International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[Bantambird]

Don't forget they need high protein to grow properly, and that birds, unlike mammals, lack lactase, the digestive enzymes that assist in the breakdown and digestion of milk sugar. Chickens are omnivores, so perhaps some mealworms in the mix? Would suet be better than olive oil?

 

[ejcrist]

my mario (the maran's daddy) is sick. I am doing my best and hope he will survive. but I have realized the place where I live is not good for chickens (bad climates).

as I am trying to sell my house I beg all of you to say just 1 word of prayer that I do sell my house and buy a better place for my chickens and hopefully add the other animals too (goats for sure).

my chicks are due in about a week. as I had a bad experience with a bad quality chicken starter the last time I had chicks I decided to feed the new chicks corn meal, home made sheep's fresh cheese and herbs and fresh greens + some olive oil.

Sorry to hear about Mario. What's going on with him? I hope he gets better.

Just curious, but what's wrong with the climate of Greece for raising chickens? I'd think a Mediterranean climate would be ideal. The only reason I ask is because I live in a barren desert where the temperatures in the summer hit 47C/118F frequently but my birds do pretty good here as long as they have shade, water, and water to wade in during the hottest part of the day. Other than the Sahara and Antarctica I can't think of a more inhospitable place to raise birds. How about a trade?

 

[GalShon]

I have been learning so much from this post, its priceless.
I have a question that is only slightly related to this post, but I'm sure I can find an answer here.
What colors/varieties of marans can I get from
Black copper marans, cockerels and hens
Blue copper marans, cockerel (hens are optional)
Gloden cuckoo marans, cockerel

Thanks a lot

 

[KF0002]

Quote:
Black Coppers mated to blue coppers = 50 % black coppers and 50% blue coppers. Blue coppers mated to blue coppers = 50% blue coppers and 25% black coppers and 25% splash coppers. Blue copper bred to splash copper = 50% blue coppers and 50% splash coppers. Black copper bred to black copper = 100% black copper. Splash copper bred to splash copper = 100% splash copper. The blue gene does not breed true. Blue and splash are actually diluted black and only a percentage of chicks will come blue when a blue is bred to a blue, a splash is bred to a blue, or a black is bred to a blue. Chickens in a blue line come black, blue, and splash (BBS). A black copper rooster mated to a golden cuckoo (or regular cuckoo) hen will produce visually autosexing (sex-link) chicks at birth. Meaning you can tell the sex of the chicks by their color as soon as they hatch. The male chicks will have a white spot on the top of their head and be lighter in color, the female chicks will be black with no head spot. This is because a hen can only carry one copy of the barring gene (cuckoo). A cuckoo rooster, whether single barred (one copy) or double barred (two copies) will pass the barring gene to both his male and female offspring. A cuckoo hen will pass the barring gene to her male offspring only. The male offspring from a black copper rooster over a cuckoo hen will be single barred (only one barring gene inherited from the hen), while the female offspring do not inherit the gene and be black. The males will hatch with a white spot on their heads courtesy of the barring gene, the females will not have head spots. Any barred breed whether it be barred rock, cuckoo marans, golden cuckoo marans, etc will throw visually autosexing chicks also. The barring gene is amazing in that barred chicks are very easily sexed at birth, but only when the male chicks are double barred and the females single barred. Female chicks are darker, with a smaller headspot, and have a darker wash to their legs. Male chicks have a larger splotchier headspot and are lighter in color. Their legs will be lighter than the females at birth. You can use black coppers to improve egg color in a golden cuckoo line if your black coppers produce dark eggs. Chooks man is also using the BBS gene (black, blue, splash) bred to Cuckoos to produce blue cuckoos. I may have rambled on and on and I apologize. Chicken genetics are fascinating to me. I hope I have not in any way overwhelmed or confused you. I admit, it can get very complex and confusing. lol. Chicken genetics are a very deep pool and I have only begun to skim the surface of all there is to learn. Feel free to ask questions and post pictures. Welcome to the thread!

 

[KF0002]

I edited my previous post to make corrections, as my fingers type too fast for my brain to keep up sometimes. lol

 

[KF0002]

Quote:
What rotten luck, hate to hear that about your Marans rooster. Sometimes when it rains it pours, and the bad luck just lingers like a dark cloud. I hope your luck turns around. Hang in there! Is your Marans rooster showing the same symptoms as your olive egger hen that died? Or is it something different entirely?

 

[Chooks man]

my mario (the maran's daddy) is sick. I am doing my best and hope he will survive. but I have realized the place where I live is not good for chickens (bad climates).

as I am trying to sell my house I beg all of you to say just 1 word of prayer that I do sell my house and buy a better place for my chickens and hopefully add the other animals too (goats for sure).

my chicks are due in about a week. as I had a bad experience with a bad quality chicken starter the last time I had chicks I decided to feed the new chicks corn meal, home made sheep's fresh cheese and herbs and fresh greens + some olive oil.

Sorry to hear about Mario. hope he ll get better soon.
what are the symptom of his sickness ?

wishing you all the est to sale your house and find a better one for you and your animals. Dairy goat will be nice .

for your chicks you need to add boiled eggs very important as a protein source .

I remember my mom ,she never used a commercial feed ( they did not have in the 60 and 70 ) she used to make her own stuff .and they where big healthy marans chooks .
add some medication too in they water .

Chooks existed before the commercial feed come to been .

chooks man

 

[clancys coop]

Could some of you (or all of you) chime in on the quality of my rooster? Is he worth keeping. The photos aren't the best, he wasn't thrilled about the photo location. I'm not set on keeping him and life would certainly be easier this winter with one less rooster.

With these two hens:

I dont mind starting over, if the hens or rooster aren't worth breeding.

Cheers

 

[Chooks man]

My FRF pullet laid her first egg yesterday.. it was a cute little thing. It weighed only 40 grams but had nice color. I took a picture but for some reason the reply box on BYC isn't giving me the option to upload a pic. Once BYC has fixed the kinks I will upload it.

I also wanted to share a funny thing I witnessed in Mud's coop yesterday morning. Mud was chasing the Splash pullets in his pen relentlessly and they would not surrender. He chased them in and out of the coop for quite a while. While he was chasing them, the little FRF pullet was chasing after HIM like "What about me??" lol

Apparently the Splash pullets do not reciprocate Mud's affections because all of their eggs so far have been infertile. He is on a mission.

Have a good day everyone!

can t wait to see it .

about the poor Mud and his splash ladies .
here a tric I use all the time in this sort of situation . I ll give a treat just to a Rooster and he in turn will call his ladies to give them a treat ( cricket as a treat get him exited ,one @ the time ) .works all the time ,take a few weeks for them to worm up to him and take his offering .

good luck to you with mud.

chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

Could some of you (or all of you) chime in on the quality of my rooster? Is he worth keeping. The photos aren't the best, he wasn't thrilled about the photo location. I'm not set on keeping him and life would certainly be easier this winter with one less rooster.



With these two hens:






I dont mind starting over, if the hens or rooster aren't worth breeding.

Cheers

last hen she look nice to me .nice type .
great long back
good mass
nice hackle
nice pure black

no much else I can say

please we need a good photos to help you .
it is not fair on the chooks this sort of photos . we made them look all cull . not nice .

take your time a manage to snap a couple of photos of each when they are relax .

don t rush thing .they are your breeders in the end of the day .

chooks man