International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[Chooks man]

Correct me if I am wrong but I personally don’t consider that copper. I would call it blonde. My #2 Rooster has copper with what I consider a blonde halo but I am keeping him because he came from a very dark egg. Am I wrong doing that? Does the Roo have any say in egg color?
I also love the speckled chest.

yes the rooster has 50% say in any traits , pullets will get more sex linked traits from they sire .so the rooster is very important in any breeding program .
line breeding enhance if done properly can enhance the eggs color .
if dark egg layer marans hen mated to her 1 st generation son than mated again with her grand son ,than most of her progeny will be dark eggs layer .

chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

Here is another 21 week old BCM Cockerel. He is a cull - incomplete body pattern (over melanized) and loaded with parasitic white (see his tail and lower hackle i. pic #2). I am feeding him out and will make chicken & sausage gumbo with him.

you have black pullet and almost black rooster .I think your breeder flock have some solid black genes in them .I could be wrong . the cockerel is for sure E/ER .


chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

Sheesh. I wish i could do that many.
I only have 9 pullets to choose from.

6 if i take the line #1 pullets out of the flock.

you only need one excellent hen to build your line . quality or quantity my friend .

I have only 5 hens { 3 over 2 years old and 2 are13 months old . I think I have more than what I need .
I have many roosters to mate them too and create many many lines .

chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

Here is another 21 week old BCM Cockerel. His is a large bird but his color is all wrong and he lacks depth in this breast. He’s young so he may fill out some but his color is not going to get any better.

I like his body type .still young my friend .love his stand and his small comb. nice body type . his copper could be better .

chooks man

 

[kcrandall]

you have black pullet and almost black rooster .I think your breeder flock have some solid black genes in them .I could be wrong . the cockerel is for sure E/ER .


chooks man

That is a possibility for sure. The breeder told me she has an all black BCM Hen that she breeds from because she lays an #8. She also said that a lot of her (the hen) chicks grow out mostly black - even cockerels. So its likely that hen is E based or at least split for E. If so, then the all black pullets I have will be mostly E based so when I mate them to Hakon that should show up in their progeny.

 

[Chooks man]

Just for fun how many chicks do you all plan on hatching this year??
I am planning on 100-150 FBCM. If I have a lot of broody hens I will stuff there butts with more eggs to.

great number I don t know yet how many exactly . have a large number of fertile eggs orders . every body want to get marans eggs from me . .but first I have to test my flock this Autumn .all ready paired up for March hatch .

chooks man

 

[kcrandall]

I like his body type .still young my friend .love his stand and his small comb. nice body type . his copper could be better .

chooks man

I have the space for now so I may give some additional time to mature.

 

[Chooks man]

That is a possibility for sure. The breeder told me she has an all black BCM Hen that she breeds from because she lays an #8. She also said that a lot of her chicks grow out mostly black - even cockerels. So its likely that hen is E based or at least split for E. If so, then the all black pullets I have will be mostly E based so when I mate them to Hakon that should show up in their progeny.

if what the woman is saying is correct than you black pullets and a black correct are sibling .dark eggs layer .
breeding E to Er need very controlled breeding program to separate the E from ER progeny . test mating every chicks selected for breeding is very important .other wise the E dominant will take over producing all black hens and half marked rooster .
best way is to mate her to Hakon . select the best pullets and breed them back to him or another BC rooster . select the best cockerel and mate him back to the dams Black hens . to work a solid black pattern . first have to wait and see if the 2 black pullets lay very dark eggs .if yes ,that will be great . too many ways to work with them . .

chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

I have the space for now so I may give some additional time to mature.

for sure if you have a space . he need to be left to mature . he is loaded with great marans traits .
I kept 1 cockerel for every 2 hen/pullets more cockerels to work with is better even if they are brothers . genetic differences in they make up .

chooks man

 

[kcrandall]

if what the woman is saying is correct than you black pullets and a black correct are sibling .dark eggs layer .
breeding E to Er need very controlled breeding program to separate the E from ER progeny . test mating every chicks selected for breeding is very important .other wise the E dominant will take over producing all black hens and half marked rooster .
best way is to mate her to Hakon . select the best pullets and breed them back to him or another BC rooster . select the best cockerel and mate him back to the dams Black hens . to work a solid black pattern . first have to wait and see if the 2 black pullets lay very dark eggs .if yes ,that will be great . too many ways to work with them . .

chooks man

Thanks Chooksman - great information! I’ll wait to see what color eggs the pullets lay. I have four all black pullets - 2 have good type, eyes and tails, 1 has long legs and a high tail and the last one has good type but is small for a Marans.