International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[Richard Pryor]

I'm in Oregon. I'm not sure either as this is my first time with BCM. I was hoping I could show pictures here and they would tell me who to keep. I have little peddler lines. Got them from Brian at Frasier Creek Farms in Corvallis. I'm not sure how long I'll grow them out. They do eat a lot of feed and since I won't eat them the sooner I get rid of them the better. But I understand that sometimes you need to keep them longer to be sure if it's a keeper?

I feed whatever starter feed I find. Used to do Purina but last time I found a starter mix made here in Oregon. I always like to buy local, but this feed was very dusty. It is 20%.

 

[Old Man Tom]

I'm in Oregon. I'm not sure either as this is my first time with BCM. I was hoping I could show pictures here and they would tell me who to keep. I have little peddler lines. Got them from Brian at Frasier Creek Farms in Corvallis. I'm not sure how long I'll grow them out. They do eat a lot of feed and since I won't eat them the sooner I get rid of them the better. But I understand that sometimes you need to keep them longer to be sure if it's a keeper?

I feed whatever starter feed I find. Used to do Purina but last time I found a starter mix made here in Oregon. I always like to buy local, but this feed was very dusty. It is 20%.

I'm in Oregon. I'm not sure either as this is my first time with BCM. I was hoping I could show pictures here and they would tell me who to keep. I have little peddler lines. Got them from Brian at Frasier Creek Farms in Corvallis. I'm not sure how long I'll grow them out. They do eat a lot of feed and since I won't eat them the sooner I get rid of them the better. But I understand that sometimes you need to keep them longer to be sure if it's a keeper?

I feed whatever starter feed I find. Used to do Purina but last time I found a starter mix made here in Oregon. I always like to buy local, but this feed was very dusty. It is 20%.

Thanks for the quick reply. I got my birds from Brian also. When I talked to him he has two LP cocks so that really narrows the gene pool. That means if we bred these they is a real good chance they are brother sister. I think most of the time this just multiplies the faults. Again, I have only looked at this for a couple of years. I think the gene pool for BCM's is real small and a lot of it is mixed. Just my opinion. Brian has very good birds and I have 12 hens from last year. I have 1 cock bird left that will be 1 year old in Oct and it looks like I'm going to cull him too. Just too much of a yellow tint in his hackle. I want a more mahogany color. I have three hens that look really good and lay a nice dark egg. Most of the hens lay an egg every other day and they are brown. TOM

 

[KF0002]

Hello, do you mind if I join your thread? I'm not a breeder of anything yet, but I've been planning and researching for almost a year now and I feel ready to start. I made a short list of breeds that I was interested in, and I kept coming back to the Marans. When I found this thread and saw the lovely mix of scientific approach and relaxed attitude, that was the icing on the cake!
I live in Ireland, and I'm also a big fan of all things French. J'ai etudié le français quand j'etais en fac, malheureusement je n'ai pas souvent l'opportunité de prattiquer recemment...
I'd love to know if there are any Marans breeders that you know of in Ireland that I could get in touch with; if not I'm more than willing to take a trip to France and get started on the right foot

By all means, join us! Welcome to the thread! I live in thd US but I hope someone is able to help you locate some Marans in your area. I would love to be able to go to France and get some Marans. I would be in heaven!

 

[KF0002]

Checked the nest box in Apollo and #60's pen when I got home. To bad I can't set her eggs until she's cleaned out.

 

[Old Man Tom]

Checked the nest box in Apollo and #60's pen when I got home. To bad I can't set her eggs until she's cleaned out.
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I love the way you posted this egg. It is perfect with the egg and the chart. So is this egg a 4 or a 5. I need to know. I would say from this perspective mine are a 4. Thank you for this posting. TOM

 

[chickengr]

Thanks for the welcome! I signed up on that site but then I got a bit shy about posting since my French is a bit rusty and I don't know the proper chicken vocabulary! I'll try again

You're in Greece, right? I was trying to figure out the rules about moving chickens around in the EU but I'm still not confident I understand them. Did you have any problems?

use google translate.

you can bring the eggs by plane but I have heard that you must drive if you want to take live chicks. shipping eggs by plane is disaster, don't even think about that.

 

[chickengr]

Thanks for the quick reply. I got my birds from Brian also. When I talked to him he has two LP cocks so that really narrows the gene pool. That means if we bred these they is a real good chance they are brother sister. I think most of the time this just multiplies the faults. Again, I have only looked at this for a couple of years. I think the gene pool for BCM's is real small and a lot of it is mixed. Just my opinion. Brian has very good birds and I have 12 hens from last year. I have 1 cock bird left that will be 1 year old in Oct and it looks like I'm going to cull him too. Just too much of a yellow tint in his hackle. I want a more mahogany color. I have three hens that look really good and lay a nice dark egg. Most of the hens lay an egg every other day and they are brown. TOM

can you post photos of your chickens before you cull any? maybe you don't need to cull if you can match them. a perfect bird will never give you perfect birds. we must work hard and balance hard if we want perfect birds.

btw, my 2 roos (father and son) both had yellow in the hackles. I now have 3 cockerels and 1 looks like he will not have yellow at all. his mom is somewhat darker and probably balanced the colour. he is still young so I will wait a bit more to see how he develops. I gave up the idea of culling them now.

 

[Amanita]

use google translate.

you can bring the eggs by plane but I have heard that you must drive if you want to take live chicks. shipping eggs by plane is disaster, don't even think about that.

Ok, thanks

I would be driving, it's more convenient for us, and my husband hates flying anyway! We have some friends near Paris that we were thinking about visiting soon, so we could probably make a detour for chickens Where would we need to go, do you know?

I've signed up on Marans-aspiran now, but I can't read any of the posts yet. I guess someone needs to approve me?

 

[chickengr]

Ok, thanks

I would be driving, it's more convenient for us, and my husband hates flying anyway! We have some friends near Paris that we were thinking about visiting soon, so we could probably make a detour for chickens Where would we need to go, do you know?

I've signed up on Marans-aspiran now, but I can't read any of the posts yet. I guess someone needs to approve me?

probably.

introduce yourself, just a few words and then you can chat and ask whatever you want to or you can start a new thread.

 

[KF0002]

I love the way you posted this egg. It is perfect with the egg and the chart. So is this egg a 4 or a 5. I need to know. I would say from this perspective mine are a 4. Thank you for this posting. TOM

Thank you! I would say the egg in the picture is a little darker than a 4 but not quite a 5. She lays a solid 5 early in her laying cycle but it lightens a little as she lays for a long stretch. She went broody a couple months ago and I had to break her up. Since then she has been laying regularly for a month. I hope she keeps at it so I can get some chicks from her and Apollo.