International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[pioneerchick816]

@kfelton0002
So sorry about Spartacus

 

[Red Banks]

It appears I have lost Spartacus (from RedBank's line). I had let his group free range while it was nice out and I'm guessing a hawk must have gotten him. No feathers, no trace, just gone. It pains me to have to keep my remaining RedBanks birds cooped up until they are too large for a hawk to prey upon, but I can't afford to lose them.

So sorry..... I had the young ones out today and I saw a hawk. I ran out and locked them up but you are right. They are just the right size for a hawk snack and the young ones aren't paying attention to the sky. It is too bad the other chicks didn't stand up and say, "I'm Spartacus"...... sorry I couldn't resist. I am sorry you lost the chick. Do you have a trio left?

 

[Red Banks]

@Chooks man Which cockerel/rooster will I use? Not Antonio.... but all the cockerels I have are his sons. For this new batch of pullets?

 

[Chooks man]

@Chooks man one of my friend's cockerels weighs 3,2 kg. the hens are more or less 3 kg. is that ok for breeding?

if the Roo is 3.2Kg than he need to be mated to a larger big hen over 3.5 Kg .
what it a reason to use this small cockerel? is he well colored or what do he has goo on him .

I used Charlie my original silver cuckoo rooster from the UK ,he was just 3 Kg .so I matted him to Cleo and ET both hen where too large and heavy 4Kg . all they F1 progeny where super big .the F2 few of them where small ( throw back ) .the F3 generation ( nothing has been added to them .line breeding) all the cockerels where small except one .and all the pullets where large .
it is a reason why I end up crossing Charlie2 to a Blue copper hens ,because they where large and heavy 3.8 and 4 Kg . I wanted to reinforce the large size genes . Now all my cockerels and pullets are super large and heavy .
I bred a small type out . 4 years of selective breeding .

chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

@Chooks man Which cockerel/rooster will I use? Not Antonio.... but all the cockerels I have are his sons. For this new batch of pullets?

they are too young to select from .let them do some growing and keep them away from the Hawk please .

if you are preparing to breed early spring than use Tony2 over the hens .

photos please.

chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

here some of my Blue wheaten cockerel from Elvis .they are good type but they do have a lot parasitic red on they chest and body .some are better than others .

Elvis 2 . he look like his father . the French breeder of the wheaten marans variety told me to cull him .they are so wrong .they ll see what I ll make out of him .
I found out that when people/breeders luck the knowledge of the chooks genetic ,they promote the culling .they think it is the only way to breed a great chooks .They are so wrong .

any way me I always end up doing what I like .I have enough knowledge to breed a chooks from a pigeon if I want .not really .

chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

Cockerel 2 =son of Elvis over Morissette ( mory )
he is my favorite .long body .plus early feathering type too .

this one has less parasitic red .

chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

N3 Wheaten .

Elvis over Maggy s true brother of the first Blue cockerel .this one has too much fluff around his thigh . like his mama .

chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

N4 Wheaten
Elvis over Mory .true brother of cockerel 2

love his type

chooks man

 

[kfelton0002]

So sorry..... I had the young ones out today and I saw a hawk. I ran out and locked them up but you are right. They are just the right size for a hawk snack and the young ones aren't paying attention to the sky. It is too bad the other chicks didn't stand up and say, "I'm Spartacus"...... sorry I couldn't resist. I am sorry you lost the chick. Do you have a trio left?

Yeah the younger birds are a little stupid when it comes to self-preservation. The older grow outs see as much as a Blue Jay in the sky and head for cover. The younger birds won't get out of the rain, they won't go back into their pens to roost.. it's like having to lead a blind donkey to water.

A little off subject, but a funny thing my free ranging chickens do is when they hear me opening the feed barrel they circle the feed barrel around and around and around. Like they will eventually find the feed inside the barrel if they keep circling. They keep circling until I throw some feed out!

But I still have a trio left of the chicks I hatched from your eggs. One cockerel and two pullets. I'm going to keep them penned up so I don't lose them.