International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[Red Banks]

No not yet. Ive been crazy busy but I will as soon as I can. Her advice sounds like what Chooks man would tell us, to balance the color of the cockerel with the lack of color in the pullet. I would hang on Monique's every word. I am such a huge admirer of her.

I am missing Chooks man though! I hope he graces us with his presence soon.

The two cockerels I have decided to keep have the least copper on their chests.

 

[Red Banks]

I was out gardening and found a pullet egg in the dirt. Not bad! Very dark! I must have washed the bloom off when I washed the dirt off. I have to get the color chart out, I think this pullet egg is a 7 possibly an 8. The picture is way off the actual color.

 

[Red Banks]

I don't recall any discussion about halos here yet. I can't help but wonder how it is any different than any other fault to be worked on. What happened to chooks?! I think he has become a legend at this point...

He'll be back! (In Terminator accent)

 

[KF0002]

Great job! I have to laugh.... my first thought was....... it looks just like chicken. Just think if we had to really produce/process all of our food..... things would be very different. A woman has offered to help me learn. She has been taking all my cockerels. @kfelton0002 . Did the Redbanks cockerel go?

No he's still way too small to butcher. Im going to try to plump him up a little and see if he will get bigger. I moved him to the big bachelor pen with a few others after I butchered the older Marans cockerels.

If we had to process all our food it would be exhausting. Lol. The cockerels did turn out really nice looking though after we plucked and processed them. They had more meat on them than the last cockerels we did.

I brought Patty, my Redbanks pullet in last night to clip her wing so I could move her into the big Marans pen for now. She is beautiful and very mild mannered. While I was holding her I was admiring how smooth her feathers were.. like satin. She sat right in my lap as I clipped her wing and didnt fuss. She's a good girl.

I had to move her to free up a 4x4 pen because my spare line A cockerel is being a jerk and picking fights with the gamecocks so I had to pen him up.

 

[Red Banks]

No he's still way too small to butcher. Im going to try to plump him up a little and see if he will get bigger. I moved him to the big bachelor pen with a few others after I butchered the older Marans cockerels.

If we had to process all our food it would be exhausting. Lol. The cockerels did turn out really nice looking though after we plucked and processed them. They had more meat on them than the last cockerels we did.

I brought Patty, my Redbanks pullet in last night to clip her wing so I could move her into the big Marans pen for now. She is beautiful and very mild mannered. While I was holding her I was admiring how smooth her feathers were.. like satin. She sat right in my lap as I clipped her wing and didnt fuss. She's a good girl.

I had to move her to free up a 4x4 pen because my spare line A cockerel is being a jerk and picking fights with the gamecocks so I had to pen him up.

Thank you.... I love my pullets (I had nothing to do with how nice they are.) Their feathers are soft and beautiful. Antonio makes beautiful pullets.

 

[Red Banks]

No he's still way too small to butcher. Im going to try to plump him up a little and see if he will get bigger. I moved him to the big bachelor pen with a few others after I butchered the older Marans cockerels.

If we had to process all our food it would be exhausting. Lol. The cockerels did turn out really nice looking though after we plucked and processed them. They had more meat on them than the last cockerels we did.

I brought Patty, my Redbanks pullet in last night to clip her wing so I could move her into the big Marans pen for now. She is beautiful and very mild mannered. While I was holding her I was admiring how smooth her feathers were.. like satin. She sat right in my lap as I clipped her wing and didnt fuss. She's a good girl.

I had to move her to free up a 4x4 pen because my spare line A cockerel is being a jerk and picking fights with the gamecocks so I had to pen him up.

I don't think that cockerel is going to grow. His comb and body are very immature for his age. Could that be considered a failure to thrive?

 

[Magnolia Hill]

No he's still way too small to butcher. Im going to try to plump him up a little and see if he will get bigger. I moved him to the big bachelor pen with a few others after I butchered the older Marans cockerels.

If we had to process all our food it would be exhausting. Lol. The cockerels did turn out really nice looking though after we plucked and processed them. They had more meat on them than the last cockerels we did.

