International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[chickengr]

Roosters- my rooster (Firestorm) who I used to breed my pullets above, ran into the forest after being chased by my Crested Cream Leg Bar rooster and never ever returned..... My "back up" rooster injured his leg, and never recovered, so we ate him.
I bought eggs from two local back yard breeders this spring. Out of those eggs, I ended up with one cockerel from each breeder (no pullets). Both of them have what I think you guys refer to as parasitic white (none of my Marans flock have ever had any). You can see one or two white feathers on their wing tips. So if I use them, I will be introducing this into my Marans. So do I just eat these guys? The younger of these two roosters came from the darker egg. At least a #6. The other came from a #5. Sorry the photos aren't the best.
What do you think?

I think they are too young to be sure if they have parasitic white. they might molt it out.

 

[chickengr]

Hi everyone. Floods, pests, fires, drought, and Corona Virus. Thank goodness for chickens.... When I watch the news and reconnect with the world, I feel like I am living in a bad sci fi movie. I just can't do it, so I just watch my chickens.

I've had 6 pullets and 1 cockerel die (I'm assuming Mareks) this spring. I have tried to remove all debris and soiled straw as well as the top 2 inches of sand (sandy soil here) from the barn and coop... but now all I can do is hope the rest are ok. I usually have 1 chicken a season die from this, I guess with more chickens you just get more deaths.
I wish a vaccine for homeowners would be available. (?) who has liquid nitrogen storage?
What do you guys do about Mareks? I notice it when there is a young bird who just stands around, moves slowly, doesn't eat much, weighs nothing. Usually starts about 3 months old, dead by 4 months, or right around point of lay.

As well, we have a fox mama and her 3-4 pups living within 100 meters of us, so lost 5 hens and 2 roosters to her in late May/early June.

Anyways, on a happier note, I am going to post a few photos of my pullets. It seems my pullets are much better looking than my cockerels. The cockerels are WAY over coloured, and their tails are a bit long and high. Not even worthy of a photo. However, I am quite pleased with my pullets, especially the blue ones. I ended up with 3 Blue pullets and 2 mossy black pullets.

What do you think? The first couple of blues are 2-3 weeks older than the 3rd one who was in the barn. I think the feather colour looks so different just because of the sun. They all look very similar, except the younger one is a little smaller. Couldn't get a tail shot of the two older pullets.





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sorry for your losses.

we don't really have marek's here but some chickens do loose apetite and die. that is how mother nature works. only strong survive.

my tv has been unplugged for years and I am perfectly well with my chickens and my garden, lol.

 

[Minky]

Thanks for the feedback. I will be keeping both these roosters until at least October....

I have about 10 roosters (blue and black and one purchased splash) but they are all full brothers to my pullets.(or at least half )....so didn't want to use them. I used 3 hens and one rooster, and I know the blue are from my blue pullet, and the black are either from my two black hens or the blue. ... anyways, they are all terrible looking. LOL Much worse than the two above....

The splash rooster I bought as a chick, along with two others. Two of them (Romeo and Juliet) never leave the barn, although they can free range all day... they cuddle and snuggle under each other with their heads in a corner. It is so weird. They have been like this the entire time. So I was going to eat the rooster- I dont want to pass that gene on to anyone! Then hen has shredded feathers so I wasn't going to use her to breed. The third looks to be much better quality, nicer colouring, good feathers (not shredded) but at this point looks like the comb may not even be a single comb..its so small. Will have to wait and see. My daughter called her Snow White because she is very beautiful. (we think).
Will post a photo of her if I can get it. she is always booting around in the woods.

If I can't find a suitable rooster, I will just not do any hatching next spring. I sort of over did it this year anyways. I'm pooped.

 

[chickengr]

Thanks for the feedback. I will be keeping both these roosters until at least October....

I have about 10 roosters (blue and black and one purchased splash) but they are all full brothers to my pullets.(or at least half )....so didn't want to use them. I used 3 hens and one rooster, and I know the blue are from my blue pullet, and the black are either from my two black hens or the blue. ... anyways, they are all terrible looking. LOL Much worse than the two above....

The splash rooster I bought as a chick, along with two others. Two of them (Romeo and Juliet) never leave the barn, although they can free range all day... they cuddle and snuggle under each other with their heads in a corner. It is so weird. They have been like this the entire time. So I was going to eat the rooster- I dont want to pass that gene on to anyone! Then hen has shredded feathers so I wasn't going to use her to breed. The third looks to be much better quality, nicer colouring, good feathers (not shredded) but at this point looks like the comb may not even be a single comb..its so small. Will have to wait and see. My daughter called her Snow White because she is very beautiful. (we think).
Will post a photo of her if I can get it. she is always booting around in the woods.

