International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[Minky]

Those are amazing eggs. these are the colour of egg I'm getting. I think its ok, but I don't have a colour chart. its definitely a few shades darker than my welsummer eggs that are deep terracotta.

ok, I will breed them to the better of the two roosters....and hope my lead on marans eggs from a local breeder comes through in spring.

 

[Bwc]

Heres monty...

 

[Bluebonnet Poultry TX]

You can breed any rooster to any hen that is laying. The quality of the offspring is where selection of good traits or genes are important. I have hens that lay a # 4 egg in color. I have never had a hen that lays a # 4 egg star laying a #7 egg. I have hens that lay a #7 egg and they lay a #7 egg all the time. Most of their off spring lay a #7 egg. I paid for good genes and breed them the way the breeder I bought them from taught me.
This thread is the best one on the internet. If you follow Chooks man and bred according to his plan it will work. It is all in the gene pool and if you do not start with "Good" genes it will take alot longer or not at all. Just my 2cents TOMView attachment 2500002View attachment 2500002View attachment 2500010

I am new to this group. What is his plan if I may ask. I am always trying to learn as much as I can about this breed.

 

[Thomas Bright]

I am new to this group. What is his plan if I may ask. I am always trying to learn as much as I can about this breed.

The plan is this thread . 1,812 pages Start at page #1 TOM

 

[kcrandall]

I am new to this group. What is his plan if I may ask. I am always trying to learn as much as I can about this breed.

Welcome to the group! I know it’s a lot of reading but start from the beggining of this thread. There is a lot of great information that will help you. The “Plan” is different for each of us and is largely dependent on the quality of our Marans with which we have to work. Some members Marans flocks are more advanced than others so our respective breeding practices will be different. The basic overall plan is to breed for type, dark eggs, body pattern and plumage color.

There is a lot more that goes into than that but that’s the basics. I suggest you obtain a copy of the Standard of Perfection (SOP) so you know what a Marans is supposed to look like. I’m in the US but I breed to the French SOP (breed origin). There are a couple of slight variations between the US and French standards.

Chooks Man, because of his passion for and knowledge of Marans, helps us to evaluate our birds and choose breeders so we can move our reapective flocks forward and thus the breed. He is a wealth of information and we’re fortunate to have him as a mentor.

 

[chickengr]

Last year I hatched out some marans April 29-30 and they are now in the breeding pens with their rooster. They started laying in October (I was surprised) . Their eggs are averaging 65-75 g.
I have two unrelated roosters and 3 unrelated hens.

I realize it is strongly recommended to wait til after 1 year and even 2, but when you are starting out and they are so hard to find here, its impossible to wait so long.

Should I breed all 3 hens to rooster 1, then all 3 hens to rooster 2?
Their eggs are all acceptable colour. They all have issues but I need to start somewhere. Ideally I would only have 1 rooster and 4 or 5 hens. (I have other varieties of chickens and would like to keep my "winter flock" to around 30-35. I am just breeding for myself, not to show or do anything fabulous. I just want to try and have the best looking and producing flock I can, working towards SOP.

Do I always need to have two roosters? I'm a bit confused how to start. And if I replace my rooster (s) every year, or only if I hatch out one who is a better specimen. Do always breed line 1 to line 2? and then what does that become line 3?



Also- as a side question- out of the 5 marans I own, one is blue. I am not especially a fan of blue. I wouldn't consider keeping any blue roosters. Will crossing a blue and a black produce 50% of each, and will I be able to tell at hatch which are blue? If I only keep black ones, will those black one be able to produce blue if theiy are only bred to a black? Do you think I should remove that hen from my breeding pen ?

keep 2 roos. you say marans are hard to find there. if god forbid anything happen to one roo you will have a back up.

 

[Punkybrewster]

I am new to this group. What is his plan if I may ask. I am always trying to learn as much as I can about this breed.

Suggest you grab a notebook and start from page #1 of this thread.

Its all here.
Take notes.
Its a long read but worth the time.

 

[Minky]

I started on page 1 last year and am only around page 200. Gonna take a while!

I have a question about breeding my quad of BCM. Is it important for me to know which hen laid which egg? I sometimes catch them on the nest and then I wait a little and go back for the egg and mark it right away with their name.. but sometimes, there is just an egg and I have no idea which hen it is from. How do I solve this problem? I worry if I separate them, this will causes stress and maybe they wont lay? Also..running out of pens.

 

[Minky]

Here are my two cuckoo marans. (I dont have hens, just these two). They are big boys. Fairly calm, brothers for sure. One has more feathers on his feet (Aku) and one white tail feather. He is shorter and heavier. The other has less feathers on his feet, no white tail feather and a bit taller and not quite as thick(Miika), but still a big big bird. (named them after my identical twin nephews)

They are 9 months old. I have started to notice red markings on Aku's shanks. What is this from ? Looks just like marker. You should be able to see it on one of the photos.
Sorry for boring pictures on roost. a foot of snow outside. Surprised their combs survived our coldest night of the winter so far (-18 last night).

Chooks man- is the white tail feather a problem? Doe this mean Aku is Coq au vin?
FWIW, Aku is nicer, (Miika sometimes looks at me like he will attack me- but hasn't) and I personally like the white tail feather. No, neither have any fluff.
Neither have much gold anywhere - little bits on their hackles. Will more come in, or is this their adult plumage??

 

[kcrandall]

I started on page 1 last year and am only around page 200. Gonna take a while!

I have a question about breeding my quad of BCM. Is it important for me to know which hen laid which egg? I sometimes catch them on the nest and then I wait a little and go back for the egg and mark it right away with their name.. but sometimes, there is just an egg and I have no idea which hen it is from. How do I solve this problem? I worry if I separate them, this will causes stress and maybe they wont lay? Also..running out of pens.

It’s always better to match the hen with the egg so that you can truly assess the quality of your breeders. You will have some pairings that produce better pullets than cockerels and vice versa. Also, some pairings will produce pullets that lay darker egg than others. Knowledge is good and makes you a better breeder as well as moves your program forward instead of 1 step forward and 2 steps back.