International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[Red Banks]

What I'm going to do since i got a abundance of mossy pullets, I'm going to put them with my most overmelanized cockerel and see how many generations, if any it takes to breed to mossiness out. Cause I'm not really sure if mossiness is caused by being overcolored or if it's parasitic like the white in the wings.

I love this solution.... I feel this is the only way to end up with good birds. To take reasonably good birds and make them better by breeding out the faults. I was reading about straw colored halos and I have to do the same with that problem. Chooks man would tell us exactly how to fix these problems.

 

[Magnolia Hill]

I love this solution.... I feel this is the only way to end up with good birds. To take reasonably good birds and make them better by breeding out the faults. I was reading about straw colored halos and I have to do the same with that problem. Chooks man would tell us exactly how to fix these problems.

Yes ma'am, i agree, i haven't had good luck breeding mossy birds to overmelanized so far which makes me lean towards it being parasitic. but I'm going to have a project pen just for mossiness, just to learn.

 

[Red Banks]

Yes ma'am, i agree, i haven't had good luck breeding mossy birds to overmelanized so far which makes me lean towards it being parasitic. but I'm going to have a project pen just for mossiness, just to learn.

I can't wait to hear how it works.

 

[Red Banks]

What I'm going to do since i got a abundance of mossy pullets, I'm going to put them with my most overmelanized cockerel and see how many generations, if any it takes to breed to mossiness out. Cause I'm not really sure if mossiness is caused by being overcolored or if it's parasitic like the white in the wings.

If you are able would you post some pics of the mossy pullets you choose for your project. I am really interested.

 

[shepherd6567]

Anyone follow Marans Chicken Group on FB? I know I have seen @kfelton0002 on there. The reason I ask is someone from Australia posted a group of what appeared to be very high quality Marans they were looking to purchase. Can't help to think this may have been some of @Chooks man's birds being sold to recupe some of the costs. Look to be extremely nice stock.

 

[KF0002]

Anyone follow Marans Chicken Group on FB? I know I have seen @kfelton0002 on there. The reason I ask is someone from Australia posted a group of what appeared to be very high quality Marans they were looking to purchase. Can't help to think this may have been some of @Chooks man's birds being sold to recupe some of the costs. Look to be extremely nice stock.

I have not noticed anyone from Austrailia on there but I will keep my eye open for them.

 

[KF0002]

I was struggling to get pictures to upload to byc on my phone earlier, but here they are finally. This is one of my cockerels that caught my eye today that has just blossomed into such a pretty guy! I love his long back and topline for now. Fingers crossed he stays this nice! He does have some leakage but not much and that is okay, some shafting too but his mass is good and he is a well balanced bird. Looking forward to watching him in the months come.

 

[chickengr]

Thanks, everyone. To address some of what a few people said/mentioned...

Her sire was an over-colored roo who had good type but an overlarge comb and a little shafting on his front. Her mother is a decent type with only a tiny bit of mossiness on the tips of primaries, and very little feathering on shanks or toes.

Even if I could breed her back to her sire (I lost him last winter to a possum), I wouldn't because it would mean breeding too much color to too much color. The boy I have all of my girls with now has better coloring, if not lacking just a little bit. I was hoping that might correct the mossiness but wasn't sure if it would actually help.

Tbh I'm a bit disheartened with breeding right now. I've been having HORRIBLE hatch rates since I got my new incubator (like 15% at most), and my Splash Copper pullet that took me so long to get and whom I raised for a year and a half now, it turns out I can't even use her to start my blues. She's always been mean, but I was hoping my nicely mannered rooster would tame down her chicks...turns out not to be the case, as I currently have a brooder full of 5 week old blues who prefer to eat my fingers and a brooder of week olds who are already starting to show the same behavior. :/ I'd heard meaness could carry through generations but I didn't think it would carry through like it does in her progeny's case.

So I've been doing a lot of thonking about what I want to do about all that.

what I learned in this thread is that roo is responsible for colour. therefore somewhat darker roo could fix mossiness.

I have never had any mean marans. all of my chickens try to eat my fingers, especially nails, not because they are mean (they are puppies) but because they think I am feeding them. give your chicks time to grow and to see what they are like.

 

[chickengr]

I usually peel the shell off and use warm water on a paper towel (or 5) to gently wipe off any gunk stuck to them. They are generally stuck because the inner membrane started to dry out and got caught in their feathers as it dried, gluing them in place. It's usually just a small spot somewhere, but I did have one who had the membrane all down his back. I don't help them unless they have pipped internally AND externally and started unzipping. I'll notice the zip stopped somewhere along the line and I usually let them go for 24 hours or more before I try to intervene. One time I THOUGHT a chick was stuck and I tried to jump in after just a few hours of no progress...turned out that it just hadn't absorbed all of it's yolk yet - "helping" that one out was not a good idea, unfortunately. It DID live, but it needed a lot more care than the average chick.

it is too dry here so I must help that way chicks who hatch under a broody during a daytime. their membrane completely dries. I use q tip and warm water.

 

[Red Banks]

Anyone follow Marans Chicken Group on FB? I know I have seen @kfelton0002 on there. The reason I ask is someone from Australia posted a group of what appeared to be very high quality Marans they were looking to purchase. Can't help to think this may have been some of @Chooks man's birds being sold to recupe some of the costs. Look to be extremely nice stock.

I don't know where to look, can you post the link. I did see some show birds on Marans Fanciers.