International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[chickengr]

here is the other one that had some yellow down at hatch (3 weeks and 2 days old):

 

[chickengr]

the second pullet is from my friend's eggs. his flock is mostly overmelanized. hens have bent combs. only 3 hens have straight combs.

 

[kcrandall]

View attachment 1027087 View attachment 1027088 View attachment 1027089 View attachment 1027090 View attachment 1027092 View attachment 1027093 View attachment 1027094 View attachment 1027095 View attachment 1027096 Here is my Jem. I think she is so pretty and she is my husbands favorite pullet. The black is so black with blue/green sheen at certain angles and the gold is vibrant against the black. We love her. She is middle to low on the pecking order and very friendly. I'm a beginner to chicken keeping. Is she a good example of the breed? I posted when she was younger and she was almost a solid black chick with just a little white on the belly.
ETA she is approximately 11 weeks old but a little younger in some of these pictures

Pretty girl!! She has very nice copper hackles, good eye color, nicely feathered shanks and good straight comb. I'm not seeing any white. You've done well!

 

[kcrandall]

here is the other one that had some yellow down at hatch (3 weeks and 2 days old):
View attachment 1027437 View attachment 1027438 View attachment 1027439

Very nice chicks, I'm well happy for you!! You've had a tough time with the chook but you've stuck with it and got a nice reward.

 

[Chooks man]

she is a real beauty!

X 2

chooks man

 

[JacquelineJ]

I have started with 1 hen. hatched 1 female and the mother hen died. so year 2 and 1 hen only again. I now have 6 chicks, probably 3 boys and 3 girls although I am not sure about 1-2 girls if they really are girls. then I got the eggs from a friend of mine and hopefully hatched 5 girls. I think it is still early to trap hens as we need a flock first.

I guess we should start with small steps. discard only the birds with obvious faults like parasitic white, vulture cocks, etc. we cannot afford to cull a lot of birds at the beginning so in my opinion for the first year or two it is not crucial to trap hens. I might be wrong.

I'm not sure i understand @chickengr - I was not speaking about culling, I was more wondering how a breeder might do selective breeding with a single hen. Great to hear you started with a single female too though! I am not havinig luck finding anyone who will sell me marans eggs within driving distance. (the original purchase came 400kms and many broke or got scrambled in the post, which i would like to avoid in future)

 

[JacquelineJ]

As a breeder of a marans chooks I can tell you YES ,I do trap all the breeders hens when I m breeding .especially when they start laying they first 20/30 eggs.

it is time consuming .it is a reason a good breeders sale the fertile eggs expensive .

chooks man

ok, that is great to know. At least i know what to do (eventually) thank you for replying.

 

[chickengr]

I'm not sure i understand @chickengr - I was not speaking about culling, I was more wondering how a breeder might do selective breeding with a single hen. Great to hear you started with a single female too though! I am not havinig luck finding anyone who will sell me marans eggs within driving distance. (the original purchase came 400kms and many broke or got scrambled in the post, which i would like to avoid in future)

I see. with 1 hen you know exactly her eggs. my luna lays 4-5 eggs per week so I was able to collect some for hatching. at the moment I cannot be very selective but luckily I don't see big faults so far.

I wish you luck that the first chicks you get will come out great!

read this thread from the beginning and you will learn a lot. and here is our tutor @Chooks man who always helps.

 

[Chooks man]

I'm not sure i understand @chickengr - I was not speaking about culling, I was more wondering how a breeder might do selective breeding with a single hen. Great to hear you started with a single female too though! I am not havinig luck finding anyone who will sell me marans eggs within driving distance. (the original purchase came 400kms and many broke or got scrambled in the post, which i would like to avoid in future)

I start my Birchen line from one hen Scandinavia
the chooks like to be line bred any way .easy to fix the trait and breed out the fault .

chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

I finally managed to take pics of 2 pullets.

4 weeks old, already has copper in her hackles:
View attachment 1027434 View attachment 1027435

gorgeous chick . nice copper coming along .
great body type .nice long back
love her early feathering type .

done well my friend

chooks man