International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[Chooks man]

here my second breeding project of this season ,I ll start incubating and hatching after the new year if every thing goes well .
my first breeding project is a Black silver ( Birchen ) strain ,i posted about last week .
my second project is a Golden cuckoo . I ll be using 2 different method .
method #1 is using a F1 golden/silver cuckoo cockerel over my BC hens .this guy is large and he is Blue cuckoo ,this guy . he is a son of Blue silver cuckoo Shamrock over a BLC hens . he is very big and heavy ,he has few faults like parasitic white and big comb /wattles but that is ok for a time been . I m interested on the body type and mass , plus he hatched from dark egg too .

I will use him over LoveSong , Madonna and Amor my 3 BCM hens .
from this mating I should get Black and Blue , half cuckoos and other half not cuckoos some cockerels will be bard pure golden cuckoo with some pullets too . they are the ones I ll be interested to keep and work with . this this one wil be line A .
the second method line B = I ll be using a Black copper rooster SpringBuck .this rooster ;

over my 3 silver cuckoo hens .
from this mating I will get all the cockerels will be golden/silver cuckoos and all the pullets will be Black copper and Black silver .
from this progeny out of the 2 lines I will select the best golden cuckoo and breed from them . I ll be using this method to produce F2 and F3=
1 =F2 dark golden cuckoo cockerel from line A will be mated to pure Black copper hens ( progeny F3 )
2= F1 Dark golden cuckoo cockerels from line B will be mated to Black copper hens ( progeny F2 )
3 = F2 golden cuckoo pullets from line #A will be mated to F1 golden /silver cuckoo cockerels from line #B( progeny F3 )
in around 3 years time I should have a well established Golden cuckoo strain with many different lines ,
chooks man
Golden cuckoo cockerel will breed very well with a Black copper hens . will produce dark golden cuckoos ( cockerels and pullets) . it is accepted in Australia .
silver cuckoos rooster will breed well with a Black silver ( Birchen )hens to produce dark silver cuckoos ( cockerel/pullets ) for the show .
chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

here a photo of a black Columbian marans rooster in france. they call this variety Hermine noir .. this rooster was shown and he scored = vice champion de France 94 point .

chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

here a photo of the hen .she is stunning .love this variety

chooks man

 

[chickengr]

I like this hen too. as for the roo, is he lacking some black? maybe the champion roo has some black feathers in the wings? anyway, he is a big, chunky and handsome guy.

 

[Chooks man]

I like this hen too. as for the roo, is he lacking some black? maybe the champion roo has some black feathers in the wings? anyway, he is a big, chunky and handsome guy.

he scored 94 points ,so he is not missing much ,he could lost a points because of the lack of the black feathers on his wing .we can see they are there but not that pronounced .
because I do not see other fault for the points to be taken .
he still a very nice rooster .
he is from marans aspirans forum .
chooks man

 

[chickengr]

he scored 94 points ,so he is not missing much ,he could lost a points because of the lack of the black feathers on his wing .we can see they are there but not that pronounced .
because I do not see other fault for the points to be taken .
he still a very nice rooster .
he is from marans aspirans forum .
chooks man

I know nothing about points. I just compare him to the hen who has much more black. I have no idea how much black they should have. you know I am not an expert (never will be). I just love chickens, don't judge them.

 

[Chooks man]

yeah there isa lot marans trait we can select for as chicks ;
1) type = we keep a chunky chick and we cull the skinny one.
2) less white possible ( only under the bally and chest ,tip of they wings )
3) strait legs and well spaced ..
4) healthy ,robust chick.
5) physical defect .
6) recessive melanin . black comb / wattles and toes nails ..
7) long chick (long back ) NOT a square chick .
8) short legs chick NOT a taller legs .
9) blue/green eyes Not a black /brown eyes.
10) chicks with a brown dot on they head sign of purity of a BCM strain .are a keepers .

chooks man

here a post where I did mention the brown dot on a black copper chicks .
chooks man

 

[knoturavggrl]

Hello I have been reading through your thread, wonderful resource! My FBCM’s are from Alchemist Farms and they are 10 weeks old. I have been trying to learn about them and the standards to see if I should breed them when they are old enough. Both seem like solid calm birds so far. Color is still developing of course. Anyway just waving hello and saying ty for all the great info

 

[Chooks man]

Hello I have been reading through your thread, wonderful resource! My FBCM’s are from Alchemist Farms and they are 10 weeks old. I have been trying to learn about them and the standards to see if I should breed them when they are old enough. Both seem like solid calm birds so far. Color is still developing of course. Anyway just waving hello and saying ty for all the great info

Welcome to our group. Your BC pair look very nice . A pullet has a stunning body type for her age and nice hackle marking . The cockerel has a nice head and seem to be a big boy . Need more photos of them to have a good idea about they body type . I like them a lot .
Chooks man

 

[knoturavggrl]

Welcome to our group. Your BC pair look very nice . A pullet has a stunning body type for her age and nice hackle marking . The cockerel has a nice head and seem to be a big boy . Need more photos of them to have a good idea about they body type . I like them a lot .
Chooks man

That sounds promising, thank you for sharing your expertise I love to take photos seems like many of us here do. Here are a few more, Ill update occasionally as they grow. My Roo is quite a big boy, if feet and legs are any indication he will be a sizable Rooster lol.
One more of the pullet:

Three more of the Roo, I will get some more full body shots of him