International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[Red Banks]

Wow Antonio really doesn't mess around. Mine get some beat up combs and they rough up each others feathers but no serious injuries. The bachelor pen they are in is big enough for them to get away from each other and get some space during a tussle though. The cockerel's eye is hopefully not completely blind and may just be hurt causing him to keep it closed.. poor fella. I've had gamecocks get their faces beat up in a fight and their eyes swell shut but they were not blinded. I have also had them get their eyes knocked out fighting so it could go either way. Its good he's leaving Pretty Boy alone though.

The poor cockerel was on the ground in the corner all day. I think I remember Chooks man telling me not to put the #1 cock in the bachelor coop. Antonio is twice the size of those cockerels. The good thing is neither one of those cockerels wants to fight each other anymore. So it did solve my problem. LOL

 

[Red Banks]

It works for me but Antonio may not be willing to tolerate the cockerels like my Marans cock birds do. He has been the head honcho for so long without much competition and each rooster is an individual and can differ from one to the next in personality. If the fighting results in too much bloodshed and goes on for longer than a day or so, you may have to break them up and separate them. You have all sorts of chicken drama going on. Lol

I rarely have had good experiences moving broody hens and their eggs. Usually what happens when I move them is they freak out and wont accept the new location of the eggs and pace the pen trying to get out to go back to the original location they were sitting. Since she is sitting on the ground you would have to move her in stages probably and even then it may not work. You can take a nest box (or 5 gallon bucket, milk crate nest, etc) and put her eggs in it in the spot where she is sitting. Once she has settled into the nest, wait until after dark and move her and the nest to the pen you want her in. I have never had success moving a broody during the day unless of course her eggs have already hatched. By morning if she is still on the nest she may be okay. If she gets off the nest and wont go back to it because she is freaking out and pacing the wire trying go go back to "her" nest you might as well put the eggs in the incubator or scrap the whole clutch and break her up.

I have had a couple good Marans broodies and some bad. Mostly I break them up when they go broody because one broody makes them all seem to want to go broody. Its contagious. Lucille lost all of her chicks, but I think my son's cat may have been responsible for that. Lucille had accidently killed one of them herself and then something got the other 4. Hens usually get better at being mommies with every clutch. I have rarely ever had a 1st time mom do a good job at keeping her chicks alive. Its something they get better at with each clutch. Not all hens make good moms though. If a hen eats the eggs she is sitting on or kills her chicks as they hatch I dont let them try to hatch again.

Good luck with all your chicken drama! I hope it all settles down and works out.

Sometimes they just make you want to .

The hen got off the nest so I plunged thru the stickers to get a better look. She was sitting on pullet eggs! I am pretty sure they would not have been fertile. I gathered all the eggs, took them to the dump. Once she saw the eggs were gone she abandoned the nest. Thank goodness. Thanks for all the advice!

 

[shepherd6567]

The poor cockerel was on the ground in the corner all day. I think I remember Chooks man telling me not to put the #1 cock in the bachelor coop. Antonio is twice the size of those cockerels. The good thing is neither one of those cockerels wants to fight each other anymore. So it did solve my problem. LOL
View attachment 1402197

Dang, your roosters never fail to impress! Beautiful!

 

[KF0002]

The poor cockerel was on the ground in the corner all day. I think I remember Chooks man telling me not to put the #1 cock in the bachelor coop. Antonio is twice the size of those cockerels. The good thing is neither one of those cockerels wants to fight each other anymore. So it did solve my problem. LOL
View attachment 1402197

Gideon was the only cock bird in his little breeding trio (so in his mind he was #1 top dog) and I put him in the bachelor pen with the cockerels to give the hens a break. He was hard on the cockerels at first, I admit. And he run them around the pen bullying them and showing him he was the boss. But now they all get along great and all is peaceful in the bachelor pen.

Your cockerels dont look banged up so I think they'll be fine once they all get used to each other. The top cock bird has to assert his dominance by being hard on subordinate males and it can look rough but it teaches them respect and keeps the cockerels in line. All the riff raff will settle down in a day or two. They'll all get used to each other and co-exist fine once all the drama passes. If they are still fighting really bad after a couple days you can make other housing arrangements. As long as the cockerels arent beaten bloody I think they'll all eventually settle down and be fine.

 

[Below frigid]

H

The poor cockerel was on the ground in the corner all day. I think I remember Chooks man telling me not to put the #1 cock in the bachelor coop. Antonio is twice the size of those cockerels. The good thing is neither one of those cockerels wants to fight each other anymore. So it did solve my problem. LOL
View attachment 1402197

How old is he?

 

[KF0002]

The hen got off the nest so I plunged thru the stickers to get a better look. She was sitting on pullet eggs! I am pretty sure they would not have been fertile. I gathered all the eggs, took them to the dump. Once she saw the eggs were gone she abandoned the nest. Thank goodness. Thanks for all the advice!

You did the right thing. They very well may have been fertile but the chicks would have been smaller had they hatched. You dont want to set pullet eggs if you can help it. Also the pullet probably would have ended up losing them anyway if they did hatch. Young pullets rarely make good moms from my experience. At least you'll know to check that spot from now on in case she continues to lay there. Chickens lay in the darndest places! Lol

 

[Red Banks]

H


How old is he?

6 months

 

[Red Banks]

Dang, your roosters never fail to impress! Beautiful!

Thank you!

 

[KF0002]

This is going off topic for a moment but I am thrilled to announce my White Legbar hatching eggs arrived this morning!! After a very long wait they are finally here!!

 

[Red Banks]

Gideon was the only cock bird in his little breeding trio (so in his mind he was #1 top dog) and I put him in the bachelor pen with the cockerels to give the hens a break. He was hard on the cockerels at first, I admit. And he run them around the pen bullying them and showing him he was the boss. But now they all get along great and all is peaceful in the bachelor pen.

Your cockerels dont look banged up so I think they'll be fine once they all get used to each other. The top cock bird has to assert his dominance by being hard on subordinate males and it can look rough but it teaches them respect and keeps the cockerels in line. All the riff raff will settle down in a day or two. They'll all get used to each other and co-exist fine once all the drama passes. If they are still fighting really bad after a couple days you can make other housing arrangements. As long as the cockerels arent beaten bloody I think they'll all eventually settle down and be fine.

The picture I included in the post is the pretty boy. He just stayed on the roost during the battle, he looked terrified and I know he would have given anything to be out of that coop. Antonio would not let up on the other cockerel and he is a bloody, squinting, dirty bird. I feel very sorry for him. I don't think the cockerel would have been allowed to eat or drink. He wasn't allowed out of the corner. He was crouched on the ground and every time he moved Antonio went after him again. Now the two cockerels are together in the big coop. I have a 5 by 8 coop for Antonio. I am going to lock him up at some point and give the cockerels a day out. One at a time that is. It all worked out.