If I can't find a suitable rooster, I will just not do any hatching next spring. I sort of over did it this year anyways.

post pics and more experienced people will advise you what to do. I have a feeling you expect chickens to be perfect.

 

[Minky]

post pics and more experienced people will advise you what to do. I have a feeling you expect chickens to be perfect.

no, not at all... but after seeing Chooks Mans birds and others on this thread with gorgeous birds, now I know when I see a scraggly over coloured Marans with too many feathers on his feet and a horrible tail that is destined for the soup pot.

 

[Punkybrewster]

no, not at all... but after seeing Chooks Mans birds and others on this thread with gorgeous birds, now I know when I see a scraggly over coloured Marans with too many feathers on his feet and a horrible tail that is destined for the soup pot.

I have the habit of doing the same thing.
Comparing my Marans to folks who have been breeding for years and have improved their line.

I sometimes want to just cull them all and start over.
If I were to do that, I would STILL have faults to breed out.

The elusive perfect Marans that I am striving to breed will be a life long process.

As Chooks man says, "We work with what we have".

There are steps to take in breeding to improve them.

Do your hens lay dark eggs? To me, this is #1 question which allows me to decide whether to keep or cull. Egg color is what defines a Marans.
If the eggs are dark, I will keep and work toward SOP from there.

 

[LaFleche]

The elusive perfect Marans that I am striving to breed will be a life long process.

This is just what it is, as genetics have their own ways to always come up with some unexpected surprises, no matter how perfect the parent birds might appear.

 

[Punkybrewster]

Finding a good rooster is the hardest.

Who knew a couple of years ago that I would be crossing my fingers that I hatch a bunch of cockerels!

 

[Chooks man]

Hi everyone. Floods, pests, fires, drought, and Corona Virus. Thank goodness for chickens.... When I watch the news and reconnect with the world, I feel like I am living in a bad sci fi movie. I just can't do it, so I just watch my chickens.

I've had 6 pullets and 1 cockerel die (I'm assuming Mareks) this spring. I have tried to remove all debris and soiled straw as well as the top 2 inches of sand (sandy soil here) from the barn and coop... but now all I can do is hope the rest are ok. I usually have 1 chicken a season die from this, I guess with more chickens you just get more deaths.
I wish a vaccine for homeowners would be available. (?) who has liquid nitrogen storage?
What do you guys do about Mareks? I notice it when there is a young bird who just stands around, moves slowly, doesn't eat much, weighs nothing. Usually starts about 3 months old, dead by 4 months, or right around point of lay.

As well, we have a fox mama and her 3-4 pups living within 100 meters of us, so lost 5 hens and 2 roosters to her in late May/early June.

Anyways, on a happier note, I am going to post a few photos of my pullets. It seems my pullets are much better looking than my cockerels. The cockerels are WAY over coloured, and their tails are a bit long and high. Not even worthy of a photo. However, I am quite pleased with my pullets, especially the blue ones. I ended up with 3 Blue pullets and 2 mossy black pullets.

What do you think? The first couple of blues are 2-3 weeks older than the 3rd one who was in the barn. I think the feather colour looks so different just because of the sun. They all look very similar, except the younger one is a little smaller. Couldn't get a tail shot of the two older pullets.





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I really like your BCM pullet especially the older one ,very correct and heavy boned specimen . the tails on the 2 youngest pullets are a little longer ,rather than that they look great to me .

if you have Marecks in your place ,you have to make sure you get out of there .
if you want to know how .let me know and I ll explain to you .very long process but efficient . I did my self and cleaned my farm from all sort of sicknesses .

chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

no, not at all... but after seeing Chooks Mans birds and others on this thread with gorgeous birds, now I know when I see a scraggly over coloured Marans with too many feathers on his feet and a horrible tail that is destined for the soup pot.

I did not always had good looking marans ,8 years of buying /breeding / selecting /culling / restarting/etc.............. and still doing more . life time work .
great looking marans do not full from the sky like the rain ,we need to breed them .that will take time and hard work .
a problems does not end when you manage to breed good marans line /s , a real problem is how to maintain them for as long as possible without running into inbreeding depression and without loosing they quality .

chooks man