International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[dvoice]

I'm happy with this 5 mo old but not sure of his tail. Still kinda short and it's sort of fanned like a turkey tail at this point.

 

[kcrandall]

One of my hens was broody so I let her have some eggs. Three eggs tried to hatch, one succeeded. Two could not get out of the shells. I think she abandoned the nest when the first chick hatched. I recently read that the increased calcium in layers feed is the problem. I am going to stop feeding laying feed. They really don't eat that much feed though. Free ranging bug eaters! I think it is a cockerel. Have thought so from day one. If it is a cockerel it is not a slow feathering one and that is how my line tends to be. Everything about him is male!
@Chooks man I believe you will like his dusty color, not sure about all the white, his eye color is what you like to see. 9 days old

View attachment 1103094 View attachment 1103095 View attachment 1103096

Hello my friend, good to hear from you! I agree your chick looks like a cockerel. I like his coloring, very minimal white on his face. I hope he does well for you. I let a broody hen set 6 eggs this past spring and she only managed to hatch 2 chicks - one died soon after hatching. Keep your little guy safe!

Take Care,
Keith

 

[kcrandall]

Hope this is 'allowed', maybe appreciated as a 'bad' example?
If not, let me know and I will delete.
Definitely not an SOP bird just a pet, but was wondering about the dark comb/wattles.
Does that correlate with the mossy feathers?
Do you think she is crossed with something else or just a really bad 'line'?
Sorry don't have a good side view. She's 11 wks old.

Aart,

I'm not sure if the dark comb / wattles correlates to mossiness. I'm sure ChooksMan will respond to your post. I do know that we want to avoid breeding from birds that have the dark comb / wattles. She also looks to be clean-legged, is my observation correct?

Keith

 

[aart]

Aart,

I'm not sure if the dark comb / wattles correlates to mosiness. I'm sure ChooksMan will respond to your post. I do know that we want to avoid breeding from birds that have the dark comb / wattles. She also looks to be clean-legged, is my observation correct?

Keith

Thank you. Yes, clean legged.
Are feathered legs always SOP....thought clean was allowed too??
Not that I'm breeding or showing, just want dark eggs, but am curious.

 

[kcrandall]

View attachment 1103594 View attachment 1103593 View attachment 1103595 View attachment 1103591 I'm happy with this 5 mo old but not sure of his tail. Still kinda short and it's sort of fanned like a turkey tail at this point.

Dvoice,

He's a big boy - nice copper hackles / saddle / ear tufts, nice eyes, decent good sized comb (4 points should have 5), nice straight back with correct tilt, and nice colored / feathered shanks. We want a rather short, full tail carried at a 45 degree angle. Your boy has a fanned open tail - angle and size are good. Remember the tail is inherited from the hen so you can work with him. His legs look to be a little long and his breast seems shallow (it may just be the angle of the pics). Overall he's a nice cockerel.

What's going on with his inner toes on each foot? The inner toes are bent inward and backwards at the first joint - should be straight. Were his inner toes this way at hatch or did he have an accident? Just trying to figure out if it's genetic or result of an injury.

Take Care,
Keith

 

[kcrandall]

Thank you. Yes, clean legged.
Are feathered legs always SOP....thought clean was allowed too??
Not that I'm breeding or showing, just want dark eggs, but am curious.

According to the French and U.S. SOP the Marans should have lightly feathered shanks on the outer side of the legs including the outer toe. On this thread we tend to adhere to the French SOP given the origin of the breed. We can use a clean legged bird in our breeding program, assuming no other major faults, by breeding to another bird with good or slightly over-feathered shanks. It usually only takes one maybe two generations to get feathered shanks. The shape of your pullets head makes me think she may be crossed with another breed but ChooksMan has a much better eye for that kinda detail than me.

Take Care,
Keith

 

[Red Banks]

Hello my friend, good to hear from you! I agree your chick looks like a cockerel. I like his coloring, very minimal white on his face. I hope he does well for you. I let a broody hen set 6 eggs this past spring and she only managed to hatch 2 chicks - one died soon after hatching. Keep your little guy safe!

Take Care,
Keith

Hello, thank you Keith. I hope you are well. I really have missed my good friends here! How is Otis? Was that your Roosters name it has been awhile? I had a blue Marans hen that hatched 11 out of 11 and took excellent care of all of them. I have had two BCM and one Splash that were not very good at motherhood. I have the cockerel in the house. I had him outside all day today. My dog thinks the chick is his. My dog's name is Gus (Lonesome Dove) so I named the little cockerel Woodrow. It is amazing how gentle Gus is with that chick. He is so rough with me but with that chick he takes such care. The chick runs all around him so Gus gets down on the floor. It is such a sight to see. I have a lot of reading to do here.

 

[Merrymouse]

pressed the wrong button .

Body color great pure black no mossiness neither white .
over all confirmation = well built and well put together .

she have some thing very special = her ears tuft is coppery color ,same color as her hackle .very rare and great to have .
all her cockerels son s will be well colored

if you show one day ,she is going to do well .even in France . she is 95 point pullets .

thanks you for showing us her photos .
looking forward to see the color of her eggs

chooks man

Thank you very much for your kind words about my pullet. To me she's a beauty and its hard to capture in the photos although I am brand new to chicken keeping I feel like I got lucky with some really pretty pullets. I have shown dogs in conformation and other classes but never chickens and I wouldn't know how to go about it but it does sound like fun so maybe Ill give it a go some day. So just for my own education is her comb wrong because it has a slight bend in it or are the points on the comb incorrect? Thanks again for all of your expertise. Ill try to post a close up picture of her eye color which I think is also not quite correct as you mentioned.

 

[Merrymouse]

Close up of eye

 

[dvoice]

Ty

Dvoice,

He's a big boy - nice copper hackles / saddle / ear tufts, nice eyes, decent good sized comb (4 points should have 5), nice straight back with correct tilt, and nice colored / feathered shanks. We want a rather short, full tail carried at a 45 degree angle. Your boy has a fanned open tail - angle and size are good. Remember the tail is inherited from the hen so you can work with him. His legs look to be a little long and his breast seems shallow (it may just be the angle of the pics). Overall he's a nice cockerel.

What's going on with his inner toes on each foot? The inner toes are bent inward and backwards at the first joint - should be straight. Were his inner toes this way at hatch or did he have an accident? Just trying to figure out if it's genetic or result of an injury.

Take Care,
Keith

KC his breast definitely isn't shallow. One of the main reasons I chose him so far is his full breast. Yes the toes are crooked. Just about all of 2 hatches were like that. I believe combination between bad incubating and onto a cold concrete floor at 3 weeks. Others that have bought eggs from me had no problems and my latest hatch with new Incubator seems to have no problems yet at 4 weeks. Hoping his tail changes a bit as he gets older. I'm going to keep 2 but am having hard time choosing a second.