International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[Chooks man]

Penned Pincess and Duchess separate so I could determine which was laying what egg. I will be mating them both to Duke in the same pen. I Was a little disappointed by Duchess's egg color. Hopefully Duke (which is her half brother) is carrying better egg color genes. If not that most certainly will need to be improved upon.

This is Duchess's egg. Good shape and size, but not great color.

View attachment 1722772

This is Princess's egg. Not as good on shape, but better color. Princess is a daughter of Apollo from my line A.

View attachment 1722775

Duke and Duchess is not from my line so I will work with egg color with that line. I won't find out what color genes Duke is carrying until his daughters lay this fall or next spring.

Ah Duchess egg are not as dark as yours .same line as Duke s . watch that my friend . love the shape .

how old are Princes and Duchess and heavy are they ?

if I was you I ll keep hatching from Duke s and your older hens ,no pullets .because he is a cockerel .
always breed the old with a young . never they young together except if you are testing .

hatch 50 or more chicks from Duke s and Queen s .they are your way out . let pullet grow older tel the end of the season ,test mate them . so you ll know how to work with them next season .

Agree with you in mating Duchess to Duke ,half sibling , so you can see if there is any hidden recessive traits .good move always mate the sibling and half sibling to check them out before you out cross them to other .

chooks man

 

[KF0002]

Ah Duchess egg are not as dark as yours .same line as Duke s . watch that my friend . love the shape .

how old are Princes and Duchess and heavy are they ?

if I was you I ll keep hatching from Duke s and your older hens ,no pullets .because he is a cockerel .
always breed the old with a young . never they young together except if you are testing .

hatch 50 or more chicks from Duke s and Queen s .they are your way out . let pullet grow older tel the end of the season ,test mate them . so you ll know how to work with them next season .

Agree with you in mating Duchess to Duke ,half sibling , so you can see if there is any hidden recessive traits .good move always mate the sibling and half sibling to check them out before you out cross them to other .

chooks man

Duke and Duchess were both born early last spring so they are now a year old. I can weigh him tomorrow but he is a pretty big rooster. Duchess is a big hen as well. When I showed her in the fall she was at standard weight. Size is not a problem with them. Princess is a good sized hen as well. Seems like she was around 5.5 pounds or so when I weighed her.

Every female that Duke is mated to is a hen now. The youngest of them were all born last spring so they are a year old now and all are good size. Queen is 2 and Princess is 2 as well.

I will be careful with the egg color (Duke and Duchess). Not putting all my eggs in one basket. That is why I am keeping 2 males from my line and I have plenty of females from my line as well. No worries there.

 

[KF0002]

I just set 63 eggs in the Incubator. It is a new Incubator so we will see how it does. I put in Birchen/Blue Birchen from the two different pens. I also put in White and Blue Copper eggs.

Yay!! Can't wait to see your chicks! I'M SO EXCITED!!!

 

[KF0002]

I am proud of my blue copper hens. Their egg color is a big improvement over when I first started out with them. The original splash hens were less than a 4.

 

[KF0002]

he is a handsome dude . his back and tail set are his best asset plus his body pattern ,complete .need more of the red on his shoulder .

I really can not wait to see his progeny with Queen s . you combined a good stuff in this mating .

chooks man

Thank you! I cant wait either! His first babies are in the hatcher now!

 

[Chooks man]

I am proud of my blue copper hens. Their egg color is a big improvement over when I first started out with them. The original splash hens were less than a 4.

View attachment 1723166

Great improvement . gorgeous colour ,shape and seen .love the little dots .

chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

Thank you! I cant wait either! His first babies are in the hatcher now!

they hatch down and body type will tell us a lot about Duke s .

chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

Here are some more pics of Duke. They're the best I could get. He never stands still. Lol

View attachment 1722880 View attachment 1722881 View attachment 1722883

That white stuff on the ground is boiled eggs. I boiled a few extra and fed them as a treat today.

does Duke s has any white under his hackle like the cockerels ?

the reason I m asking is .I had roosters with a white fluff under they hackles and others they did not have .
Zambezi did not have any white pure copper hackle over black feathers .
Black Mamba has a white under his hackle .

chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

Duke and Duchess were both born early last spring so they are now a year old. I can weigh him tomorrow but he is a pretty big rooster. Duchess is a big hen as well. When I showed her in the fall she was at standard weight. Size is not a problem with them. Princess is a good sized hen as well. Seems like she was around 5.5 pounds or so when I weighed her.

Every female that Duke is mated to is a hen now. The youngest of them were all born last spring so they are a year old now and all are good size. Queen is 2 and Princess is 2 as well.

I will be careful with the egg color (Duke and Duchess). Not putting all my eggs in one basket. That is why I am keeping 2 males from my line and I have plenty of females from my line as well. No worries there.

good move .chicks from hens are bigger and healthier when hatched .

your 2 cockerels you kept have a lot qualities . you did well by keeping them both plus they mama too .
you don t want to loose the lovely egg colour you have now .

chooks man

 

[KF0002]

does Duke s has any white under his hackle like the cockerels ?

the reason I m asking is .I had roosters with a white fluff under they hackles and others they did not have .
Zambezi did not have any white pure copper hackle over black feathers .
Black Mamba has a white under his hackle .

chooks man

He didn't when I looked him over back in the fall, but when I move him again I will check him out. I am moving him back and forth between 2 pens. In one pen is Duchess and Princess. In the other pen is my 2 blue copper hens, their black copper sister, Queen, and Queen's daughter.