International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[Chooks man]

I had planned on penning him by himself until he matures a little.. As soon as he is old enough I can put him with hens hopefully.

good plan .
chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

There are a few chicks in the brooder from Queen and Dark Angel I think. They are young. I will try to go through them today. I hope broken wing develops nicely and ends up being a good breeder. He has good quality copper so far and a good comb like his sire. His eye color is good too and I need that for sure.

good to hear he has a nice copper . coming out of DH is a good plus .
chooks man

 

[snowbird]

Black Copper Marans - Does anyone on the forum look for the Copper Ear Tufts on the BC Marans and know the significance of having Copper ?

 

[snowbird]

I have seen some talk about white feathers and White undercolor. In my experience as little as it is , Fastest and easiest way is buy a good axe and use it heavily. This is how I got rid of the White feather .

 

[kcrandall]

Black Copper Marans - Does anyone on the forum look for the Copper Ear Tufts on the BC Marans and know the significance of having Copper ?

I look for the copper ear tufts as well as a full red shoulder. I also like just a little copper spotting on the chest.

 

[Chooks man]

Black Copper Marans - Does anyone on the forum look for the Copper Ear Tufts on the BC Marans and know the significance of having Copper ?

SOP call for a coppery ears tufts on BC and BLC roosters .but in a same time they call for black ears tufts on the hens ,because the ears tufts genes interact with a Melanin. a reason why a BC hens does not show any autossomal red genes . melanin is dominant .
there is extra genes not understood yet interfering with Sex linked gold s+ on the bottom the hackle { that why we see flames} and the ears tufts .
Melanin is not that strong on the BC/BLC rooster ,they exhibit the red shoulder ,coppery ears tufts and lighter colored feet .
the hen is loaded with melanin ,so no autossomal red and black ears tufts plus darker feet .
there is as well relation between ears tufts and chest marking . BC rooster with Black ears tufts will have a pure black chest .
BC rooster with black ears tufts will produce incomplete hackle marking on the pullets .

if we look into the Wheaten we will see the rooster have and need to have a golden ears tufts but the hen have a creamy colored ears tufts because of the absence of Melanin .. but a person can ask why the wheaten hen ears tufts are cream not gold like her hackle ?
we don t know much about it .

chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

I look for the copper ear tufts as well as a full red shoulder. I also like just a little copper spotting on the chest.

these are the 3 most important trait on the cockerel if we want him to sire pullets with a full hackle marking .

chooks man

 

[Minky]

Hi I have been reading along and learning a great deal. You guys are so respectful and generous with your knowledge ..its really helpful and encouraging to a newbie.
Could I ask- what is everyone's method of grouping your flock as they are growing? Hatch mates all together? Til what ages? Do you separate pullets from cockerels? At what ages? Do you ever mix all ages together? What age do you start putting breeding pairs together?
Have to figure out who to put where, and this will help me a great deal. Fall is here!

 

[kcrandall]

Hi I have been reading along and learning a great deal. You guys are so respectful and generous with your knowledge ..its really helpful and encouraging to a newbie.
Could I ask- what is everyone's method of grouping your flock as they are growing? Hatch mates all together? Til what ages? Do you separate pullets from cockerels? At what ages? Do you ever mix all ages together? What age do you start putting breeding pairs together?
Have to figure out who to put where, and this will help me a great deal. Fall is here!

Mature breeding cocks have separate 5’x5’ pens that I can also use for single mating. I only put Cocks with Hens/Pullets during breeding season. This prevents over mating and helps the Hens/Pullets maintain their conditions through out the year.

I have one brooder that I can grow out about 25 chicks to 6 weeks of age. I’m planning to add 2 more brooders so I can hatch more next year. My operation is small scale so I’m planning to do both fall and spring hatches to increase odds of getting better breeding stock.

I have a couple of pens for grow outs. I will run cockerels and pullets together until 3 months old then I separate them. I have a couple of older hens that I put with the 3 month old cockerels to teach these young boys proper chook manners.

As a general rule, I will not breed a cockerel before he is 9 months old and I will not breed a pullet until she consistently lays an egg that weighs at least 65g and preferably 70-75g.

I think you will get a lot of different answers to your questions. What works well for one breeder may not work for another so there really is no right or wrong way. You will need to experiment to find what works best for you and your flock with the space and set up that you have.

I hope this helps. Take Care, Keith

 

[chickengr]

Hi I have been reading along and learning a great deal. You guys are so respectful and generous with your knowledge ..its really helpful and encouraging to a newbie.
Could I ask- what is everyone's method of grouping your flock as they are growing? Hatch mates all together? Til what ages? Do you separate pullets from cockerels? At what ages? Do you ever mix all ages together? What age do you start putting breeding pairs together?
Have to figure out who to put where, and this will help me a great deal. Fall is here!

I have seen 4 mo cockerels mating pullets who are not ready to mate. that affects laying ability.