International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[KF0002]

Love this guy, he’s a dandy!

Thank you! I just hope his tail stays down!

 

[KF0002]

Don't think I have ever heard that expression before....."throwing money in a hog's butt" must be a Kentucky thing. A new one for my repertoire. I could sell the eggs but I have a hard time asking money from friends and neighbors. They do so much for me. I do sometimes use them to barter.

Yeah must be an Appalachian thing then. I've heard people say that all my life, of course they say a$$ instead of butt. Lol. It pretty much means wasting money, like throwing money down the drain. I give away eggs to family, but do well selling eggs to my co-workers. I probably dont even break even on the cost of feeding all the layers but people really enjoy my eggs.

 

[KF0002]

I don't think he could get ugly.

I hope not. It's so frustrating to watch a really nice cockerel develop a really high tail practically overnight. I dont think he will turn into a swamp creature or anything but once the cockerels start maturing those tails like to creep up and it drives me crazy. I dont want to get my hopes up.

 

[KF0002]

I know what you mean. Right now I can't put my hand in the brooder without a full onslaught- but the second they see no food they all back off. I got my chicks from a breeder that eats all aggressive birds though.

That doesnt really sound like aggressive behavior, just impatient chicken behavior. Lol. Some of my free ranging chickens do that when they're tired of waiting to be fed. There are one or two that stand by my leg and give my pants a pluck to insist that I feed them faster. Sometimes when Im wearing shorts or capris they peck my leg and it does smart a little. They're not doing it to bully me, just to hurry me along with feeding time. Lol

 

[KF0002]

This is not the same behavior as food pecking. I do have many chicks that do that. This is a much more aggressive peck, and the body posture of the chicks doing it is very different from those looking for food, both before and after the peck.

If they are doing it while raising their hackles, that is when you know its aggressive behavior. I occasionally have a cockerel who thinks he's going to be naughty and half heartedly challenges me. What I do when they start that is bully them back. I give them a tap on the back or tug their tail similar to what a higher ranking flock member would do. If they persist I swat them and that usually drives the message home. I have not found my Marans to be aggressive to the point of attacking me, but there is one cockerel who thinks he is bad and likes to cock up to me sometimes. I just prove my point and let him know I'm the boss. Maximus occasionally will peck me also when I'm cleaning out the water bucket in his pen, but he has never "attacked."

With chickens, if you let them get their bluff on you and see that you are flinching, running, or screaming when they bully you they will continue to do so and it will just get worse. If you promptly swat them or firmly grab them when they're doing it you deliver the message that you are the boss. That is what I do anyway. Possibly a squirt bottle might work too with the nozzle set on stream instead of mist.

Some chickens are simply just aggressive, most always roosters. If that behavior persists into maturity I wouldnt breed an aggressive male that actually attacked me unless he was really good quality and better than your other options.

This is what challenging behavior looks like. This is one of my blue copper cockerels challenging a young game cockerel through the wire of a pen.

 

[KF0002]

You just have to be very gentle and very careful. If you "help" them too early on, it could be a situation like the first time I helped when the baby just wasnt ready to hatch. Also, many people don't help because "the strongest survive" and the chicks that can't hatch on their own are generally weaker overall than their hatchmates - not always, but generally. If you plan to breed what you hatch, you shouldn't breed any that need help out unless you know it was a user error that caused the problem (i.e. you forgot to add water and the humidity dropped, drying the membrane out, or you added too much water and got the other kind of sticky chick).

That is how I do it too. If a chick is stuck because its my fault I will help it, if its stuck because it is too weak to hatch on its own I usually just leave it in the incubator after I have removed all the chicks. Eventually they die but I allow the chick to pass away warm and cozy in the incubator.

I have accidentally let the incubator get too dry during lockdown in the past (guilty!) and have had a chick or two get stuck because of my oversight. I will help those because under the right circumstances they wouldnt have dried out and got stuck. Those chicks do fine after assisting. In my defense I was in nursing school and working full time when that happened. To err is human, no one is above it.

If I open the incubator on day 22 to remove chicks and there is a chick that has pipped and made some progress but hasnt hatched yet I will leave it but I wont assist it. My reasoning is, I only want the strongest and vigorous chicks. I dont want the weak ones I will have to baby more than the others and nurse it to help it survive. Those are culls. If I see a chick in one of the brooders not doing as well as the others, not standing or eating or running around like the others, that chick is a cull. Same principle applies. I only want the strongest chicks because strong and healthy chicks make strong and healthy adults. When you are breeding chickens you dont want weak genetics to be passed on.

 

[KF0002]

I have assisted many chicks over the years and the more I did it the more I kept seeing that those chicks just simply didnt thrive. I hated the thought of leaving the poor chick in the egg and not being strong enough to get out. But usually they are too weak to hatch usually for a reason. The end result was usually the same, I would have to ask my husband to cull the chick anyway because it wasnt able to walk normally or couldnt stand up. So I tend to let nature take its course now and that has been best for me. If I ordered hatching eggs and one of those were unable to hatch after pipping I have helped those but usually they end up having to be culled anyway.

@RedBanks let us know how your little chick is doing. It's a tough decision to leave them in the shell versus assist them, I know. I hope it is doing okay!

 

[Hensndoes]

That doesnt really sound like aggressive behavior, just impatient chicken behavior. Lol. Some of my free ranging chickens do that when they're tired of waiting to be fed. There are one or two that stand by my leg and give my pants a pluck to insist that I feed them faster. Sometimes when Im wearing shorts or capris they peck my leg and it does smart a little. They're not doing it to bully me, just to hurry me along with feeding time. Lol

Oh it's not. I was referring to Tiegrsi saying his birds were just excited bout treats- his (her? Here we go again?) aren't being nice.

 

[Red Banks]

I have assisted many chicks over the years and the more I did it the more I kept seeing that those chicks just simply didnt thrive. I hated the thought of leaving the poor chick in the egg and not being strong enough to get out. But usually they are too weak to hatch usually for a reason. The end result was usually the same, I would have to ask my husband to cull the chick anyway because it wasnt able to walk normally or couldnt stand up. So I tend to let nature take its course now and that has been best for me. If I ordered hatching eggs and one of those were unable to hatch after pipping I have helped those but usually they end up having to be culled anyway.

@RedBanks let us know how your little chick is doing. It's a tough decision to leave them in the shell versus assist them, I know. I hope it is doing okay!

Yes.... I know better. I should not have interceded. The chick is strong but there is something wrong. It won't stand and it is not just because of curled toes. I will wait. Gus is very concerned about the chick and lays by the brooder. Very soon after getting chickens I adopted the policy of not going to great lengths to save every chicken. No husband to cull for me. I look at this little sweet bird and know I may have to do that.

 

[KF0002]

Oh it's not. I was referring to Tiegrsi saying his birds were just excited bout treats- his (her? Here we go again?) aren't being nice.

Some of our Game cockerels get that way when they are young. I have noticed that when they are aggressive at that early age they continue to be aggressive. My Marans are generally really mellow though fortunately.