International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[BreezyBre]

I love all my chickens but my black copper Purdy is my girl through & through she hangs out of my shoulder or my head and is very clearly the head hen in charge She's a good girl always following me around wanting to hang out , she's my bff chicken.

 

[KF0002]

I bred them.
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If the first hen isn't the mother, the second one is.

Nice birds you have there! I can't tell much about the rooster because of the angle he is standing in the pic, but his color looks great. His tail angle appears to be good best I can tell and his tail is nice and short as it should be. His breast looks round and full so that is good He does have some copper leakage on his chest, but a small amount is allowed per the standard. I can't tell much about his eye color, but he is a nice male from what I can see.

The pullets are lovely! Their tail angles are very nice and their backs are long so you have that battle won. The first hen's back does go slightly uphill to the tail, but that can be corrected if the rooster has a long back that slopes downward to the tail as it should. The second hen has a slight cushion, and from the middle of her back to her tail slopes upward where it should slope downward but again that can be worked on. They have a nice amount of copper in their hackles. I like the amount they have because likely they won't produce sons with too much copper leakage on their chests. I like them very much and would be happy to see them in my own pens.

 

[KF0002]

Thanks everyone. This is what they look like now (hatched early March). I'm going to need some help narrowing down roosters from 6 to 2 in a few months. So I'll definitely stick around!

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Their eye color is still developing, but their eyes don't look too light or too dark. The first pullet looks like she has marbled eye color (dark flecks in the iris), but if mated to a male that has good eye color that can be corrected. Feel free to post pics of all your birds as they grow out. Glad you joined our little group! I have learned a lot here.

 

[KF0002]

I have no idea.... both my batches have it.. :/

The white flecks in the chest feathers of chicks will molt out when they lose their juvenile feathers. I also experience the white specks in the breast of some of my chicks. I believe the white flecks in the breast are a sign of parasitic white. Every bird I have grown out with these white flecks in the chest have had parasitic white as they matured. The white on the breast of the chicks will molt out, but from my experience the bird will likely have white elsewhere as it matures or finally as it reaches adulthood. This parasitic white shows up in the underfluff under the hackles, as a white tail feather, white feathers in the wings or other places. I am working on this in my own lines as well and I know it isn't an uncommon issue that many Marans breeders encounter.

 

[KF0002]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/th...cussion-thread.444381/page-1385#post-19904970

Another theory from a friend of mine that shows Marans is that the white flecks of the chick show where the bird will have copper leakage as it matures. I don't think this is accurate because I have pullets that have had the white as chicks and grow up fine with no mossiness (leakage). Also my original line A cock bird had it as a chick and he had no copper leakage, but he did have white underfluff under his hackles.

The best thing to do is mark chicks like this and document how they looked as juveniles and watch how they grow out as they mature.

 

[KF0002]

Parasitic white is simply white feathers where there should be no white.

 

[UThobbyfarmer]

Their eye color is still developing, but their eyes don't look too light or too dark. The first pullet looks like she has marbled eye color (dark flecks in the iris), but if mated to a male that has good eye color that can be corrected. Feel free to post pics of all your birds as they grow out. Glad you joined our little group! I have learned a lot here.

Thank you! I've already learned a lot. I tried to get some pics today but they are at such an awkward age. Couldn't get even 1 good pic where they didn't look like Quasimodo. I'm going to try again tomorrow where I have more room and better lighting.

 

[Old Man Tom]

Parasitic white is simply white feathers where there should be no white.

Black Copper Marans should not have white anywhere! TRUE All my dark egg layers have white in their wings. TOM

 

[Old Man Tom]

With my blue copper (BBS) line I started out with 3 splash coppers (Bev Davis supposedly) but their egg color wasn't great, one laid a 4 and the other 2 laid lighter than a 4. I bred them to Mud, my original line B (FRF) black copper cock bird and that is how Lucille, my best blue copper hen was produced. She is the only one I kept to breed from. Her eggs are a 4. I bred Lucille to Maximus (from my black copper line C) who was her half brother, they share the same sire but have different mothers. They are the parents of the cockerel I just posted a pic of, and the blue copper chicks I've produced this year. What I hope to achieve with this generation first and foremost is darker egg color because both Lucille and Maximus are half line B which is my darkest laying line. They are 1/2 siblings but share the same B line sire so I think that will reinforce darker egg color in this years chicks. I hope all that makes sense. I also managed to achieve nice lacing on most of my blue copper chicks so I am very happy with what I see so far.

I am only breeding my darkest egg layers. I have 6 hens that lay dark eggs. So it takes 21 days to hatch, most of the time 50% cockerels. Only getting 15+ eggs in 7 days, for hatching! Only half of those were fertile! Now you wait 6 months to find egg color for pullets. 16 to 18 weeks to process cockerels. $120 a month for feed. Waiting to see what I get when I cross these pullets back to their sire. Looks like about 5 years to see if anything good hatches from my choices! MAN I LOVE THIS GAME!! TOM

 

[KF0002]

Black Copper Marans should not have white anywhere! TRUE All my dark egg layers have white in their wings. TOM

Some of my best birds have white in their wings too. I feel your frustration there! Lol White in the adult plumage is not good, but just to clarify in case there are new members that dont know, white in the wings of chicks and juvenile birds is normal as long as the white molts out before the bird's adult feathers come in. Any white after 6-8 months old usually shows the bird will have parasitic white as an adult but that isnt always the case. Sometimes a white feather can occur as a result if a damaged follicle as the feather grew. Bev Davis claims this so I trust her experience. A white feather that is present at 6-8 months old can be pulled out to see if it returns white. If it does, the white will remain throughout the bird's life. I have talked to breeders that have seen a bird have a white feather at 8 months old, go through its adult molt and have no white, then the white returns the next molt. Talk about frustrating!