International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[KF0002]

Overmelanized in black coppers is excessive black. They will have little copper, the pullets will come black with no or very little copper and the cockerels will have copper in their hackles but little elsewhere. Each year you breed the pullets back to the sire BCM cock their offspring will come a little better each year until you are satisfied they are no longer overmelanized.

 

[KF0002]

This is an overmelanized cockerel. The pullets will look solid black with little to no copper.

 

[Red Banks]

Quote: Over melanized is a black colored Black copper Marans. They do not get the copper because the black is overpowering the copper color. Probably a much more technical explanation but it just means that your black copper marans does not have copper. It does not mean they are a Black Marans. As Chooks Man was trying to explain BCM and Black Marans do not have the same genetics. Black are E/E and Black Copper Marans are ER/ER.

From French Marans Club website:

At the present time, it's above all the Brown-red Marans which is required to serve as a source of improvment of the egg color for the other varieties often less well-off.

• - the Brown-red belongs to a particular color family in which only appears these three existing sister varieties which are rarer but not official to date : the Golden-blue, the Silver-black (Birchen) and the Silver-blue.
• - for the whole Marans breed, none of the other ordinary color varieties at present official belongs to this same family.
• - paradoxically, the Plain-Black variety corresponds itself to a different mutation and belongs to another genetic family different from that of the Brown-red.
• - So in theory, the Brown-red v. is only dominating by the genes of the Marans varieties of the first family (that is to say by the Plain-Black or the Silver-Cuckoo which are born of the Plain-Black).
• - on the other hand, the Brown-red dominates all the other known varieties of the Marans. Consequently, all these colors are going to disappear at first sight in the descendance of a crossing with the Brown-red.
• - so, the Brown-red, so famous and representative of our national Marans, is theorically, genetically and directly incompatible with the other Marans varieties which are at present admitted.

Consequently, the improving crossings of present Marans varieties (Wheaten, Black-tailed-buff, white....) carried out by using the Brown-red variety can't be recommanded for lack of anything better, that is when we are forced to turn to the elite of the breeders (or which are considered to be the elite even if they were not notably because of the qualities of the extra-reedish egg color). and so, by this very fact, we naturally turn forward the valuable Brown-red breeding stock.
Nota bene : in the search of an improvment of the Silver-Cuckoo variety, it is better to choose good "Birchen" subjects laying nice eggs.
However, the improving crossings of the Silver-Cuckoo variety with the Brown-red produce good results because, in the Marans, the Silver-Cuckoo is probably born of the Brown-red variety and not of the Plain-Black's whose existance seems genetically more enigmatic...

 

[KF0002]

Does this look like your FRF pullet?

That does look a lot like her but my pullet may be a little lighter in her hackle. Hopefully as she gets her big girl feathers in she will darken up in her hackle.

 

[Magnolia Hill]

This is an overmelanized cockerel. The pullets will look solid black with little to no copper.

how old is this cockerel?

 

[Red Banks]

Quote: The hackles on many of my girls looked very light. In addition to that they had the dark eyes. The hackle and eyes worried me but it is gone now. I will fix the brownish eyes with my cockerels.

 

[KF0002]

how old is this cockerel?

I dont know, he isnt my bird. I found the picture online to show you an example. My guess he is around 5 to 6 months old.

 

[KF0002]

The hackles on many of my girls looked very light.  In addition to that they had the dark eyes.  The hackle and eyes worried me but it is gone now.  I will fix the brownish eyes with my cockerels.

That is relieving to hear. They change so much. Everytime I go down to visit my chickens it seems they change a little everyday. Especially the cockerels.

 

[Red Banks]

Quote:
If you were told they came from BCM stock then that is what you have to go on. So they are not Black Marans they are over melanized Black Copper Marans. Over melanized Black Copper Marans are very common..... probably more common than Black Marans.

Remember what Chooks Man has posted.

what comes from the hens
Body type .
Comb type
eggs size .form and shape /color too .
body mass .

what comes from the roosters
Body color .
eyes colors .
eggs color
Barring gene.
body mass .

We will fix color from the rooster.

That is why we want to see copper ear tufts, copper on the chest (not excessive a sprinkling) orange eye as well as copper hackle/saddle feathers and mahogany shoulders on our breeding roosters

 

[Magnolia Hill]

If you were told they came from BCM stock then that is what you have to go on.  So they are not Black Marans they are over melanized Black Copper Marans.  Over melanized Black Copper Marans are very common..... probably more common than Black Marans.  

so now I just got to figure out how to get nicely colored bcm from them. I do have a couple of other bcm cockerels that are way more colorful. would that help?