International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[Richard Pryor]

I'm not sure about the lines. I didn't ask. I will see what he says.

Very nice eggs. Any pictures of the birds?

 

[kcrandall]

I double checked this morning. All of my birds have copper ear tufts.
Its hard to tell in the pictures. Their eyes are all a orange reddish color.
You had me worried last night.
Thank you again for your comments.
I have been working with my marans for a while and wasn't sure that it was paying off. I'm finally starting to see results. This thread has been helpful in letting me know that I'm headed in the right direction.

Thanks again to all that have helped make this thread the best thread on BYC. In my opinion anyway.

My apologies for worrying you (not my intent). I (we) can only comment on what we see in the pictures. I know that lighting, time of day, quality of camera, poultry cooperation, etc. can affect the images which is why I usually add qualifiers in my comments. No one knows your birds like you do so go with what you see.

At 7 to 9 weeks old they still have a lot of growing to do but so far your birds are looking good. I usually do not cull any birds until they are at least 6 months old. Remember that Marans usually do not show their true color until after their second adult molt.

Take Care,
Keith

 

[kcrandall]

Received 15 BCM 2-day-old chicks today from Frasier Creek Farm. Had to cull one and another looks weak and small. So I may end up with lucky 13.

The owner has a very honest description on his website regarding the difficulty of breeding for conformation while retaining dark egg color. (Link if you want to read it)

I will do my best to try and breed for conformation, while retaining dark egg color.

Here are a few of the chicks.

This is a very long thread. I’ll do my best to read all pages. Any advice/recommendation/observation/comments/criticism would be more than welcomed.

Congratulations, you have some very nice chicks! They have good hatch down color and nice shank/feet color, etc. I've heard a lot of good things about Brian and his flock of BCMs. I'm happy he was able to help you get your start with BCMs.

Read what you can about Marans and ask questions here - we are here to help as you need or want. Remember, if a Marans has a fault that bird may still be useful in a breeding program. Our job is to match mating pairs to cancel out their individual faults so we improve upon each successive generation.

Take Care,
Keith

P.S. I give my chicks Jump Start to help them along at hatch until they are 16 weeks old. Jump Start is a water soluble powder added to their drinking water that provides all the vitamins, minerals and probiotics chicks need to help them develop and grow strong. Vitamin deficiencies can stunt a chicks growth. I also add one tablespoon of Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV) to one gallon of water given at least once a week.

 

[littlepeeps81]

Hi everyone, sorry I have been gone for a bit. I know I have missed out on lots of interesting marans topics. I wanted to post a few pics of my black copper marans. I was lucky enough to get three LP marans chicks to hatch. They are now around two and a half months old. I am an amature so I was wondering if the seasoned marans breeders would chime in and let me know if I have anything good to work with. I am hoping for at least one hen. I think I have a hen and two roosters, but sometimes I think they may all be roosters. The marans I call Hazel seems to have lesser leg feathering, and the copper feathering on the neck is coming in much slower. I thought the neck feathering on this bird may be less pointy, but I just don't know. They were named as eggs, so a female may be sporting a traditional male name and visa versa. Anyway, I just love them. They are all three very friendly, and I am enjoying watching them grow and mature. Thank you everyone for any imput. Chooksman, your advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[kcrandall]

Hi everyone, sorry I have been gone for a bit. I know I have missed out on lots of interesting marans topics. I wanted to post a few pics of my black copper marans. I was lucky enough to get three LP marans chicks to hatch. They are now around two and a half months old. I am an amature so I was wondering if the seasoned marans breeders would chime in and let me know if I have anything good to work with. I am hoping for at least one hen. I think I have a hen and two roosters, but sometimes I think they may all be roosters. The marans I call Hazel seems to have lesser leg feathering, and the copper feathering on the neck is coming in much slower. I thought the neck feathering on this bird may be less pointy, but I just don't know. They were named as eggs, so a female may be sporting a traditional male name and visa versa. Anyway, I just love them. They are all three very friendly, and I am enjoying watching them grow and mature. Thank you everyone for any imput. Chooksman, your advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Littlepeeps,

You have three pullets - 100% - they all have good type, nice long backs, nice combs/wattles, good leg feathering and good eye color. Styx has really nice copper hackles. Hazel will probably mature to have minimal copper hackles (she will likely appear mostly black).

