International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[marchick]

It's so hard to get good pictures of them, they're so uncooperative lol. I'm still fairly new and this was the first group that I actually bred to keep for breeding. I'm still learning what to look for. I know what the comb and tail SHOULD look like but I'm still learning how type should look. I very much appreciate that you guys are here to help

Good pictures are my biggest weakness. I think I may get a F- in photography.

 

[KF0002]

It is hard to pick your top cockerels, well for that matter anybody's, with pictures. The one thing I know is they can really fall apart or come together as they mature. My favorite in the last hatch I had didn't end up being the best cockerel I had, Antonio killed the best cockerel. I would keep my top 3 or 4 for a little while longer, of course I think Hercules will continue to be your top cockerel. They are very nice birds. It will be fun to see them mature. You will have to keep the pictures coming so we can learn from our descriptions. You have the advantage when you look at your birds because you know your lines. We can "describe" your top picks with 4 photos. Side, top, front and back. Also I like a close up head shot. Chooks man said we don't critique, we describe. What I liked about that exercise is we went down the bird head to foot against the sop. I will do Hercules when I come home.

I agree they absolutely can fall apart as they mature. Ive had more males than I care to think about that I thought was going to be really nice birds only for them to turn out a hot mess once they matured. Pictures sometimes dont capture a bird well or do them justice. When I want get good pictures of a bird I literally will hobble around on the ground on my knees sometimes trying to get good ones. Lol. The skittish ones are always a challenge because they perceive this as being stalked or hunted and they try to get away.

 

[WVduckchick]

We have had some horrendous storms the last couple of days. This morning was decent so I let the birds out for a bit, and got a few pics. I'm keeping them all, so there isn't really any choosing here, but I am open to comments if any look really good or really bad. I rehomed my 2 extra cockerels, so the one in the pics is the only one. There are 8 pullets. All 14 weeks old.
I have not tagged the girls yet, I'm not really sure there is any need to, unless someone thinks I should?

Spoiler: ***Bunches of pics***

 

[Amanita]

Well, I finally got caught up!

I haven't had a lot of time for reading the forum; it's been a crazy year so far, but I've been busy working on the chicken houses and getting ready for the next generation.

The parents are only 8 months old, so I don't think I'll be adding any of this hatch to the breeding group, but I wanted to do a test hatch to see what their fertility was like and to get a feel for what I have to work with in terms of genetics. I have 23 eggs in the incubator right now which started pipping this morning (7 pips so far) and I can't seem to tear myself away so I caught up on the posts here while I've been waiting

I'd love to get some advice from you guys with your great genetics knowledge - my intention has always been to focus on the BCM, and I have 2 cocks and 7 pullets that I'm very happy with in that respect. I also have one male and one female cuckoo, 3 male and 4 female white, and 'Pablo', who according to Chooks man is Colombian patterning - he said when the time came he'd advise me what to do with him from a breeding point of view, but as I've been very sad to read, Chooks man doesn't seem to be around at the moment... (I have to say Pablo is also a bit of a jerk, so I wouldn't be too sad to see him go, but if he'd be an asset to someone else's breeding program I'd prefer that outcome)
So with all that in mind, and the fact that right now I just have the two large chicken houses (one which has all the girls plus the 2 BCM boys and one with the leftover boys), would I be crazy to try to breed a few different varieties? Should I stick to just the BCM as was the original plan? What I haven't been able to figure out so far (and it's entirely my own failing) is whether I can combine any of these in a way that would be beneficial. For example I know that black and blue copper and splash can work well together - are there any similar options with what I have here?

Thanks in advance for any advice - I'll try and get some good pics and post them soon, once I can take my eyes off the incubator for a while!

 

[WVduckchick]

Good luck with the hatch! @Amanita

 

[KF0002]

We have had some horrendous storms the last couple of days. This morning was decent so I let the birds out for a bit, and got a few pics. I'm keeping them all, so there isn't really any choosing here, but I am open to comments if any look really good or really bad. I rehomed my 2 extra cockerels, so the one in the pics is the only one. There are 8 pullets. All 14 weeks old.
I have not tagged the girls yet, I'm not really sure there is any need to, unless someone thinks I should?

Spoiler: ***Bunches of pics***

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I wing band all my birds so I can keep up with who their parents were, when they were hatched, bloodline, etc. I have to catch them to look at the wingband though so if I have a few in particular I want to keep up with in a way I can see without catching them I put a legband on them. I do that to birds I want to tag as keepers so I dont accidentally sell a bird I intended to keep. If you dont have any reason to tag your birds you dont have to. If u get more or start breeding them it would be beneficial to band the offspring in some way so you can tell which are the offspring of which birds, and keep track of how old they are for future reference. Aurora had a good idea by banding her cockerels with color coded zip ties so she could compare them and sort out the culls and keepers.

 

[marchick]

I wing band all my birds so I can keep up with who their parents were, when they were hatched, bloodline, etc. I have to catch them to look at the wingband though so if I have a few in particular I want to keep up with in a way I can see without catching them I put a legband on them. I do that to birds I want to tag as keepers so I dont accidentally sell a bird I intended to keep. If you dont have any reason to tag your birds you dont have to. If u get more or start breeding them it would be beneficial to band the offspring in some way so you can tell which are the offspring of which birds, and keep track of how old they are for future reference. Aurora had a good idea by banding her cockerels with color coded zip ties so she could compare them and sort out the culls and keepers.

I just wingband and leg band my Harvey chicks this morning. Well not chicks anymore. It was a bit intimidating the White Maran cockeral was the biggest. Hard to find a bare spot with all those feathers. I just realized that I don't fit in this group anymore. I don't have anymore Black Copper Marans. Bummer! Maybe next year I can hatch some Black Coppers from my Blue Coppers. Here is the White Maran cockeral getting ready to wing band.

 

[KF0002]

I just wingband and leg band my Harvey chicks this morning. Well not chicks anymore. It was a bit intimidating the White Maran cockeral was the biggest. Hard to find a bare spot with all those feathers. I just realized that I don't fit in this group anymore. I don't have anymore Black Copper Marans. Bummer! Maybe next year I can hatch some Black Coppers from my Blue Coppers. Here is the White Maran cockeral getting ready to wing band.


View attachment 1440430

You still fit in here! Blue is just diluted black afterall.

The white cockerel looks so nice! I would love to have some whites. Maybe someday.

 

[marchick]

You still fit in here! Blue is just diluted black afterall.

The white cockerel looks so nice! I would love to have some whites. Maybe someday.

Yes, White is kind of nice. I think maybe easier. White is just white! No mossy or over colored. Too light too dark. It is just white! Lol Just work on body type. But I don't really know I have only had them for one week.

 

[KF0002]

Yes, White is kind of nice. I think maybe easier. White is just white! No mossy or over colored. Too light too dark. It is just white! Lol Just work on body type. But I don't really know I have only had them for one week.

Yes! That sounds so much easier! LOL