International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[Braxton Brigade]

It has been quite a chicken day. I found a Cuckoo hen dead in the coop this morning. Never was sick, I don't have a clue what went wrong there. No sick birds anywhere on the place. Of course since I brought those two roosters I have done nothing but worry.

I found Gabby sitting on a nest in the woods. I gathered two eggs she was sitting on and then at dark thirty I had to pick her up and carry her to the coop.

I have had that happen before, it's one of those things that makes me paranoid for some time.

Were both eggs Gabby's or had another girl pitched in? She must have really wanted some privacy while she brooded those eggs out of sight.

I am going to fix Gabby up tomorrow after the new roosters are gone. The nest was little more than a pile of leaves in a dirt depression. She is so sweet. I picked her up and she talked to me in that way she does. She gabbed the whole way back!

Gabby is just one of those creatures. She stands out from the rest, she is both beautiful and full of personality. I wish you the best of luck with her.

 

[Red Banks]

Quote:
Gabby is a creature of joy. No.... only one egg was hers and I know this because I pick up the eggs from that spot every day. It is a community nest. Some chickens come and go, a couple really touch our hearts. Gabby is the latter.

 

[Red Banks]

@Chooks man I am rehoming the two old Roosters tonight so I need to keep Claude. I will have just Claude and Antonio. I have an Ameraucana rooster too but it would be so much easier without him. I think I will take him too. Then I will set some eggs and get a rooster to go back to the dams.

I let the hens out this morning. I was walking behind them as they ran across the yard. They make a bee line for the cat food every morning. They have very thin tails when viewed from behind. Thank you for telling me what to look for. I do pay attention.

 

[Red Banks]

If anyone has concerns about chicken noise never get Ameraucanas. They are are noisy beyond compare.

 

[ShanandGem]

If anyone has concerns about chicken noise never get Ameraucanas. They are are noisy beyond compare.

My Ameraucanas aren't noisy, they're just..... weird. And pecky. I am always shooing them away with my foot because they are picking at me. They are lousy winter layers, bullies, and the other hens can't stand them. I would like a few more blue egg layers but I think I will try Cream Legbars next time.

 

[Bantambird]

Cream legbars can be friendly, but mine follow me wherever I go, whereas the Marans always keep a respectable distance while not getting out of treat range. My legbars like to peck at my shoes, and I've had some fly up on my shoulder. They are similar to leghorns, their main progenitor, in many ways, but seem more tameable. They fly all over the place, but they are not particularly cold hardy and I tend to have problems with frostbite especially on the cocks. They have very loud eggsong. They slow down laying during cold weather, whereas Marans don't seem near as affected by weather, just lights and molting. I love their friendly, inquisitive ways, but the cocks can get mean if not handled right.

I'm glad you pointed out the thin versus boxy tails on the Marans hens.i ran out to look over all my ladies.

 

[Chooks man]

the group of young one are gorgeous but I want to highlight the pointed tail of the Black hen is the back ground .

nice long back and stunning tail .form. shape and Angle.

that is a type of the correct tail we are looking for in the marans stock .POINTED not OPEN neither square .

chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

It has been quite a chicken day. I found a Cuckoo hen dead in the coop this morning. Never was sick, I don't have a clue what went wrong there. No sick birds anywhere on the place. Of course since I brought those two roosters I have done nothing but worry.

I found Gabby sitting on a nest in the woods. I gathered two eggs she was sitting on and then at dark thirty I had to pick her up and carry her to the coop.

My dog was a gentleman all day and then this evening he went after Antonio. Thank goodness no one was injured ..... especially Antonio.

I am rehoming the roosters tomorrow.

Sorry for your loss .
does happen with a chooks .they have a heart attack some time .

watch that dog .

chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

@RedBanks sorry for your loss.

@Chooks man I have just discovered that marco has a lot of white near his skin. I have never checked his father mario before and he is out of his 12 month old molting. he has mostly gray and some white colour near the skin. you cannot see that unless you divide their feathers. I guess mario had more white before molting. he also had some white on his wings but it has gone now.

my question is: will those white feathers disappear after 18 months molt? if I use them at 2 yo for breeding will their progeny be free of white feathers?

I really like marco and I can keep him with naked necks and blue eggers till he gets older.

breeding the white feathers out is a long process . take years of selective breeding .so don t worry too much about Mario now

very rare to find any line free from parasitic genes accumulation .

chooks man

PS = I M WAITING FOR THE PHOTO UP DATE OF THE FRENCH CUCKOO BOY .how he is doing ? love to him

 

[Red Banks]

@Chooks man

I just dropped off the two roosters. I am going to clean and disinfect the coop they were in and get ready to separate Claude and the Ameraucana rooster. Weather is beautiful, I will get pics of the girls for record keeping purposes.