International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[chickengr]

what number would this be:

 

[KF0002]

what number would this be:
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At least a 7! Gorgeous egg!! Congratulations!

 

[Chooks man]

what number would this be:
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very ,very dark .as dark as you can wish for . I ll give it #8 .

well happy for you .

great shape too .true marans egg .Bravo

chooks man

 

[Old Man Tom]

very ,very dark .as dark as you can wish for . I ll give it #8 .

well happy for you .

great shape too .true marans egg .Bravo

chooks man

Ok, this is the quest, the goal, the legend!!! #8 or #9 color for the egg. If we incubate only #8 or#9 egg will we get that color in the offspring?? Can I hatch #4 and #5 eggs and get #8 and # 9 from the offspring. This is where the box of chocolate comes in. Chooks man do we increase the odds of dark eggs by hatching from dark eggs??

 

[chickengr]

Ok, this is the quest, the goal, the legend!!! #8 or #9 color for the egg. If we incubate only #8 or#9 egg will we get that color in the offspring?? Can I hatch #4 and #5 eggs and get #8 and # 9 from the offspring. This is where the box of chocolate comes in. Chooks man do we increase the odds of dark eggs by hatching from dark eggs??

I remember @Chooks man said that both sire and dam must carry dark egg genes. incubating dark eggs only does not mean you will get dark eggs in the offspring unless their sire has dark egg gene.

 

[chickengr]

I have got 8 maran's eggs today. it means all of my girls are laying (I have 8 pullets).

 

[Old Man Tom]

I remember @Chooks man said that both sire and dam must carry dark egg genes. incubating dark eggs only does not mean you will get dark eggs in the offspring unless their sire has dark egg gene.

Question remains exactly the same. If I hatch a male chic from this #8 or #9 eggs and cross back to the hen that layed this #8 or #9 egg will I have a line of birds that lay #8 and #9 eggs?? TOM

 

[KF0002]

Question remains exactly the same. If I hatch a male chic from this #8 or #9 eggs and cross back to the hen that layed this #8 or #9 egg will I have a line of birds that lay #8 and #9 eggs?? TOM

It is not that simple from what I have read. The inheritance of dark egg color genes and the recombination of the genes the pullets inherit is like pulling the lever on a slot machine. You will get pullets that lay dark but how dark is up to how many inherit just the right combination of genes from both the sire and the dam. No doubt you will produce birds that lay as dark as the dam, but some may lay lighter. You will have to grow them out and trap nest or single pen them to see who is laying what. I have read that the male carries 14 of the genes responsible for egg color while the female only carries 7. Not every bird will inherit the perfect recombination of genes to lay an 8 or 9. But your thinking is definitely on point by breeding a male hatched from an 8 or a 9 back to his dam that laid the 8/9 egg. Inbreeding is the key to get that recombination of genes.

 

[marchick]

I just sent for wing bands. I hope I am brave enough to do them.

 

[kcrandall]

It is not that simple from what I have read. The inheritance of dark egg color genes and the recombination of the genes the pullets inherit is like pulling the lever on a slot machine. You will get pullets that lay dark but how dark is up to how many inherit just the right combination of genes from both the sire and the dam. No doubt you will produce birds that lay as dark as the dam, but some may lay lighter. You will have to grow them out and trap nest or single pen them to see who is laying what. I have read that the male carries 14 of the genes responsible for egg color while the female only carries 7. Not every bird will inherit the perfect recombination of genes to lay an 8 or 9. But your thinking is definitely on point by breeding a male hatched from an 8 or a 9 back to his dam that laid the 8/9 egg. Inbreeding is the key to get that recombination of genes.

Another approach, you can try breeding a male hatched from an #8 or 9 egg to his sisters that lay at least as dark as they Dam to recombine the genes differently. From this brother-sister mating (F1) you can then breed the best F2 male to his Grand Dam (F0) and the F2 pullets that lay as dark as their Dams to their Grand Sire (F0) to create two separate possible F3 dark egg lines.

In my experience, genetic inheritance is a funny thing - it is consistently inconsistent - whether we’re working with mammals or poultry. Just because we breed a male hatched from a #8 or 9 egg to a hen that lays a #8 or 9 egg does not mean that all pullets from this mating will lay #8 or 9 because of the variation in genetic inheritance by each individual. We will most likely get a few pullets that lay as dark as their Dams but my guess is that the majority will not because if it were that easy (and I wish it were) we all would have Marans that lay #9. How nice would it be to not worry about dark egg color so that we could focus on tails, combs, eyes and whatnot? I’ll be happy if I can keep my Marans at a consistent #6-7.

My understanding is that a consistent #8-9 layer is considered a poor layer because she only lays one maybe two eggs per week. I’ve heard Chooks Man say it many times, if we only breed for #9 layers our Marans Pens will be empty.

Marans breeders around the world have been chasing the dark egg genes for decades and to my knowledge the code has not been cracked so the grail is still out there for the taking. I’m just happy to be on this quest with you all!