International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[Red Banks]

Just like Bello!

 

[Red Banks]

How redneck would it be if I just went and got Mud out of his coop and took pics of him on my kitchen counter?

It's getting dark and they are on the roost, but I'm dying to take some good pics of him.

Sounds like perfectly acceptable behavior to me..... course I am a redneck!

 

[KF0002]

Just like Bello!

That's a good pic of the GFF rooster. Gorgeous!

 

[Red Banks]

Quote:

Thank you. It is the GFF.... now I am confused.!

 

[harmesonfarm]

Here are some British Columbia sources for replacing the boy in post 3144.
Best,
Karen

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http://www.beaupeepfarms.com/index.html
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http://www.gradeehfarms.ca/black-copper-marans.html
yes, they are expensive but they also went to trouble of assembling a gene pool.
Ask of they have an older cock they are retiring. Tell them you have hens and
want to grade up your flock with a nice boy.
They do sell breeder birds at times. Look at their webpage. They have put together a strain of their own. The eggs are dark and the cocks look ( from their breeding program) like they also came from dark egg hens. Remember the cock has to do with the dark egg so you need to make sure the cock you get also came from a dark laying mother. This farm has a strain which is overall laying dark eggs so that makes it easier for you.
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ask Wynette, have known her for years. very educated on BCM. Trustworthy.
She will know of the breeders in your area.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/u/4158/wynette
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Ok, if this was me in your position this i what I would do. Sometimes the genetics of variation in a breeding situation put the breeder in a position where continuing on that program will include so many variables, the program becomes unwieldy. I have done this numerous times over the decades and never been sorry. Sometimes you just need to give all your stock away and start over again. In your case, I would not quite do all that. What I would do is go to Gradeeh Farms and tell them you need a good start in BCM. Either a quad ( 2F, 2M) or a breeding trio ( 1M,2F). Tell them you need to linebeed them. Remember they put this strain together and know who can be linebred with whom. Another plus, this strain comes from 2 different sources, not inbred on one source. Good for you. No need to bring in outside blood. Do not cross strains to found a Marans flock. It is a huge mistake unless you have years of time and can hatch out hundreds of chicks a year like Gradeeh did. Linebreed on their past efforts and use the genetic variation in their flock to make their birds even better.
Now about your current flock. Keep your best 2 females and get rid of the rest. Foreign blood should always be brought in thru the female side and never more than 1/4 of foreign blood in a generation. In other words, the foreign female you cross into your main flock should have 3/4 blood of that main flock and only 1/4 foreign blood that you want to add to your main flock. This is esp. critical when dealing with a breed variety like BCM which have had so much diversity bred into them which caring breeders like Gradeeh have worked to breed back out again.
So here's what you do;
1. Take you best 2 hens from your current flock. Breed them to your new Gradeeh cock. The resulting chicks will have 1/2 his blood and 1/2 the blood of the foreign hen. Now get rid of all the chicks from this cross except the best 2 females.

2. Breed these 2 best females from number 1 back to the Gradeeh cock ( their sire). Ok, now the chicks from this breeding will hve 3/4 the blood of the Gradeeh cock and 1/4 of the blood of the foreign hen. Again, keep the 2 best females and get rid of the rest.

3. Take the 2 best females from this #2 breeding and cross them into your main flock. Making sure to ID perminently all the chicks so you can tell which are cross blood chicks and which are the pure blood Gradeeeh chicks from your main flock. Keeping the different blood chicks in separate pens is ideal. Actually, it is critical, you don't want chicks of unknown heritage running around now, smile. If you have any, they must be gotten rid of as the breeding program must know which blood is related to which.

4. Now pick out the cross blood chicks which best show the traits you seek and breed them back into your main flock making sure, critically sure, you permanently ID them and strain-cross chicks. You will know the traits you value by this time because you will have been breeding your Gradeeh birds for several generations. Choose from among the cross blood chicks the traits which meet the APA Standard and please your eye, making sure you choose males who came from dark egg laying mothers and females who also came from dark laying mothers. At this point it is your discretion whether you feel the cross blood chicks are sufficiently pure to your main flock to not ID them or if you feel they still need IDing as cross blood chicks. Up to you.
Best Success,
Karen

Thank you, great advice...most likely I will go that route as it seems like sound advice for a novice. Thanks again, this was all very helpful.

 

[bullets]

I am not sure.  I have never had roosters this age.  Waiting for some experts to chime in!

What age are they?

 

[clancys coop]

These are my two hens, and one rooster. They were hatched in May 2016. I had another rooster, but noted two white feathers in his breast. He had a better comb, and was darker, but had heavier feathers and the white so I opted to eat him instead.

He was locked out in -15-20 while we were away and his comb is definitely showing the trauma. Also, his Icelandic bachelor buddies wouldn't leave his tail alone, it just started growing back in October when I was finally able to get rid of the extra Icelandic bachelors.

 

[Red Banks]

Quote: Just over two.

 

[Red Banks]

@Chooks man @RedBanks @3riverschick Thank you for the feedback...I will see if i can get better photos, but I think at this time he will just end up being a cull due to the lighter egg colour he hatched from and not being quite ready to start the breeding.

I will look into forage oats and sprout those. I do other sprouting for them at this time, but have yet to give ready ones to the chicks./

Thank you again. I will keep note of the photo requirements for judging birds for my next posts.

I have learned so much from this forum, even when it's just seeing what everyone else is posting

I have learned so much here myself. I would really be lost without the good advice and feedback on this thread. I want everyone to feel welcome and confident that their participation helps us all. Thank you for posting.

 

[Chooks man]

Quote:
good luck to you with your hatch . some nice egg there . hope you get a cockerel out of that egg. chooks man