International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[Chooks man]

I still have a roo that is full brother of the (rip) hen that laid the egg in my avatar. if he lives through the winter should I breed him even if he has parasitic white and halo?

a friend of mine wanted to sell her marans so I booked them. they are supposed to be free of parasitic white and they lay about #5. the only problem is she lives in north greece and at the moment it is impossible for them to travel.

if I m breeding for dark egg laying ability ,I will use any cockerel as a breeder if his sisters lay dark eggs . regardless what plumage fault he has . as long as the body type is good .
we need to have a breeding programs other wise we are just hatching chicks and no going no where .
we need to build a breeders flock first than we start breeding the faults out .other wise we will never have a marans flock in ours chooks pens .

moving chooks from one place to another is very hard these days .I have my Wheaten marans family { 16 of them } waiting to be come to my farm, but it is very hard to do ,because of the boarders closing .

chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

I still have a roo that is full brother of the (rip) hen that laid the egg in my avatar. if he lives through the winter should I breed him even if he has parasitic white and halo?

a friend of mine wanted to sell her marans so I booked them. they are supposed to be free of parasitic white and they lay about #5. the only problem is she lives in north greece and at the moment it is impossible for them to travel.

Oh my dear friend ,I hatched 765 chicks last year . managed to select and keep 70 pullets and 40 cockerels . all good looking for sure and some of them lay very dark eggs .But I can not tell you there is one chook in my farm without any fault . small or big .
I call my flock = my foundation flock they have a lot great marans traits bit they have very bad fault too .from them I will breed faultless marans progeny .after few years of Selective breeding . if I don t have them ,how can I breed any thing .
my BLC cockerel Blue Mamba carry dark egg genes plus he has a stunning body type ,comb and tail but he has a halo . I will work with him to breed a dark eggs not the body color .
we can not breed every thing in one season , we don t have a established breeding flock yet Except @marchick , @kfelton0002 and @Old Man Tom . those 3 are well advance . they can afford to breed for a specific trait . me .you and the others we are not there yet to be that selective , we just need to build our flock first .than work with them .

chooks man

 

[Minky]

I have noticed the past month or two that my 2 BCM cockerels tails seem to be getting longer and higher. Not much I can do about it... but I was wondering if that is normal as they mature?
Here is Millbrook. He has a bad halo and a wee bit of grey fluff at the base of his tail.

I am hoping for Chooks Man's advice on who to breed to my 2 BCM hens. Millbrook or Firestorm. Will post Firestorm's photos separately.

 

[Minky]

And here is Firestorm. He seems longer and tail higher than I recall from a few months ago as well. He has better copper colour (I think) but has a ton of copper on his chest, too. No tail fluff. What do you think? ((sigh))

Will post photos of my two BCM hens next.

 

[Thomas Bright]

Oh my dear friend ,I hatched 765 chicks last year . managed to select and keep 70 pullets and 40 cockerels . all good looking for sure and some of them lay very dark eggs .But I can not tell you there is one chook in my farm without any fault . small or big .
I call my flock = my foundation flock they have a lot great marans traits bit they have very bad fault too .from them I will breed faultless marans progeny .after few years of Selective breeding . if I don t have them ,how can I breed any thing .
my BLC cockerel Blue Mamba carry dark egg genes plus he has a stunning body type ,comb and tail but he has a halo . I will work with him to breed a dark eggs not the body color .
we can not breed every thing in one season , we don t have a established breeding flock yet Except @marchick , @kfelton0002 and @Old Man Tom . those 3 are well advance . they can afford to breed for a specific trait . me .you and the others we are not there yet to be that selective , we just need to build our flock first .than work with them .

chooks man

Chooks Man
Thank you for the complement on my flock. I am waiting for my pullets first eggs. Will be a while as were are going into winter season here. Egg color is my Holy Grail search, but type and proper color are how I have been pairing my birds. My hens have great type and 90% have nice hackle color. All are laying a 5-6 in the egg color. I am looking strongly at tail width or spread in this group.
Will bred as many as I can feed this year. I have one cock bird that is coming 3 years this spring. Arthur II . Will post pic of him soon. I have two of his sons that will breed with later. Both of these cockerels have too much copper in the chest , but they produce really nice colored hens.
Will need advice on pairing, Arthur II over daughters or just over last years hens. New cockerels over mothers or non related 2 year old hens??
Last years flock looks real good, so I can just use Arthur II over those hens. I know what they should produce. Then just bred the best to the best! Again thank you for the nice complement.
TOM (OLD MAN TOM)

 

[TimberLine Homestead]

What did she die from

 

[Minky]

ok here is Cyclucks.
What I see: eyes aren't good-very dark, size not great-not very beefy, nice low short tail, good copper hackle.

 

[Minky]

And Ebony.
Her tail usually doesn't look THIS high- when she is free ranging and relaxed it is better.

She is a better Marans size, but tail is longer and higher, and her copper is sort of hidden. You probably can't even see it in the photos, but its there, its just not on all the feathers, more like you have to wait until she turns her neck and then you get flashes of it.

So... I know they arent beauties.. lol but who shall I pair together? Thanks so much for anyones's input!!

 

[Two rivers]

Are they related? To each other?

 

[Minky]

Are they related? To each other?

If you are asking about my hens and cockerels- Millbrook is not related to any for sure.
The others- I bought 18 eggs (12/6)from 2 backyard breeders. At lockdown I had 2 from one breeder and 8 from another. I think FireStorm and both hens(pullets) are from the same lady, but can't be sure, , and I am assuming she only had 1 rooster, but that is just an assumption. I could contact her I still have her number. Is it important?

The pullets certainly don't seem related, to my eye.