I brought Patty, my Redbanks pullet in last night to clip her wing so I could move her into the big Marans pen for now. She is beautiful and very mild mannered. While I was holding her I was admiring how smooth her feathers were.. like satin. She sat right in my lap as I clipped her wing and didnt fuss. She's a good girl.

I had to move her to free up a 4x4 pen because my spare

Pictures I took while we processed my cull Marans cockerels. My neighbor helped me and we did 4 today. It was a job, but we had a lot of fun.

The feathers came out like butter. Our scalding water temp was on point.

View attachment 1351569 View attachment 1351570
Meat resting on ice in the cooler.
View attachment 1351571

Dang, get you some of that. Thats the one thing i haven't had the pleasure of doing. Looks like you got it figuerd out.

 

[KF0002]

I was out gardening and found a pullet egg in the dirt. Not bad! Very dark! I must have washed the bloom off when I washed the dirt off. View attachment 1352739

Very nice!! Its awesome your pullets are already laying.

I don't think that cockerel is going to grow. His comb and body are very immature for his age. Could that be considered a failure to thrive?

No failure to thrive would be not eating, drinking, or growing normally. He is stunted for whatever reason, whether it be from a genetic anomaly or some type of organ malfunction internally. His appetite is great and they eat well. His sister is normal for her age. She still likes a bit before she is POL, her comb isnt big and red yet.

 

[baunlee]

Very nice!! Its awesome your pullets are already laying.



No failure to thrive would be not eating, drinking, or growing normally. He is stunted for whatever reason, whether it be from a genetic anomaly or some type of organ malfunction internally. His appetite is great and they eat well. His sister is normal for her age. She still likes a bit before she is POL, her comb isnt big and red yet.

I have a dumb blue copper hen from Brinkhaven like that I think. She like stopped growing but isnt full size. Yeah don't buy chicks from them! It was when I didn't even order blue copper and then they said it was a yellow marans like wth is that LOL remember that?!

 

[KF0002]

Dang, get you some of that. Thats the one thing i haven't had the pleasure of doing. Looks like you got it figuerd out.

LOL.. you should give it a try! We had a blast processing them (is that wierd?) My neighbor is a hoot anyway and is a chicken nut like me so it was fun. We learn each time we do it and are getting better at it. I watched a lot of youtube videos and bought my knives and stuff online (amazon). You need a good boning knife, the blade of mine is about 5-6 inches long. You need a killing cone and a good sharp knife to cut the birds' throat so they bleed out. We hung the killing cone on the side of my hen house and put a bucket under it for the birds to bleed out into. We brought the chickens into my kitchen to scald, pluck, and process them. I have a huge pot and a thermometer to measure the temp of the water. You want the water to be between 145 and 160. Take the chicken by the feet and dip it in the water, taking a pair of tongs to help saturate all the feathers. Gently swish the chicken in the water for approximately 3 seconds. Raise the bird out of the water and try to pull out the primary wing feathers. If they dont pull out easily, redip for another 3 seconds and repeat until the primary wing feathers come out easily.

Then bring the chicken over to the area where you are going to do the plucking. I put a big garbage bag in my kitchen sink to put the feathers in and make clean up easier. Once plucked go ahead and put the chicken on the cutting board. Cut the head and feet off and proceed to gut the bird and part it out or keep it whole, whichever you prefer. I cut the birds up to make freezing easier.

A few words of warning: do not nick the intestines or large bowel just inside the cloaca that is sac-like and contains a big poop. You will contaminate your meat with bacteria. And be careful with the gallbladder (green sac attached to the liver. If you rupture the gallbladder it can cause the meat to taste bitter if contaminated with the bile.

Also, you have to rest the meat before freezing or cooking for at least 2-3 days to allow rigor mortis to pass, otherwise the meat will be tough. For older birds (roosters or old hens) brine the bird for at least 2-4 hours prior to cooking or freezing in a salt water solution to tenderize the meat. You can freeze without brining and then brine once thawed before cooking instead, either way is fine. For a simple brine, dissolve 1/4 to 1/2 cup salt per gallon of water in hot water, then allow the brine to cook to room temp prior to adding the meat.

Watch youtube videos and you'll be processing birds like a pro. I love youtube.