International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[BlueTheBrahma]

Wife is making eggs for dinner one of these night and she's using all of Angels 1st 18 eggs..View attachment 3720346

That’s a lot of eggs! We sell most of ours so I rarely get to enjoy using all my best eggs. I’m looking forward to having more marans so it’s less of a gamble who ends up with some.

 

[wrathsfarm]

That’s a lot of eggs! We sell most of ours so I rarely get to enjoy using all my best eggs. I’m looking forward to having more marans so it’s less of a gamble who ends up with some.

Left overs will be scrambled and fed back to the birds/dogs/cats.
Right now I'm collecting each hens eggs, trap nesting when I can to get egg color/shape/monthly laid average for notes/pairing for test mating records. I collect a dozen, take pics then eaten.
The mix flock we mostly feed back to animals or donate to food bank.

 

[wrathsfarm]

That’s a lot of eggs! We sell most of ours so I rarely get to enjoy using all my best eggs. I’m looking forward to having more marans so it’s less of a gamble who ends up with some.

I want to start selling hatching eggs this spring from the darkest layers/hybrids and Olive Eggers. Doing research on that when I have time to get it going in right direction.

 

[wrathsfarm]

What humidity should I shoot for for Marans eggs?

 

[TexasBlues]

View attachment 3720415
What humidity should I shoot for for Marans eggs?

I’m curious what others say. I hatched my first clutch of marans at 55-65% rh. My shipped WTB eggs I “dry hatched” at 25-40%rh

 

[Tstraub]

View attachment 3720415
What humidity should I shoot for for Marans eggs?

I don’t have a ton of experience but thet looks fine to me. I try to keep it somewhere between 40 and 60 to start out. Then I watch the air cells develop and compare to charts they have showing how big the air cell should be on certain days. If the cells are in too big or small you can make adjustments

You could ask in the incubation section of this forum or start a hatch along thread. There are lots of very experienced people over there

 

[NanaK]

My broodies do most of the hatching for me.

I have often read that people dry hatch Marans eggs because of thick shells and heavy bloom. They seem to loose moisture more slowly so too high humidity can lead to them drowning in the shell.

Just something I've seen reference too so please verify.
Good luck with your hatch!

 

[wrathsfarm]

I’m curious what others say. I hatched my first clutch of marans at 55-65% rh. My shipped WTB eggs I “dry hatched” at 25-40%rh

How was the hatch rates for both?

 

[wrathsfarm]

I don’t have a ton of experience but thet looks fine to me. I try to keep it somewhere between 40 and 60 to start out. Then I watch the air cells develop and compare to charts they have showing how big the air cell should be on certain days. If the cells are in too big or small you can make adjustments

You could ask in the incubation section of this forum or start a hatch along thread. There are lots of very experienced people over there

Ok thanks I read that also about air cells.

 

[wrathsfarm]

My broodies do most of the hatching for me.

I have often read that people dry hatch Marans eggs because of thick shells and heavy bloom. They seem to loose moisture more slowly so too high humidity can lead to them drowning in the shell.

Just something I've seen reference too so please verify.
Good luck with your hatch!

Thank you, yes I've read that also. I may try to drop it down to 45-50% here later depending what it's hovering at. Being super humid here in Mi. makes it even more questionable. I'm not all "ahhhh... It's gotta be at this". Just want a close roundabout area.
My hatch rate is gonna be info anyways with swapping roos/molts. Ravens I think have the best chance.

Hatchday looks to be the 29th. Fun stuff !!