International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[KF0002]

Sorry.. just now saw bantambird posted another pic. I must start refreshing the page if I walk away from the computer.

 

[KF0002]

While processing some of my cull cockerels a few weeks ago, we noticed they didn't tend to have a lot of breast meat. They were around 4-5 months old. I was afraid to wait much longer for fear of the meat being too tough. Should I have waited longer? What age is best for processing Marans cockerels?

 

[Old Man Tom]

@Bantambird

this pullet of yours will score over 93 point or over in any marans show in France ,so be proud of it .
if you want to breed to show in USA than the French standard is not good for you .
BUT if you want to breed a true French marans than you have to stick to the French .

most people ( or I l say marans breeders) think if they put feathers on they chooks legs than they think they are french marans .

FRENCH MARANS HAS TO BE BRED TO A FRENCH STANDARD .

good luck to every one

chooks man

There are two hens in this pic. If you blow up the pic they both have the same color leg, it is yellow. If the French standard say yellow leg is disq. why would you bred it regardless of type. No one talks about egg color and I see a lot of eggs that do not make a 4 on the chart. Again if it is not a 4 it is not a Marans. It seems the Standard of Perfection is what every YOUR interpretation is.

 

[Bantambird]

I'm not a great photographer, but here's some pics of my eggs, and here's some of my chickens without muddy feet and bad lighting. I just liked her pose in the other pictures, but I assure you, she and her sister hens don't really have yellow feet.

 

[Chooks man]

There are two hens in this pic. If you blow up the pic they both have the same color leg, it is yellow. If the French standard say yellow leg is disq. why would you bred it regardless of type. No one talks about egg color and I see a lot of eggs that do not make a 4 on the chart. Again if it is not a 4 it is not a Marans. It seems the Standard of Perfection is what every YOUR interpretation is.

what are you trying to prove Old Man Tom ?
the lady is saying her pullet has not a yellow legs and other photos of the same pullets at different stage on her growth showing she has a proper colored legs not yellow .
if what the lady is saying is not good enough for you than it is your problem not ours .

HAVE A GOOD DAY

chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

While processing some of my cull cockerels a few weeks ago, we noticed they didn't tend to have a lot of breast meat. They were around 4-5 months old. I was afraid to wait much longer for fear of the meat being too tough. Should I have waited longer? What age is best for processing Marans cockerels?

the marans cockerels are good to be processed at 5 and half month to six month old .
here how they do it in France .I do the same thing too .
first 2 month ( 8 weeks) under the heat lamp . feed chicks crumble at 20/22 % protein
from week 9 tell 5 month of age .they are out free ranging ,they allow 5 to 10 square meters by chook .feed .pullets grower 5% of the ration the rest 25% wheat or corn .
last 2 or 4 week .the chooks are held indoor .in special cages or small pens . feed .corn flour and milk . in this period the chooks rest and put a little weight plus they meat become tender .
I found left over bred from the bakery socked in milk does the same thing plus is free too .
my cockerels carcasses at 6 month is around 1.7 Kg to 2.5 Kg ,some varieties have better mass than other .

if you still want to process them around 4 month old than you have to start them with high protein chicks started 25% meat bird starter of wild bird for the first 6 weeks .

chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

this photo is all yellow .
the chooks ,
the timber post at the left . first 2 are lighter yellow ,the other 3 are darker all the way except from the top ,where the are in contact with the sitting sun
Cream leg bar cockerel ,his left side around his head and hackle is almost white
yellow hues on the ground stretching straight all the way .passing between the chooks leg .

the upper part of the Birchen pullet and her face are yellow

every thing is yellow no need to blow nothing up
it is as clear as a day light .

chooks man

 

[Old Man Tom]

this photo is all yellow .
the chooks ,
the timber post at the left . first 2 are lighter yellow ,the other 3 are darker all the way except from the top ,where the are in contact with the sitting sun
Cream leg bar cockerel ,his left side around his head and hackle is almost white
yellow hues on the ground stretching straight all the way .passing between the chooks leg .

the upper part of the Birchen pullet and her face are yellow

every thing is yellow no need to blow nothing up
it is as clear as a day light .

chooks man

You say they are yellow, the pic shows they are yellow, I asked why anyone would bred a hen with yellow legs. I do not have a problem. I have bought BCM that all had yellow legs, the people selling them swear they do not. I never had BCM's before this. I had to cull all the birds. I see pic on hear that are not SOP birds. People keep on breeding them. Then they sell them all over the internet. I did not know anything about BCM SOP. I have been reading and searching for over 2 years. It is very hard to find one good bird out of thousand. Again I do not have a problem, I saw yellow legs and if they are not yellow that is great. I never saw a pic of the same hen with gray slate legs.

 

[Bantambird]

You say they are yellow, the pic shows they are yellow, I asked why anyone would bred a hen with yellow legs. I do not have a problem. I have bought BCM that all had yellow legs, the people selling them swear they do not. I never had BCM's before this. I had to cull all the birds. I see pic on hear that are not SOP birds. People keep on breeding them. Then they sell them all over the internet. I did not know anything about BCM SOP. I have been reading and searching for over 2 years. It is very hard to find one good bird out of thousand. Again I do not have a problem, I saw yellow legs and if they are not yellow that is great. I never saw a pic of the same hen with gray slate legs.

I can understand the frustration. Birchen Marans are still a work in progress as far as getting eggs as dark as I would like. I am not the best photographer, and that pic was in January. Winter sun plays wierd tricks on me, but I still liked her pose. I agree that yellow legs are bad. I posted some more pics of my birds, the same hen is there too. Honestly, my faults lie in Carnation comb, I've battled that out. I may have been overzealous in trying to eliminate it, but this new batch will tell. Coco is raising me up 10 birchen chicks, they are 3 weeks old now, so we will see.
Coco is an English Orpington she also is in dire need of a molt. She's my best broody, besides my turkey hens Rosabelle and Annabelle.

 

[Old Man Tom]

BantamBird, Thank you for the follow up on this hen. I started looking at Black Copper Marans about two years ago. I thought I would order up a dozen birds and breed to SOP. Boy was I wrong!! Yellow legs, coronation comb and light egg color. So far I have purchased a total of 60+ bird at $15 each. I have 4 hens that lay nice eggs. I culled 18 cocks last year and have 14, 6 week olds, to choose from this year. Last year I culled at 4 months. This time around I think I'm going to try and wait longer. Hopefully a year. I have found that cocks eat about twice what my hens do. I have had yellow legs, coronation combs, very light colored eggs. I hope I have a better gene pool now. Too much copper in the cocks seems to be my issue with this line. I plan on being in this for a long time.

I can understand the frustration. Birchen Marans are still a work in progress as far as getting eggs as dark as I would like. I am not the best photographer, and that pic was in January. Winter sun plays wierd tricks on me, but I still liked her pose. I agree that yellow legs are bad. I posted some more pics of my birds, the same hen is there too. Honestly, my faults lie in Carnation comb, I've battled that out. I may have been overzealous in trying to eliminate it, but this new batch will tell. Coco is raising me up 10 birchen chicks, they are 3 weeks old now, so we will see.
Coco is an English Orpington she also is in dire need of a molt. She's my best broody, besides my turkey hens Rosabelle and Annabelle.[/QUOTE