International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[Braxton Brigade]

yesterday one of my wheaten hen from the layers pen went broody , well happy about it .

I always leave some eggs in the nest to promote broodiness .

I gave her today some Aras and Wheaten marans eggs to incubate for me .

let see how she is going to do .

chooks man

I hope your hatch goes well. Chicks seem to grow a lot faster when they are being raised by a hen.

eye color look good greenish blue. . will have a nice orange red eye when adult .

beak look good shape and color too .

chooks man

Thank you. I'm excited to see them grow, I will have to be extra protective/careful with them and their mother.

 

[Braxton Brigade]

I checked my little BCM baby this morning. She/he is roughly 3 weeks old now and looks mossy. Oh well. I need to get some better stock. Eventually lol

Sometimes after they are through their juvenile molt they grow back with the proper coloring. A chicks first feathers don't always predict the adult feathering. Hold on to those chicks, raise them until they have reached maturity and see what they look like at that point. I am going to post a quote from another thread about mossy chicks.

When Don refers to mossy, he is usually referring to the adult color after the juvenile molt. There's a good picture of mossy at the Aussie Marans website here . Scroll down about 1/3 of the way, it's under then hens with straw hackle and shafting that look like brown leghorns.

Juvenile feathering is often the opposite of what adult feathering will be. I've found that my blackest chicks have the most correct copper as adults, and the chicks with the most white at hatch end up the blackest. (Just look at pictures of Sumatran chicks - they have tons of white and they are a VERY black adult bird). When chicks fledge out they will often have brown in their wings, and white tips on their primaries. These almost always disappear after the juvenile molt. Some of my hens with best hackle color have had brown in their wings at a couple weeks, but they end up with nice intense black all over, with good hackle color.

Different lines also fledge out differently. If you take pictures and mark your chicks, you will eventually be able to predict what your adult birds will look like based on their chickdown and juvie feathers.

The copper spot on the head is different than the brown chickdown that covers the whole head at hatch. It came up a few times on this massive thread, but I don't remember if there was any link to consistent adult trait/coloring. The brown head/chest at hatch is the result of genes that will restrict black in the adult birds - mossy hens or overcoppered roos.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

@Braxton Brigade Thanks for that I was planning on growing it out to see what becomes of it. If nothing else, he/she will either become food or a layer in someone's flock. I just happend to notice the flecks of copper on the wings. I'll try to get a picture later on.

 

[Red Banks]

I checked my little BCM baby this morning. She/he is roughly 3 weeks old now and looks mossy. Oh well. I need to get some better stock. Eventually

I bet you have all the stock you need..... just make them what you want them to be.

 

[KF0002]

I checked my little BCM baby this morning. She/he is roughly 3 weeks old now and looks mossy. Oh well. I need to get some better stock. Eventually lol

I had a couple that looked mossy as chicks but feathered out normally with their juvenile molts. Redbanks did as well. Keep growing them out. Dont throw in the towel on them this early.

 

[kcrandall]

Hello all, my luck has been against me lately.
My rooster did not make it, despite all the medical intervening he died.
I later found that he had a cardio vascular deformity, I should have taken photos (I know a few of us medical enthusiasts would have appreciated the bizarreness of it).


Out of 13 chicks that he sired only 3 were the product of him and one of his sisters (the better looking sister haha), I hope to replace him by breeding that son back to his sister. 
I shall post photos of the best looking cockerel that he fathered (all 3 are boys) soon, these 3 chicks have been the only ones of the 13 that I have diligently tried to keep records of.

Hey Braxton, I'm sorry you lost your rooster. On the bright side, you have his sons so he'll live on through them.

Keith

 

[kcrandall]

@Braxton Brigade Thanks for that I was planning on growing it out to see what becomes of it. If nothing else, he/she will either become food or a layer in someone's flock. I just happend to notice the flecks of copper on the wings. I'll try to get a picture later on.

AuroraDream,

My mossy chick turned into an over colored cockerel with lots of copper color on his chest, nice copper ear tufts and very nice slate gray shanks / feet with pinkish undertones. Yep RedBanks, that would be Otis! I too was disappointed at first but Chooks Man told me that if bred to a black (or almost black) hen that Otis would add copper hackles to his daughters. Otis has also developed a wry tail but I feel his good traits out weigh his faults. My plan is to match him with a pullet of good type, mass and good tail then hatch 25 chicks to see what I get. My hope is to get 3 to 5 pullets with good color, type, and mass. Don't get discouraged too early. Like wine good Marans take time, patience and hard work.

Good luck with your Marans,
Keith

 

[Chooks man]

hi every body here the up date about the Birchen marans coop/run building .almost done . need the door and the chooks wire around the run . the post are already in place ..

the Birchen are in tonight , new place ,when they wake up they are going to see some thing different .

I ll let them out after I do the run in the morning before the mid day sun . Nasty . 36 D C today .

enjoy



the zinc sheed is going to be replaced with a door , to get access to the feed area under the coop .

chooks man

 

[Red Banks]

Hello all, my luck has been against me lately.
My rooster did not make it, despite all the medical intervening he died.
I later found that he had a cardio vascular deformity, I should have taken photos (I know a few of us medical enthusiasts would have appreciated the bizarreness of it).


Out of 13 chicks that he sired only 3 were the product of him and one of his sisters (the better looking sister haha), I hope to replace him by breeding that son back to his sister.
I shall post photos of the best looking cockerel that he fathered (all 3 are boys) soon, these 3 chicks have been the only ones of the 13 that I have diligently tried to keep records of.

I liked your rooster..... I am sorry to hear you lost him.

 

[Braxton Brigade]

Hey Braxton, I'm sorry you lost your rooster. On the bright side, you have his sons so he'll live on through them.

Keith

I liked your rooster..... I am sorry to hear you lost him.

Thank you.