International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[Chooks man]

He is stunning to look at! He is chunky with a long back. Very nice!

if I kep breeding chicks like him this breeding season I ll be happy for sure .
I ll put the parents together again to produce more .I realy like him .always like the columbian type but never managd to breed a blue tail . he is all class
chooks man

 

[Punkybrewster]

my friend peoples out there speculate a lot .that is a problem we are having .
ost of my work is done with marans hatched 1000 and 1000 in last 10 years . I have taken lot and lot of note observed a lot of variation and traits expression .
I still finding more and more stuff as I m progressing deeper in marans breeding .
I m writing a book about them ,still have few chapters haven t finished yet .
chooks man

This book has taken years to write. I can't wait to have all your knowledge in book form!

 

[wrathsfarm]

This book has taken years to write. I can't wait to have all your knowledge in book form!

Hi Punky, missed you around here. How are you and the chooks?

 

[Punkybrewster]

My livestock guardian Zeus is a Pyrenees/ Akbash cross ( both guardians) and he was early on trained not to mess with the poultry. My other dog, Apollo, he is an English Mastiff/ St Bernard cross, he was taught by me early on that the birds are my property and he is not to even look at them unless I tell him to. Young livestock guardians are still puppies, and can have puppy moments until they are 2 years old. I have found that to get the puppy energy out, Apollo and Zeus have regular playdates. They have both been boundary trained so they know where all the property borders are, I walked with them along the boundaries every day for several months, with verbal reprimand when they would find a place they thought they might escape. Zeus knows what animals he is to protect, and I give him an outlet for his puppy energy by either playing with him myself for a little while or putting Apollo out for a playdate. I try not to let other dogs interact with Zeus so he maintains aloofness with dogs outside the family. We also do basic command training, a dog that is 130 lbs (59 kilos) and an independent thinker like a livestock guardian needs to be able to be recalled if he corners a vagrant, or basic sit and down commands, let me handle his paws and tail. There were a few times where he tried playing with the poultry while he was under a year old, I spent a lot of time with him during that period, so I could catch and correct bad behavior. I am always mucking about in the farm yard anyways, the work never ends, so I just always kept an ear and an eye out while I was working outside. He tends to hang out near the poultry more than the goats now, because he tends to be where I am, but he is never so far from the goats that he couldn't charge out there if he heard something he didn't like. Dairy goats never roam real far.
Once he kills a bird, you will have to work with him closely to stop this. Livestock guardians will bond VERY close to their family, and if you are family, he will not want to disappoint you. Zeus takes verbal correction very much to heart and he tries to correct behavior fairly quickly, but for any dog, it will need consistency to correct once blood has been tasted. Good luck!

THIS.

So many folks think guardian dogs will automatically be trained and do their job just because of their title.

It takes a lot of work to train a pup for your farm.
Some breeds are just easier.

 

[Punkybrewster]

I had a Great Pyrenees that was absolutely wonderful with small animals and children. She was a calm and a vigilant protector. This new dog I believe is mixed and has no dew claws. My son is afraid of her and I am starting to be unable to handle her. I worked with her A LOT this summer for HOURS each day and she took advantage of the free time I rewarded her with by killing chickens and burying/hiding them.. all done in secret while unsupervised momentarily. I have tied her onto a runner near the chickens for the time being. A decision must be made. She has killed several over the course of several months and the only time she does not stalk and kill them is when she is being watched closely. I don't believe she will ever stop and I am heartbroken to give her up. But I feel it is imminent.

Sadly, she most likely will not change and will never be trusted. It happens. Not all dogs can be around livestock no matter what breed they are or how much training.

I've had a Jack Russell who was wonderful around chickens.

Then I had another jack Russell mix who would kill when we turned our back. He was trained from a very young age around them but it did not matter. Nothing helped. We don't keep dogs that worry livestock or kill them.

 

[Punkybrewster]

when we don't have a perfect roo we work with what we have. if your roos have everything else as they should then they are not culls. there is no perfect bird. let them grow.

btw, I had blondie boys throw good birds. hens with mahogany or totally black can improve hackles.

Words of wisdom.

Yes, we work with what we have. They can surprise you when breeding

 

[Punkybrewster]

Oh and I scored this... Free!!
View attachment 3653229

This brand works well for me. I even stack eggs and get a good hatch.

 

[Punkybrewster]

just joint few weeks agro .I have been asked by my friends they said OZ marans breeders need your knowledge ,some peoples in there are making a stuff up and a lot new marans keeper are dying for some correct information about they chooks ,I m very buzy in there lot pm message all days , great welcome .
peoples are impresse cseying my marans they never saw ant thing like that before . every body want to buy eggs or chooks from me .not salling just love to breed them ,the one I don t like I butcher them and eat them .I knowe how to cook too .Coq au vin hahahaaaaaaaaaaaaa
happy to help
I like here solid friend ships been forget through time .we care about eaqch other and we love our marans . we are not here to show off .Love you all Blessing
chooks man

Love you too.
I agree. Solid friendships here with humble knowledge passed around. No egos getting in the way.

 

[Punkybrewster]

You know how when you do something and it was really bad. I had this BC pullet that I missed a chick rubber band. I took them off of all of them but missed one. I had seen her hobbling but didn't catch her to check big mistake. I just thought she hurt her leg. After about a week I decided to catch her. The band was embedded I cut it out. I put her on antibiotics and doctored her. After she healed she had scar tissue and couldn't straighten her leg. I worked with her everyday. I put a splint to slowly straighten her leg and break up scar tissue. After about 2 1/2 months I figured she was about as good as she will get. She had a limp but was a lot better. That limp has almost gone away. She has developed white feathers on the injured leg. I feel so bad I caused that! Lesson learned! I am so happy about her recovery though. She is a pretty pullet but that may be I am biased from caring for her so long.

This happens more often than we think. The band moves up the thigh and can't be seen until the leg is swollen.

I hear about this a lot. I have also heard of a case where it was long hair wrapped around the leg that got infection. Crazy!

 

[Punkybrewster]

surprise for you guys ,here my first Blue tail Columbian marans chick .I bred a black tail columbian before but not the Blue tail , his sire is Dark cuckoo silver/golden Rashad , his mother is WalkerGirl blue tail buff . this guy has a wrong hatch down because he is ER/Ewh . so he hatched Blue with less white marking almost none . but now he is turning all white with a blue tail . he is stunning to look at ,lovely long body type .
his genome is ER/Ewh , S/s+ . BI/bi+ , DB/db+. Pti1/Pti1 etc.......................
View attachment 3668476View attachment 3668477
chooks man

Stunning.
Just look at him!