International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[Chooks man]

Thank you! I'm hoping its a pullet!

But my luck, I will hatch 90% cockerels this year. I need all the pullets I can get. I am addicted to those big brown eggs.

Don t say this sort of stuff .
you are projecting your fear to the cosmos not good .
you should say I m going to have a lot pullet .
cast your desire to the cosmos not your fear .

I have been hatching is the hottest period of time and I m getting more pullets than cockerels.

here a trick to know if is a pullet or cockerel
pullets .= thin flat head, darker beak and thinner shanks and toes.
cockerel thick ,rounded head .well developed comb ,thicker shanks and toes.

all the best .
chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

I will get better pics of my Splash Copper pullets, but here are a few pictures of Mud's girls just for fun. The Speckled Sussex pullets are just layers.



Splash #1

Splash #2

FRF pullet

Splash 1,2, & 3

,
love the splash pullets ,sussex are gorgeous too .

here what i like about the splash pullets .almost every thing except the shape of they tail .square . but I like the Angle right at 45 D, and the form well placed feathers not all over the place.

the Black copper are gorgeous too .great type .

a problem you are having with a fertility is cause by you giving a young Mud too many ladies to look after . too early for him .
need to take the sussex out of the pen .( by the way your sussex pullets have nice pointed thin tail ).

I never give a cockerel more than 4 hens in the first month of breeding . when I see he is doing alright than I ll add more .

chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

pullet 1 = great type nice and long ,rectangular not square .
nice head
short on her feet .great traits .
deep chest .
nice long back ,a little fluff at the end when tail started ,
tail well angled not too high neither low
body feathers free from fluff .
wings well held close to her body ,great .
nice comb and wattle .

only her tail is square not pointed . but nice form .feathers well put together not all over the place .

she is good to breed from for sure .

chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

pullet 2 and 3 .they are identical .well bred . a same phenotype . BRAVO TO THE BREEDER. uniform strain

all a same even they tail except the body marking .
I love the speckled one .

you should get a lovely marans chicks from them .

chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

she is sublime .
love her body type and mass I recon she is about 3.2 to 3.4 Kg
lovely doll black .sheen only on the upper part of her body
great coppery hackle ,very hard to achieve .
nice long ,flat back
nice tail Angle and form not the shape a little square .should be pointed
well feathered shank and right height .
deep chest

she ll give you nice chicks for sure .

chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

my little chick has leg problem and twisted toes. I am not sure if she was hatched like that or it is an injury. I had to take her out of the bator as she got stuck in the hole on the floor.

she is running away from the lamp. besides the feed I chopped her some dandelion and gave her some sesame seeds. she was pecking dandelion and when she discovered sesame seeds she said: rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr and gobbled them. when I checked her at 5 am she was sleeping on the floor and no trace of feed, lol. I put some more.

how is she now .
great sign if she finished her food .

the incubator mating is very bad for the chicks .
I take them out as soon as they hatch and put them in the box next to the heat lamp .they dry quicker and rest better . they don t cry .

hope she get well soon .love to see her photo.

chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

Mud had 8 girls and Cooper has 6. Cooper keeps up with his girls well and keeps their eggs fertile. I figured Mud was just young and still adjusting to being head rooster. He is learning fast and now tidbits to call his girls to treats. I will candle the next couple of clutches in the incubator and see if they are developing. If fertility continues to be an issue I wi take out my sussex layers from his pen and move them so he can focus on the Marans. I didnt know Marans needed a smaller ratio! Thanks for the heads up.

too much for Mud .
too many hens

Ratio does not exist ,just people speculation and way of doing it .

each rooster is different .
it is a breeder job to observe and adjust the breeding pens as the season progresses . adding hens/pullets or taking out hens /pullets from the pens if needed .

I always stat with a smaller number if I m working with a young cockerels .
none of my breeding pens have a same number of hens/pullets and I noticed that the fertility has nothing to do with a number . fertility come from the vigor of the breeders rooster and Hens .

Charlie 2 and Zimbezi are so gentile to they ladies and they ladies love them a little bit .so they fertility is the highest even they have more hens in they pens .Charlie2 have 8 hens .Zimbezi have 7 hens.
Erikson2 was fertile a first 3 weeks ,got chicks from him ,than he shut down, 0 chicks from week week 3 tell week 8 .

chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

I have seven total hens and 2 cocks of the Marans.

they are all Birchen ?

breed the pullet with a white spot on her body with a cockerel without any white even if his silver is not pure ,she have a nice silver and he has no white .they should give you some small percentage of correct birchen nice silver and no white .

chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

here some up date of the a little chicks .

the majority are fine ,except few lost they vigor after all that heat ,mainly the older group .fully feathered one.
I m giving them some triple c antibiotic . normally will help them to recover .

the weather is not on my side .was too hot and now is colder than normal .went from 40/45 for about 5 days to 20/18 now.

any way they ll get used to this type of weather .

here some photos of the older group

 

[GalShon]

here some up date of the a little chicks .

the majority are fine ,except few lost they vigor after all that heat ,mainly the older group .fully feathered one.
I m giving them some triple c antibiotic . normally will help them to recover .

the weather is not on my side .was too hot and now is colder than normal .went from 40/45 for about 5 days to 20/18 now.

any way they ll get used to this type of weather .

here some photos of the older group

Best of luck with all of them!