International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[chickengr]

Thank you. I had never heard this before. After reading your post I did an image search wheaten marans. Looking at BCM and wheaten Marans side by side really makes me wonder how I never made that connection before. I read somewhere that it went all the way back to red jungle fowl and I just believed it to be true. The wheaten Marans does sound a lot more likely

many things about the genetics is a lucky guess.

 

[TinyRaptorDodos]

My little BCM baby finally got her red!!
(I do have one other maran but she is not black copper)
She is my second BCM but I never had my old one when she was laying, she was given to a family who lost their flock

 

[wrathsfarm]

Oh no, I just saw him try to mate the silkie pullet I have. (The one on bottom of the pecking order.) I went over there and she seemed fine, no missing feathers or anything. But she’s very local so I heard her squawking and went to see what was going on. Usually she squawks when she’s getting picked on by the others. I just shouted at him to knock it off and he jumped off her. This is the first time, I’ve seen him attempt this behavior and of course, he tried it with the pullet that was the easiest to bully. He’s too chicken to try it with the mature ladies. (No pun intended. )

‘Betty’ stays away from the older hens because they chase him and the young girls away still. It’s almost like I have two cliques. He’s about 15 weeks now. Here’s the picture I took of him late last week. Obviously his hormones are ramping up so I’ll definitely be keeping a close eye on him.

I shouldn’t separate him unless he’s hurting the pullets right? Or would it be better to remove the pullets so he is forced to interact with the older hens more? He’s also getting more distant from me. Before I could easily go up to him and just pick him up…now, he runs from me! I have to chase him, once I do get him, he squawks in protest for a quick second, but as soon as pick him up and hold him, he nestles in my arms like he’s comfy and enough to take a nap. I’m not sure if I should continue to handle him or let him be? I’m thinking if I keep handling him from time to time, he’ll stay friendly?

Mine turned 16 weeks last Sunday so pretty close in age to your 'Bet'.....I've separated my 2 boys out, because one was getting pretty rough with the pullets. I actually let it go too long, I normally isolate sooner but shot myself in the foot this time now that he tagged my Joannie.
If you have the means place him with the hens. Let them keep schooling him and if he's being good it's working. I know it's hard work because now it's like you have 3 groups your dealing with....hens, pullets, and little man, and trying to get everyone integrated. It just depends on how aggressive he's being towards the pullets where you need to step in.
I don't know a lot about Silkies (how many?) but I've read some keep their bantams and smaller breeds separate because of the bullying from larger birds. Especially when you have a feisty boy in the mix.

I mostly ignore the boys at this age, I figure they got a lot going on. So I don't handle unless I need to.
Altho this is the time where if I'm offering treats I want to start giving them to 'Bet' first and let him call the girls over and show them what he found. This I feel is two-fold.... I want to gain his trust and mutual respect by showing him 'HE' is the flock leader....and I'm not competing with him for his girls, I'm just the giant care taker that brings food.
Be mindful of your backside when handling 'his' girls at this time. If they fuss, he'll come running. This is the point where I go mostly hands off with everyone unless I absolutely need to, and I keep one eye on him at all times.

Oh, the fun of having a new roo....

He's a handsome boy you got and sounds like he's doing good so far, even with the rush of hormones.

 

[Auntiejessi3]

Awesome... I haven't re read the thread again in a while... I need to when the chaos slows to a crawl.

Good luck, with 7 broodies, the chaos isn't going to "slow down" anytime soon

 

[wrathsfarm]

Good luck, with 7 broodies, the chaos isn't going to "slow down" anytime soon

We'll see how far I can go without breaching insanity....

 

[wrathsfarm]

My little BCM baby finally got her red!!
(I do have one other maran but she is not black copper)
She is my second BCM but I never had my old one when she was laying, she was given to a family who lost their flock

She's pretty...

What's your other one? Pics please...

 

[TinyRaptorDodos]

She's pretty...

What's your other one? Pics please...

She is a splash maran hen crossed with black copper roo. Resulted as a blue maran, next time I hatch I plan to breed her back to a BCM which should produce blue copper Marans

 

[Bantambird]

So far one of my favorite keeper pullets this year.

 

[wrathsfarm]

View attachment 3901022View attachment 3901023View attachment 3901024View attachment 3901025View attachment 3901026
So far one of my favorite keeper pullets this year.

She's beautiful...

 

[Auntiejessi3]

View attachment 3901022View attachment 3901023View attachment 3901024View attachment 3901025View attachment 3901026
So far one of my favorite keeper pullets this year.

She's a looker