality. The dog killed 8 game cocks, 3-4 Legbar pullets, 3 Black Copper Marans pullets, and a black copper cockerel. And those are only the ones I have noticed were gone. We keep our dogs fenced up so they don't roam and get into trouble, even though that means varmints tend to pick some off out of the perimeter of the fence. I would have loved to let our dogs out during the time we were suffering so many losses so they could take care of the varmint, but I don't want to run the risk of my dogs getting shot in the process. Always some kind of chicken drama..

Anyway, sorry to ramble. I will look the cockerel over for parasitic white as soon as I can. It is pouring rain here today so I'm stuck in the house. The last time I checked him for white he didn't have any. I don't plan on getting rid of any pullets that I have but I will cull through the cockerels, several of which have horrible halos and white underfluff. I gave one pullet to a friend that I had documented was mossy as a chick because I didn't want to use her for breeding. Otherwise the rest are here to stay hopefully if we can keep the varmints at bay.

On the subject of squirrel tails, no Marans male I have ever had that ended up with a squirrel tail showed the squirrel tail until he was around 8-9 months old. I don't even hold my breath on a male until they are at least that old anymore. I am just tired of getting my hopes dashed. Hence all my hesitation on breeding him until later on in the year. Chickens make me more pessimistic by the day. lol

 

[KF0002]

Would that last one be a blue tail buff jose? Do you got pictures of the hens? Here's a couple pictures of my black tailed buff chicks. The are also going up need alot of work, but i think they will be one of my favorites. View attachment 1698321 View attachment 1698322 View attachment 1698327 View attachment 1698330
I got a couple older ones i'll have to get pictures of also. And still more btb and Columbian eggs coming to hatch. They won't be the best of the best but atleast i'll have the genes to work with.

Aww they're so cute! Little yellow peeps. Can't wait to see how they grow out!!

 

[KF0002]

Thank kayla, i been wanting to get down there and take some decent pictures of each group but i just haven't had time. I also got some young bcm i hatched in December i'm pretty pumped up about i haven't even been able to post them. I definitely got plenty to study now.

I hear ya on not having time. That is my life anymore. Hopefully I will be done with school in December for a while so I can have more time with the birds and home improvements I want to do.

We do have a lot to learn, but we have come a long way. I though about that the other day when I was rattling away to my neighbors wife about Marans. She struggled to keep up in the conversation. lol. She is just getting interested in chickens since she married my neighbor so I hatched some chicks for her last year so she would have a few to start with. I gave her a trio of Old English Games the other day as well. And another crazy chicken lady is born.

 

[Bantambird]

I'm going to do an Easter hatch, with big Jackson over the girls. I've got some ideas for making breeder pens, some simple 4'x4' structures, something I can put away during winter. I'll have to figure out runs to go with that can be put away too, electric poultry netting is the most tempting...

 

[Bantambird]

the mottling has really expressed very nicely. My goal is to build pens to separate out all these recessive colors that have expressed themselves and enhance those colors while keeping the original colors going. The mottling may be tougher than the recessive white, some of the mottled birds don't fully express until 18 months old! Still, it's definitely very pretty, and with the dark hens, mottling ends up a beautiful accident to me.

 

[KF0002]

View attachment 1709778 the mottling has really expressed very nicely. My goal is to build pens to separate out all these recessive colors that have expressed themselves and enhance those colors while keeping the original colors going. The mottling may be tougher than the recessive white, some of the mottled birds don't fully express until 18 months old! Still, it's definitely very pretty, and with the dark hens, mottling ends up a beautiful accident to me.

They are lovely! So the mottling gene is a project you are working on with your Marans? Cool!

 

[Bantambird]

They are lovely! So the mottling gene is a project you are working on with your Marans? Cool!

I decided not to fight it, I'm going to embrace it. I let Mr Reeves know it cropped up in his line without outcrossing, he was very shocked! It might be a mutation

 

[KF0002]

I decided not to fight it, I'm going to embrace it. I let Mr Reeves know it cropped up in his line without outcrossing, he was very shocked! It might be a mutation

That's very interesting. The mottling gene is recessive, yes? Perhaps one of his birds is the culprit for throwing offspring recessive for the mottling gene? That is how these things happen, all it takes is a line to throw some sports that can be used to create something new. Mottled Marans sounds like a fun project.

 

[Chooks man]

I have FINALLY got the construction permit

congratulation to you my friend .well happy for you .

chooks man