International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[Hensndoes]

A few of my best birds I got for next to nothing or for free. My first pair of show quality BB red standard Old English Games were given to me by a friend I met online and happened to live in KY. The hen had won best of breed at the Ohio Nationals an the pair are amazing quality and bred to APA standard.

Just because you pay top dollar doesnt always promise great quality from every chick. There will still be a lot of culls and few keepers from any Marans line from any breeder. Trying to find the best quality you can is great to get a good start, but dont expect perfection from all of them.

I charge top dollar for any of my Marans pullets or hens I sell locally, even though I'm selling my culls as layer quality because I dont care if they sell or not. I have given a ton away to friends as layers, and we eat all the roosters I dont use for breeding.

I have a long way to go before I start selling chicks or anything. I want to focus on bettering my own stock and showing. If someone approaches me and asks for chicks or eggs I will try to help them out, but I'm not going to advertise or anything and try to sell right now.

I agree though, you get what you pay for. I was referring to the going rate for Marans chicks in my area I guess. People wont pay as much for chickens around here. I have seen them advertised on a Kentucky sales page for anywhere from $8 to $15 each. If you order from a top notch breeder, absolutely you will pay more.

So true. I chose to pay what I did because I appreciate the effort and habits of the breeder I ordered from. There isn't much local to me that I have found except people like me - but they seem to have birds that seem to have more flaws than I have patience for. Still - of the first 2 cockerels I got I rehomed 1 for carnation (?) comb and the Chester needs a dark hen with nice tail. Of the 4 chicks I have now 2 had feathers on their middle toe. Still I'm very excited to see what I'll have to work with. It has to be better than what's local. All came from the same place so I think to call them mine I will have to add another line right?

 

[Tiegrsi]

Seeing all the comments about cheap birds being poor quality upsets me. I charge $8-$10/each for unsexed day olds when I sell them, and I consider my birds to be good quality. No one in my local area would consider paying more for babies, eapecially now that TSC sells "French Black Copper" chicks for $3 a piece. I do not want people thinking my birds aren't quality simply because I don't charge top dollar.

I sell older pullets and hens for $30-50, and have difficulty even at that price (though I personally think they're worth more).

 

[Red Banks]

Seeing all the comments about cheap birds being poor quality upsets me. I charge $8-$10/each for unsexed day olds when I sell them, and I consider my birds to be good quality. No one in my local area would consider paying more for babies, eapecially now that TSC sells "French Black Copper" chicks for $3 a piece. I do not want people thinking my birds aren't quality simply because I don't charge top dollar.

I sell older pullets and hens for $30-50, and have difficulty even at that price (though I personally think they're worth more).

None of this talk about price really has to do with the quality of birds. I live in a farming community and I doubt I will be able to get the price I would like. I do see a lot of BCM that are hardly recognizable but there are people like you and I that have good birds and it is hard to get what they are worth. I have never sold BCM. I did once sell a flock of all the other breeds I had.... all purebred.... CLBs, Ameraucanas, Cuckoos, Bielefelders. I got $10 for young hens and pullets. I had paid a lot for those birds as chicks. I don't know who makes money with chickens but it is not me.

 

[kfelton0002]

So true. I chose to pay what I did because I appreciate the effort and habits of the breeder I ordered from. There isn't much local to me that I have found except people like me - but they seem to have birds that seem to have more flaws than I have patience for. Still - of the first 2 cockerels I got I rehomed 1 for carnation (?) comb and the Chester needs a dark hen with nice tail. Of the 4 chicks I have now 2 had feathers on their middle toe. Still I'm very excited to see what I'll have to work with. It has to be better than what's local. All came from the same place so I think to call them mine I will have to add another line right?

I hope you have some nice ones to work with in your bunch. The moment you make the decisions on which birds are breeders and which are culls, and start hatching chicks they are your line. Each breeder culls differently so what you decide to use for breeding might be different than the original breeder might choose.

 

[kfelton0002]

Seeing all the comments about cheap birds being poor quality upsets me. I charge $8-$10/each for unsexed day olds when I sell them, and I consider my birds to be good quality. No one in my local area would consider paying more for babies, eapecially now that TSC sells "French Black Copper" chicks for $3 a piece. I do not want people thinking my birds aren't quality simply because I don't charge top dollar.

I sell older pullets and hens for $30-50, and have difficulty even at that price (though I personally think they're worth more).

First of all, price doesnt always reflect the quality of the stock. Anyone searching for chicks, eggs, or adult birds with any knowledge of the standard can look at a breeder's birds and tell if they are well bred or not. I dont think someone is going to think your birds are junk based on the price. Quality birds will speak for themselves.

 

[chickengr]

Seeing all the comments about cheap birds being poor quality upsets me. I charge $8-$10/each for unsexed day olds when I sell them, and I consider my birds to be good quality. No one in my local area would consider paying more for babies, eapecially now that TSC sells "French Black Copper" chicks for $3 a piece. I do not want people thinking my birds aren't quality simply because I don't charge top dollar.

I sell older pullets and hens for $30-50, and have difficulty even at that price (though I personally think they're worth more).

at the moment in greece there are very few people willing to buy anything. only cheap things might be sold.

 

[Hensndoes]

Seeing all the comments about cheap birds being poor quality upsets me. I charge $8-$10/each for unsexed day olds when I sell them, and I consider my birds to be good quality. No one in my local area would consider paying more for babies, eapecially now that TSC sells "French Black Copper" chicks for $3 a piece. I do not want people thinking my birds aren't quality simply because I don't charge top dollar.

I sell older pullets and hens for $30-50, and have difficulty even at that price (though I personally think they're worth more).

8-10 might be going price in your area for quality chicks. In my area 8-10 buys you chicks with no focus on quality other than egg color. I live in the sticks! I'm now realizing that we all come from a different place when I'm used to thinking of us as one type of similar chicken farmer. What you charge doesn't mean your chicks are of lesser quality, it means you have dialed your market and picked a target that fits your area. And clearly we all have different markets.

That said - it drives me nuts to see people advertising birds as breeder quality when they don't seem to have put in any effort and display birds full of flaws. I won't change that thought process. A little flaw here or ther ok - but when it barely resembles the Breed and other than dark eggs I get a little scratch inside. Thats what my area has to offer so I look elsewhere. That's what happens when you live in the sticks.

To add: if perfect birds were easy to come by we probably would have never met. It's the challenge we face when taking on this hobby

 

[kfelton0002]

8-10 might be going price in your area for quality chicks. In my area 8-10 buys you chicks with no focus on quality other than egg color. I live in the sticks! I'm now realizing that we all come from a different place when I'm used to thinking of us as one type of similar chicken farmer. What you charge doesn't mean your chicks are of lesser quality, it means you have dialed your market and picked a target that fits your area. And clearly we all have different markets.

That said - it drives me nuts to see people advertising birds as breeder quality when they don't seem to have put in any effort and display birds full of flaws. I won't change that thought process. A little flaw here or ther ok - but when it barely resembles the Breed and other than dark eggs I get a little scratch inside. Thats what my area has to offer so I look elsewhere. That's what happens when you live in the sticks.

To add: if perfect birds were easy to come by we probably would have never met. It's the challenge we face when taking on this hobby

You got that right! If perfect birds were so easy to obtain threads like these probably wouldn't exist. Very well put!

 

[Magnolia Hill]

Here's a couple recent pictures of my accidental little white girl.

She sure is pretty for a mistake.

 

[Magnolia Hill]

Here's a couple recent pictures my grow outs