International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[KF0002]

What cutie chicks! I hope they grow up to be good ones!

Me too! I can't wait to see them grow out!

 

[KF0002]

Here are some side by side pics of Mud's darker blue copper chick (yellow band) and Cooper's black copper chick (red band).

Cooper is consistently throwing chicks with varying degrees of middle toe feathering and white on the face.

Mud's chicks look very good so far with no middle toe feathering and little to no white on their faces.

Cooper's chick (black copper)

Cooper's chick left (black), Mud's chick right (blue)

Cooper's chick left (black), Mud's chick right (blue)

Cooper's chick showing middle toe feathering.

 

[bluemaransman]

New to this thread! Can anyone tell me why Green fire is so expensive on their Blue Birchen Marans chicks? Are they that good? Are they worth that to a breeder? How many would a guy have to order in hopes of coming up with a quality breeding trio? Any advice would be welcome. Cleve

 

[KF0002]

New to this thread! Can anyone tell me why Green fire is so expensive on their Blue Birchen Marans chicks? Are they that good? Are they worth that to a breeder? How many would a guy have to order in hopes of coming up with a quality breeding trio? Any advice would be welcome. Cleve

Because their stock consists of direct imports from France. It costs a small fortune to import chickens into the US from other countries, thus why they charge a small fortune for their chicks. When you order their chicks you are getting actual French Marans with no US blood integrated into the line. Their Marans are also straight run, so you won't get sexed chicks when you order. They have a 6 chick ordering minimum, but if you order 6 odds are you likely would get a decent pair or trio.

 

[KF0002]

@bluemaransman To answer your question of are they worth the money, that is in the eye of the beholder. I personally would not pay that much money per straight run chick, but that is just me. At $59 per chick that is just a hard pill to swallow for me. lol. If you want to invest in pure French Marans, Greenfire Farm and Little Peddlers Marans are the only two breeders that I know of in the US that have direct French imports, but there may be others. It would not be a bad investment if you ended up with a decent quad or trio.

"Are they good?" When you order chicks from a breeder, you can't expect every chick to be "perfect". You will end up with chicks that have faults or flaws of varying degrees, but still likely workable quality. Ordering chicks from any breeder will likely yield the same result, stock that you will have to work on and improve.

Best of luck to you! And post pics of your chicks if you decide to order. Welcome to the thread!

 

[kcrandall]

So...HELP! I need to get rid of at least one cockerel, possibly two. I just don't have the space (or the hens for them), and they're starting to beat each other up. I *think* I know who I want to keep, but I'd really love some more opinions! Here are my boys: Blade He's a horse. Huge. Comb seems too big to me, and his tail is very upright (though all of three have upright tails). [COLOR=B42000] [/COLOR] Copper He's the smallest, but seems so elegant and well-put-together to me. Lives up to his name with tons of copper. Tail is too big and his legs aren't feathered, though all the girls I have now are heavily feathered. [COLOR=B42000] [/COLOR] [COLOR=B42000] [/COLOR] [COLOR=B42000] [/COLOR] ShyGuy: Seems to fall in middle of Blade and Copper. A little smaller than Blade, doesn't look to me like his overall conformation is as nice as the other two, though it might be a problem with getting a good picture because he's the most skittish. [COLOR=B42000] [/COLOR] Pinky Pie's still a keeper...right?

Winterhorses, I've said it many times...Pinky Pie is an absolute stud!! I still like Blade and Copper, both have excellent color with a slight edge to Copper (seems more rich). Blade will add copper to his female offspring. Breed Copper to females with heavily feathered feet, you should get some chicks with nice color and feathered feet / shanks. Good Luck, Keith

 

[kcrandall]

Here are two Marans chicks I just pulled out of the incubator that were good and fluffed up. Both are blue coppers from Mud. One is darker blue than the other and nearly looks like a black copper. I haven't hatched any eggs from my FRF pullet x Mud yet because her eggs were very small at first, but I do look forward to seeing a black copper chick from Mud. blue copper chicks from Mud the one on the right is darker blue darker blue chick lighter blue chick

Very nice chunky chicks with good coloring...well done! Keith

 

[pioneerchick816]

@bluemaransman
Depending on what you are looking for you can get chicks from CowboyCountryPoultry (they have a FB page) and they bought all of Fitz Farms BCM stock. I read about it on a previous post on this thread & checked them out. They are based out of Stillwater, OK & ship their chicks with a 6 order min. They are $20/chick & they have been bred for egg color. Beautiful dark eggs

 

[chickengr]

@Chooks man what colour/pattern would this be:

I named her milagros, milly for short.

 

[KF0002]

Very nice chunky chicks with good coloring...well done!

Keith

Thank you very much! I am really satisfied with my blue copper chicks from Mud so far. I'm hoping his black copper chicks will look just as good!