International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[Chooks man]

@Chooks man
Here are two cockerels
View attachment 1277936

Two different Cockerels

View attachment 1277937

All hold their tails high and alert. When they relax they are better..... much like Tony2. I think you will like Tony2 a lot. At this age they don't relax often. Ha ha ha

is a good sign if they hold they tails at a good angle when they are relax .
I agree with you Tony2 is a better cockerels .his mama is different for sure .

I like the one on the right big one .love his body color type nice pattern .not fully formed but is there .

tail is high for sure . back long flat and sloppy .all good Tail angle and shape NO . work need to be done in this area .my dear friend .

chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

@RedBanks

those 2 are out 100% . 5 left now .
individual photos will help a lot

chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

So got a sad update from the woman I gave Boy Named Sue to today (my blue copper that we chose not to keep for breeding after your input). Mr fox came around and thanks to Sue she only lost 1 hen (he didn't make it) Oddly it makes me kinda proud of him. She set his eggs despite some were old and some had even frozen.

So Here is my question. She set 16 of his eggs. 14 hatched. 4 were over an EE and 10 over a Sussex. 11 of the babies are blue, 2 black with white belly and 1 EE yellow. To get so many blue was it a light Sussex or luck? I thought I read here to get blue you put a black over a splash.

that is normal .
Sue is a Blue copper ER/Er s+/s+ .so he is dominant to Sussex eb/eb .S/- .CO/CO .
so they blue chicks will be Blue copper Pullets and impure Blue copper cockerels S/s+ ( Yellow hackle /lancet and shoulders .

what @kfelton0002 is saying about the Blue gene is correct . the Blue mated to any other color type will allway wild 50% blue Except the Dominant white I/I. all the progeny will be dominant white .
those dominant white if mated together will throw some Blues in the future generation .

chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

Well, I may only get 4 chicks this hatch but I hope to get 4 quality chicks. Quality is better right! Hatch went by the BBS chart. Lol 2 blue one black and one splash.

the quality is better for sure .
the Spring is starting where you from .so can adjust your incubator and hatch more chicks .
it is always nice to have more then you need when come to the chooks .

all the best

chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

From day 18 or 19 through hatch the humidity should be at least 60-65%. I keep my humidity between 35-40% from day 1 through day 18 or 19, then increase it for lockdown.

I know how frustrating it can be trying to get the temp right and keep the humidity where it needs to be. I have some eggs in lockdown now and I struggled to keep the humidity right the first week because it rained constantly. I checked on day 8 or so and it was 60% in my sportsman! I had been using the big humidity pan I had been having to use during the winter dryness and with all the moisture from the rain we had it was just too much. During the warmer months I use a small pan..

The air cells look okay best I can tell in the Marans eggs. I ran the incubator dry for a few days to compensate so I think they will be okay. Sorry to ramble! Hoping we both have an incubator full of chicks tomorrow!

the humidity range you are working with is spot I ran it 40% from 1 to 18 and 60% lockdown .

high humidity causes the marans embryo to grow fast .get too big at hatch .very difficult for them to break they shell .they can t turn around

chooks man

 

[KF0002]

wow my friend .those are class . Gus is gorgeous too.
the young one have good body type long and Elegant . nice hackle marking too .
the 2 cockerel have great body marking ,they look like they are holding they tail high ( alert or what ) love they faces .true Antonio . happy face .

I m not sure if the Possum will eat the chooks .they don t do in my place .I have a red Possum in my farm they are cool whit a chooks .

chooks man

Unfortunately possums do kill chickens here in the US. They are North America's only marsupial but are chicken thieving varmints nonetheless. They like to prey on chickens while they are on the roost because chickens are more vulnerable at night and possums are nocturnal, so its like shooting fish in a barrel.

Sorry for the graphic nature of the picture. This is the possum (actually spelled opossum) that was after my free range chickens in the hen house the other night.

 

[KF0002]

Two cockerels from the last batch. Won't be long before I have to decide if I want to keep one. I only posted pics of two, there are five more. They all look pretty much exactly the same. More pics later. Three months. Just noticed a bump on one of their heads. View attachment 1277478 View attachment 1277479 View attachment 1277483 View attachment 1277484 View attachment 1277485

My cockerel from you looks almost exactly like those. I need to take more pics when all this rain and mud dries up. I have mine penned up so they haven't been able to free range for fear of losing them, poor things. I will let them out soon.

The bump you found on one of their heads, is it on their beak near their nostrils? I have a LA cockerel with a bump too. Like a growth or callous. Incidentally, that cockerel has turned out to have the best type so far of all his brothers. I'm really glad I didn't cull him.

 

[Red Banks]

those cockerels are nice .but they seem to me are not as class as Tony too .
all those cockerels have a long tail at high angle ..need photos of them one by one so I can see the difference .
I still like Tony2 he was wider with a better tail at they age .I could be wrong .

chooks man

I will get individual pics of the cockerels and some of Tony2. These cockerels are only three months and I think some of them are much like T2. My pullets are strong. I can't get away from that tail with the cockerels. I do have a hen with that tail as well. I will start single mating. Thanks for all the good advice.

 

[Chooks man]

Unfortunately possums do kill chickens here in the US. They are North America's only marsupial but are chicken thieving varmints nonetheless. They like to prey on chickens while they are on the roost because chickens are more vulnerable at night and possums are nocturnal, so its like shooting fish in a barrel.

Sorry for the graphic nature of the picture. This is the possum (actually spelled opossum) that was after my free range chickens in the hen house the other night.

View attachment 1278092

Ah the grey possum .
the one in my farm are very rare .they are red with a white tail .small and chunky .I can them a white tail buff possum .
she is having a hard time of razing babies .

chooks man

 

[KF0002]

@Chooks man
Here are two cockerels
View attachment 1277936

Two different Cockerels

View attachment 1277937

All hold their tails high and alert. When they relax they are better..... much like Tony2. I think you will like Tony2 a lot. At this age they don't relax often. Ha ha ha

The color of your cockerels is rich and beautiful, and they look to have nice length to their backs. If they are holding their tails that high now, they will hold them even higher when they mature. That is something I have learned all too well. I have about 8-9 older cockerels free ranging and maybe 2 have decent tail angle. The rest are very high. Luckily a high tail only deducts points and is not a disqualification for show as long as its not a squirrel tail. Only if the bird has a squirrel tail is it considered a DQ. I have a couple with high tails that are handsome birds otherwise, and I may still show them in April if I can get all my ducks in a row.