International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[chickengr]

Not sure if I've posted this here yet, need some help with broodys killing chicks at hatch.
Not a typo...broodys (plural).

Backup... Angels hatch date was 8/4. 1st chick hatched 8/3 and she attacked it. Cleaned it up and put it under the BA that just hatched but it died. I left her 2 remaining eggs under her because they were pipped and watched very closely wondering if it was maybe just a one-off or sick chick. Benefit of the doubt.

Night fall came and they still hadn't hatched, so I made the decision to pull them out. Jett had just hatched 2 out of 4 of hers and I had just candled the other 2 and they were quitters so I leg banded her 2, and shoved the other 2 under her.

Ok, all is well.. Jett has 4 now. Her 2 chicks I leg banded and now Angels 2 chicks. (unbanded yet).

Today...Black is sitting on her 2 eggs from Joannie before the cockerel tagged her. 1 hatched, she immediately killed it. The last remaining egg hasn't pipped. I'm thinking it's not viable but will candle at dark.

What is going on with my broodys suddenly wanting to kill their chicks?

Too much stress? All the new additional birds? Both new broodys? All of the above and probably more?
Angel is 1 yr., Black is 2 yrs.old. and now I can't trust 2 of my hens with eggs now and gotta break them. I've got Angel in the broody breaker and I'll throw a couple mixed eggs under her til Angel breaks and then break her.

If Blacks remaining egg is viable, I don't think Jett will accept it being off the nest now. Or I can see what Black does if it hatches. At least it'll confirm.

Anyone had multi-chick killers? I thought it would be mostly rare hence the reason I didn't post about Angel yet, but now 2 is not so good for me...
Sorry this was long-winded.

''End Rant''

didn't see this post. some broodies like the hatching but don't want chicks. some of them don't want the other broody's chicks.

 

[BlueTheBrahma]

Not sure if I've posted this here yet, need some help with broodys killing chicks at hatch.
Not a typo...broodys (plural).

Backup... Angels hatch date was 8/4. 1st chick hatched 8/3 and she attacked it. Cleaned it up and put it under the BA that just hatched but it died. I left her 2 remaining eggs under her because they were pipped and watched very closely wondering if it was maybe just a one-off or sick chick. Benefit of the doubt.

Night fall came and they still hadn't hatched, so I made the decision to pull them out. Jett had just hatched 2 out of 4 of hers and I had just candled the other 2 and they were quitters so I leg banded her 2, and shoved the other 2 under her.

Ok, all is well.. Jett has 4 now. Her 2 chicks I leg banded and now Angels 2 chicks. (unbanded yet).

Today...Black is sitting on her 2 eggs from Joannie before the cockerel tagged her. 1 hatched, she immediately killed it. The last remaining egg hasn't pipped. I'm thinking it's not viable but will candle at dark.

What is going on with my broodys suddenly wanting to kill their chicks?

Too much stress? All the new additional birds? Both new broodys? All of the above and probably more?
Angel is 1 yr., Black is 2 yrs.old. and now I can't trust 2 of my hens with eggs now and gotta break them. I've got Angel in the broody breaker and I'll throw a couple mixed eggs under her til Angel breaks and then break her.

If Blacks remaining egg is viable, I don't think Jett will accept it being off the nest now. Or I can see what Black does if it hatches. At least it'll confirm.

Anyone had multi-chick killers? I thought it would be mostly rare hence the reason I didn't post about Angel yet, but now 2 is not so good for me...
Sorry this was long-winded.

''End Rant''

Sorry to hear this. My broodies have never attacked or killed their young, I guess this is the upside of using the heavy sitters like Brahmas and silkies. I know welsummers are supposed to be awful parents, so I never use them as broodies. Marans are sitters but mine have never gone broody, so I don’t have much to say about them. Have they recently moved nest or anything that would disturb the hens familiarity?

 

[wrathsfarm]

Have they recently moved nest or anything that would disturb the hens familiarity?

No, only signals I've noticed is Black consistently wanted to get in Angels nest box after coming off her eggs daily. I would have to pull her out and put her back with her eggs. There's 2 possible reasons for this.... Angel is lower in pecking order and Blacks nest box is possibly up too high.

The other signal is neither broody started the soft clucking at their eggs close to hatch like every other broody has done. As soon as I walk in the coop, I know first chicks are hatching from a broody. These 2 didn't.

Just their broody trance and dead or bloody chick next to them.

 

[wrathsfarm]

And cue that ray of sunshine
We got our first egg from Joannie's pullet today. 18 weeks old....
Joannie actually layed right next to her and they both layed at the same time so I took pics of both.

 

[chickengr]

No, only signals I've noticed is Black consistently wanted to get in Angels nest box after coming off her eggs daily. I would have to pull her out and put her back with her eggs. There's 2 possible reasons for this.... Angel is lower in pecking order and Blacks nest box is possibly up too high.

The other signal is neither broody started the soft clucking at their eggs close to hatch like every other broody has done. As soon as I walk in the coop, I know first chicks are hatching from a broody. These 2 didn't.

Just their broody trance and dead or bloody chick next to them.

are there other chickens with your broodies? maybe they kill chicks?

 

[chickengr]

And cue that ray of sunshine
We got our first egg from Joannie's pullet today. 18 weeks old....
Joannie actually layed right next to her and they both layed at the same time so I took pics of both.View attachment 3911995View attachment 3911992View attachment 3911991View attachment 3911993View attachment 3912013

congrats! that's a promising egg!

 

[BlueTheBrahma]

I’ve tried to include some photos to show the difference in body length between my two marans chicks. They’re different sexes so there is a slight size difference but I think you can still see how much longer Napoleon’s body is from neck to tail.

A top quality marans is separated from other birds not just by its feathers, but by its very bones and body.

 

[wrathsfarm]

Single purple band (Joannie), 18 weeks.
This guy has more copper in the chest, but not as wide as the other. The more dominant of the two and more standoffish with me.

 

[wrathsfarm]

Got a ton of pics of double purple. What I see is less copper in the chest, he's wider but he has that M comb.

 

[BlueTheBrahma]

@wrathsfarm
You say the purple band is not as wide, do you mean overall or at a single point. Marans should still have good width at the shoulders, but this should be maintained down the entire back towards the tail. That is Kong’s big issue: his width is lost in the rear.

I’m struggling to tell in the photos, but is the purple band good and rectangular from above? The double purple is slightly triangular from above, I think this is what you were trying to highlight.

Double purple also looks rather triangular from the side: his breast is very lean. Hopefully he is yet to fatten up nicely. This might be true of both and I can only see in the pictures of double purple.

I stress choosing type when replacing your cocks. I think you’ll find that when you breed these boys from under coloured dams back to under coloured hens next season, then you will see real improvement in chest copper.

The narrowness of the hips is the main issue, so choose the one which is most rectangular from above (provided it has no other major faults).