Pair Hazel with a BCM Cockerel that has overall good body color, copper ear tufts and a little copper coloring on his breast and good feathered legs to get pullets with copper hackles and more leg feathering. BCMs should have moderately feathered shanks / feet - not overly feathered nor too sparse or nonexistent.

Overall, I like your pullets very much. I would use them in my breeding program. If it were me, I would try to find a couple of pure LP Roosters for your breeding program.

Take Care,
Keith

 

[Richard Pryor]

I purchased chics from Brian in Oct. 2016. Very nice person. He has a Bev Davis line and a Little Peddler line. Did you get some of each. I just received new chics on Thrus. June 8 very healthy chics. TOM

I just heard back from Brian and he said they are Little Peddler line. This a good thing?

 

[littlepeeps81]

Littlepeeps,

You have three pullets - 100% - they all have good type, nice long backs, nice combs/wattles, good leg feathering and good eye color. Styx has really nice copper hackles. Hazel will probably mature to have minimal copper hackles (she will likely appear mostly black).

Pair Hazel with a BCM Cockerel that has overall good body color, copper ear tufts and a little copper coloring on his breast and good feathered legs to get pullets with copper hackles and more leg feathering. BCMs should have moderately feathered shanks / feet - not overly feathered nor too sparse or nonexistent.

Overall, I like your pullets very much. I would use them in my breeding program. If it were me, I would try to find a couple of pure LP Roosters for your breeding program.

Take Care,
Keith

kcrandall, thank you so very much for responding!!! I am super excited to find out that they are pullets! Now the search begins for a nice BCM rooster. I hope that Hazel will develop a little more copper on her hackles, but she has been the slowest to mature as far as color goes. She was also the chick with the most white on her wings when she hatched, she was from my darkest egg. Styx and Onyx are the most friendly. I may look into purchasing some more hatching eggs. It's just such a risk with shipped eggs. My hatch rate was not good. Was hoping for at least one male and female. Better luck next time maybe. Thank you for your kind response. I feel so dumb now that I thought Onyx and Styx were males. I guess it is safe to say I don't have the ability judge them by the feathering on the neck yet. I did notice that their combs were not large like other young cockerels in this forum, so it got me wondering if they might possibly be female. Once again I appreciate the knowledge you have shared.

 

[littlepeeps81]

I just heard back from Brian and he said they are Little Peddler line. This a good thing?

Like all BCM lines none are perfect, but yes LP is a good line. My pullets are LP. Best of luck with your chicks!!

 

[kcrandall]

Yes, LPs are a good Line of BCMs. The Little Peddler website will explain (disclose) the known faults found in this line as well as the origin of this line. This is a good source of information so you know what to look for as your chick grow out. One of the main faults found in LP BCMs is "vulture hocks" which are long stiff feathers growing from the lower part of the thigh projecting backward and downward. Quite a few members of this thread have LP BCMs so y'all will be able to share information and experiences particular to LPs.

 

[chickengr]

Hi everyone, sorry I have been gone for a bit. I know I have missed out on lots of interesting marans topics. I wanted to post a few pics of my black copper marans. I was lucky enough to get three LP marans chicks to hatch. They are now around two and a half months old. I am an amature so I was wondering if the seasoned marans breeders would chime in and let me know if I have anything good to work with. I am hoping for at least one hen. I think I have a hen and two roosters, but sometimes I think they may all be roosters. The marans I call Hazel seems to have lesser leg feathering, and the copper feathering on the neck is coming in much slower. I thought the neck feathering on this bird may be less pointy, but I just don't know. They were named as eggs, so a female may be sporting a traditional male name and visa versa. Anyway, I just love them. They are all three very friendly, and I am enjoying watching them grow and mature. Thank you everyone for any imput. Chooksman, your advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

good looking ladies, congrats!

males get red and bigger wattles at young age. that is the first sign they are male. then the combs start growing and getting darker red.