International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[BlueTheBrahma]

Mole and Duke of Wellington. I really think they are silver cuckoos now, Mole is clearly lighter than the dark cuckoos and their hackles are coming in silvery. Certainly not complaining, will make the GCM project much easier if they are birchen based. Also growing very big, going to be proper chunky marans I feel.

Wellington also only has one wattle at the moment… I’m assuming the other might drop at some point.

 

[BlueTheBrahma]

The BCM boy. Certainly the most promising Marans cockerel I have hatched from my own line. Huge, long and flat body, much smaller comb than Napoleon had. A tad over coloured but that’s my only big issue. We’ll see how that tail grows in, so fingers crossed…

To stick with the theme of Wellington, and reuse the name, I’m calling him Napoléon I (the accent is the correct French spelling). Carrying on the legacy but truer to the French standard, and more regal as he hasn’t had stunted growth like Napoleon the BlCM had last year.

 

[BlueTheBrahma]

Joannie. A bit more compact than her siblings, the 4 week younger pullets have already caught her in size. Over coloured, but by no means unbreedable to the cuckoos.

 

[BlueTheBrahma]

Claudie. To me, everything I could have hoped for from Loki x Chanel. I’m glad they finally produced a top quality pullet, I’m hoping her egg reflects this too. Great type and perfect colouring. Unfortunately the pictures aren’t the best. Seems to be carrying on her dam’s size, with a tidier comb and less puffy at the rear.

 

[BlueTheBrahma]

A couple of photos of the younger ones. The BCMs have good colour distribution, but not as deep orange copper as mine. But the egg colour they hatched from makes up for it, plus their colour is useful variation in the GCM project.

The dark cuckoos show how much darker they are than Mole. A tad glossy in some black bars, but not barred rock level. Badger particularly is getting big. I’ve noticed they are a bit longer legged than the other marans.

 

[BlueTheBrahma]

Chanel, the momma, almost through the moult (some paler blue feathers remain on her underside) her new coat shows her lovely type. I’ve noticed the skin on her breastbone is saggy and hangs loose, I don’t know if this is because she has lost weight or just age related. She’s still laying big eggs though, even if they aren’t as dark as they once were.