International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[jolenesdad]

These are my very first marans to hatch. What do you think of this 6 week old (tomorrow) blue?

 

[kcrandall]

nice to hear from you my friend .how is your parents for the moment ?

chooks man

Thanks Chooks Man! They have been doing better for the last 2-3 months. They are 88 and 86 so hopefully their remaining time on earth is happy and peaceful.

Take Care,
Keith

 

[BenTN]

A little cropping done. Hope these are better.

 

[kcrandall]

wow that little egg is soo dark #9 or 10 .class .

chooks man

Yes, I surprised to get that dark of an egg. Hopefully I will get a decent cockerel from the GFF Chicks to pair with that hen.

 

[BenTN]

My second favorite just for type and personality. I am worried his copper may be a little dark into the mahogany range.

 

[kcrandall]

A little cropping done. Hope these are better. View attachment 1796621 View attachment 1796622 View attachment 1796623 View attachment 1796624

Hello @BenTN

Since he’s only 12 weeks he will change a lot in the next several months. If you have the space I would let him grow out for as long as you can.

Here is my critique - good strong head, eyes are well color, good comb but looks large for his age - what’s going on with point before the blade? Shorter than other points (not a huge issue), neck is long and well arched, nice long back, good tail - short, full, well angled, developing good red shoulder - we want a deep full red shoulder, nice copper hackles - watch to see if he develops a halo, saddle saddle has not yet developed - we want Copper same as hackles, wing held properly, breast is good - appearance of some copper flecking (a little is good), his legs appear to be too close together- we want well spaced legs, shanks appear to be black or dark dark gray - we want a lighter or slate gray with pinkish undertones, foot feathering is good. My concern is the white primary wing feather (should molt out and grow back black) and the small patch of white undefluff on his breast (underfluff should be black or gray at most). Overall, I like this Cockerel but as I said he has a lot of growing to do. Hopefully it’s good change.

All the best,
Keith

Edit: Ear tufts appear to be developing a copper color - this is a very good thing.

 

[BenTN]

Hello @BenTN

Since he’s only 12 weeks he will change a lot in the next several months. If you have the space I would let him grow out for as long as you can.

Here is my critique - good strong head, eyes are well color, good comb but looks large for his age - what’s going on with point before the blade? Shorter than other points (not a huge issue), neck is long and well arched, nice long back, good tail - short, full, well angled, developing good red shoulder - we want a deep full red shoulder, nice copper hackles - watch to see if he develops a halo, saddle saddle has not yet developed - we want Copper same as hackles, wing held properly, breast is good - appearance of some copper flecking (a little is good), his legs appear to be too close together- we want well spaced legs, shanks appear to be black or dark dark gray - we want a lighter or slate gray with pinkish undertones, foot feathering is good. My concern is the white primary wing feather (should molt out and grow back black) and the small patch of white undefluff on his breast (underfluff should be black or gray at most). Overall, I like this Cockerel but as I said he has a lot of growing to do. Hopefully it’s good change.

All the best,
Keith

Edit: Ear tufts appear to be developing a copper color - this is a very good thing.

Thank you for that critique. You actually hit on a lot of the points I am concerned and pleased with, and a few I haven’t considered. This guy just has the most copper coming in at this point and I am getting excited seeing them develop.

 

[kcrandall]

View attachment 1796740 My second favorite just for type and personality. I am worried his copper may be a little dark into the mahogany range.

@BenTN

Is this Cockerel also 12 weeks old? I agree with you that he has good type. More pictures front, rear, overhead, and close up of head would help us give a better picture of him. He is definitely a dark mahagony - he carries a lot of melanin. We want our cock birds to be well colored - best trait. As I said in previous post cockerels change a lot as they grow but I seriously doubt his color will improve. However, if he develops good type, comb, eyes, and tail set I would consider breeding him to a well colored hen. You’ll have to hatch a lot of checks to get a few good birds.

Best,
Keith

 

[BenTN]

@BenTN

Is this Cockerel also 12 weeks old? I agree with you that he has good type. More pictures front, rear, overhead, and close up of head would help us give a better picture of him. He is definitely a dark mahagony - he carries a lot of melanin. We want our cock birds to be well colored - best trait. As I said in previous post cockerels change a lot as they grow but I seriously doubt his color will improve. However, if he develops good type, comb, eyes, and tail set I would consider breeding him to a well colored hen. You’ll have to hatch a lot of checks to get a few good birds.

Best,
Keith

Yes, all my Marans are 12 wks. Lots of melanin doesn’t necessarily mean darker eggs does it? I will probably grow out at least 3 of the 5 cockerels in this group. I also want to build a f1 olive egger pen so I may use him in there over my cull Legbar pullets.

 

[marchick]

Hello All! I’m guessing y’all have given up on ever hearing from me again. Hard to believe it’s been almost two years since I was last on BYC. I really missed sharing in your stories and experiences with your Marans (and other breeds). I dropped off somewhere around Post 550 so it will take some time to catch up on this thread. I had to put my breeding program on hold for the past couple of years to help my elderly parents.

Unfortunately, my Marans flock is a mess. I lost Otis and Briscoe (BCMs) in the Fall of 2018 and I have not hatched any chicks for the past two breeding seasons. I still have my original foundation hens (BCM and BBS) from Fitz Farms and four of my best BLCM Pullets that I breed in 2017. I’m pleased with the quality of the eggs I’m getting from my hens but until I find replacement roosters my breeding program will remain on hold. On the bright side I recently acquired 14 BCM Chicks from GFF so I’m hopeful I will get at least one Cockerel that I can work with. I’ll post pics of the chicks separately. I’m so glad I took good notes when this thread started so that I can refer back to them while I rebuild my program.

Take Care,
Keith

I am glad to see you back. I can't wait to see how your 14 chicks turn out. Here is a quick recap of my last 2 years. I ended up breeding my pure Bev birds from Julie only to get yellow legged Marans. Chooks man wasn't on to give me pro advice. I was lost! So I started over with Harvey Birds. I have White, Blue Coppers, Silver and Blue Silver AKA "Birchen". I am in need of a good Black Copper cockerel. I hatched one and am on a waiting list for BC cockerels from Harvey. I have a dozen BLCM eggs and 8 White in the hatcher. Wow that's sad! I can go over two years in such few words. Lol