International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[Chooks man]

just bought a young group of Cream Leg Bar chooks from the imported stock ( UK stock)
8 pullets and 6 cockerels .waited for over one year .
6/8 weeks old .picking them next Weekend . not far away from me 150km ( 300Km return trip )
can t wait .

chooks man

 

[kfelton0002]

Yeah 1005 with you .
it is the type of a cockerel I suggest in the earlier post .

where he come from .loaded with a Melanin . can be helpful some type .
we are a chooks breeders we have to find what work for us .

chooks man

He came from Tennessee, bred by Randy Mashburn of Mashburn Marans. So I've been calling this cockerel Mashburn. I got him directly from the breeder. I was feeling a bit discouraged about him because he was so black, but then it occurred to me that this quality is what will work to my advantage to help me correct the halos and white underfluff in my lines. He is a big solid and healthy cockerel, and he looks much bigger than he is. He was holding his feathers tighter in the pictures because he was stressed. He isn't as tame as my other birds so he didn't like me being close taking his picture.

I will pair him to a my best colored pullet with nice type and comb when he matures, so likely Zanitta or Queen (or both). This line will be kept and marked separate from my original lines.

 

[kfelton0002]

@kfelton0002

good comb .need a better shot please .
i can see a well uniform point but not clear enough .

love the color of his feet ..

chooks man

Thank you! I will try to get better pictures of his comb soon.

 

[kfelton0002]

Wow . Shiraz is a 100% cockerels Dams . she is a QUEEN SHIRAZ worthy to be a first foundation hen for this line .

this cockerel is a brick on legs with a head and tail .can t be more marans than that .OK the tail is high .but don t forget .it is from his sire not from his dam .

chooks man

I like him too, despite his high tail. I am very happy with these grow outs for the most part. I love his big chunky type. I will get better pictures of him as he continues to mature.

 

[kfelton0002]

@kfelton0002

I really like this guy .and I like the pairing of Apollo X Shiraz.
this pairing is showing all sign of greatness .
the body type is always the first when we breed any thing . this pair is producing great body type .
here some more name for him with S = Samir . Socrates ( Greek philosopher ). Spirit, Saffron .

chooks man

Thank you! I'm glad you like him too. He is my best grow out so far, type and tail wise. The name Socrates suits him I think.

 

[kfelton0002]

just bought a young group of Cream Leg Bar chooks from the imported stock ( UK stock)
8 pullets and 6 cockerels .waited for over one year .
6/8 weeks old .picking them next Weekend . not far away from me 150km ( 300Km return trip )
can t wait .

chooks man

Yay! Congratulations! That is so exciting! Post pictures when you can! I adore my Cream Legbars. I have been waiting for a very long time on White Legbars, and I still haven't received my eggs yet. The breeder had given me a date a few weeks ago that she would ship them but her hens decided to stop laying so I'm still waiting. Hopefully I will get them soon!

 

[kfelton0002]

here some up date of my young marans stock .they are big now .many cockerels 2 to 1 ratio .summer hatch
View attachment 1268469

He is really nice! You have done well! I love a barred/cuckoo bird. I kind of wish I would have kept my Cuckoos, but I wanted to focus on my lines of black and blue coppers. If I ever "perfect" those I may add another color variety.

 

[kfelton0002]

Hello, what marans species produces the darkest eggs? Or is it more due to selective breeding?

Here in the US there are lines of Black Marans that lay very dark. It would be between Blacks and Black Coppers that lay the darkest eggs in this country.

 

[kfelton0002]

don t panic . there is solution to any problem . most of BCM/BLCM /BRM strain suffer from the hackle white under fluff . this parasitic white fluff is different than the featheres parasitic white . genetically are different and they are regulated by different genes .

Don t forget .as BCM breeders we are working against the low of nature. the SOP don t select for the genetically sound and correct color pattern .they select for they test . that some time causes problem for the breeders .
the SOP call for a rich red copper / orange eyes/ slate with a pinkish tune shanks. those thing come at the cost . selecting for those traits generation after generation reduced the amount and the type of the Melanin in the chooks genomes .We almost bred the melanin out . bad move .
you can t fix every thing in one line in one go .need time and many lines .
it is going to take as a long time and effort to fix and breed those chooks to they full potential .

what you need is a just one cockerel with a pure Black under fluff . over Melinised bird.
if you find this bird ,breed from him in a limited number .because you don t want to go back to a black chooks .

I think we all should breed a white variety .every thing is white ( even here the SOP allow the white marans rooster to have some degree of yellow on his hackle and saddle-)

breeding to the SOP doesn t mean breeding genetically correct and sound chooks.

chooks man

I think it is funny you say that because I literally was just thinking that White Marans will probably be the next color variety I will add to my collection. In a solid white bird you don't have to worry about parasitic white! Or copper leakage on the chest, or shafting. Or halos in the hackle or any of that stuff. LOL!

There are some beautiful lines of White Marans in this country and the breeders are getting their eggs coming nice and dark. They were started the same way the White Legbars were created, recessive white sports cropping up in lines of Cuckoo Marans and other color varieties. So pretty!

 

[chickengr]

my sick pullet laid another egg. this time it had a soft shell as she laid it soon after the first one. I broke it and gave her as a treat. she enjoyed it.