International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[KF0002]

Your crazy, your birds are nicer than most, put in the work and make them perfect. What are the faults that have you nervous? I know you been working on the tail angel but who isn't, other that that whats got you stressed?

Aww you say the nicest things. I have numerous things to work on though. None of my birds are without faults and each has its own pros and cons to work with. As long as faults arent doubled up in a mating there is room to correct or balance it out with its mate. I have to work on marbled eye color, halos, white under hackle fluff (which pretty much goes hand in hand with halos), breast depth, tail angle, back length.. and the usual. You fix one thing and something else pops up. But they are showable and few have disqualifying type traits. I will work them as close to perfect as I can get them. I am happy with what progress they've made so far and look forward to seeing each new generation.

 

[Magnolia Hill]

Aww you say the nicest things. I have numerous things to work on though. None of my birds are without faults and each has its own pros and cons to work with. As long as faults arent doubled up in a mating there is room to correct or balance it out with its mate. I have to work on marbled eye color, halos, white under hackle fluff (which pretty much goes hand in hand with halos), breast depth, tail angle, back length.. and the usual. You fix one thing and something else pops up. But they are showable and few have disqualifying type traits. I will work them as close to perfect as I can get them. I am happy with what progress they've made so far and look forward to seeing each new generation.

Well anything i can do to help you i will. If you see something in my birds that might help your breeding program just let me know. I'll put some eggs or chicks in the mail as quick as i can.

 

[KF0002]

Well anything i can do to help you i will. If you see something in my birds that might help your breeding program just let me know. I'll put some eggs or chicks in the mail as quick as i can.

Thats a really nice thing to offer and I appreciate it. I inevitably may have to bring in new blood one of these days so I may take you up on that in the future. And same goes for me. I would be happy to help you out as well.

 

[Magnolia Hill]

Thats a really nice thing to offer and I appreciate it. I inevitably may have to bring in new blood one of these days so I may take you up on that in the future. And same goes for me. I would be happy to help you out as well.

Means a lot, I'm really hoping in 3-4 generations i'll be producing some really nice birds. I'm probably going up end up with 4 or 5 different lines, I got different birds i want to pair a certain way and try to breed out all the faults, and then if need be i'll combine them accordingly generations down the line.

 

[Old Man Tom]

Magnolia Hill
I've been chasing these birds for over three years now. The birds you posted on the last two pages are some of the best I have seen! I prefer the more Mahogany or darker color. No white in the wings is just awesome! I am serious these are the kind of birds we should be dreaming of. I have learned the key to this is not the birds that you posted! It is the birds, Cock and Hens, that produced those birds. When we can get a line that will reproduce itself consistently that will be great. Again your birds are really nice! TOM

 

[KF0002]

Means a lot, I'm really hoping in 3-4 generations i'll be producing some really nice birds. I'm probably going up end up with 4 or 5 different lines, I got different birds i want to pair a certain way and try to breed out all the faults, and then if need be i'll combine them accordingly generations down the line.

Thats the way chooksman did it. Sounds like a good plan. It'll be nice to see the offspring of your pairings next year. I bet they'll produce really nice quality birds.

 

[Magnolia Hill]

Magnolia Hill
I've been chasing these birds for over three years now. The birds you posted on the last two pages are some of the best I have seen! I prefer the more Mahogany or darker color. No white in the wings is just awesome! I am serious these are the kind of birds we should be dreaming of. I have learned the key to this is not the birds that you posted! It is the birds, Cock and Hens, that produced those birds. When we can get a line that will reproduce itself consistently that will be great. Again your birds are really nice! TOM

Thank you, i prefer the darker type myself also, what ive learned breeding marans is its a balance, sometimes you need cockerels or hens that you necessarily wouldnt use. And i don't think there is a line of marans that produce both good males and females, usually its only one or the other. that's why my goal is to have a couple different lines and then go from there.

 

[Magnolia Hill]

Thats the way chooksman did it. Sounds like a good plan. It'll be nice to see the offspring of your pairings next year. I bet they'll produce really nice quality birds.

Im excited to see myself, time will tell.

 

[Magnolia Hill]

Magnolia Hill
I've been chasing these birds for over three years now. The birds you posted on the last two pages are some of the best I have seen! I prefer the more Mahogany or darker color. No white in the wings is just awesome! I am serious these are the kind of birds we should be dreaming of. I have learned the key to this is not the birds that you posted! It is the birds, Cock and Hens, that produced those birds. When we can get a line that will reproduce itself consistently that will be great. Again your birds are really nice! TOM

And also these birds are not products of my breeding, i bought these from a old man that i ran across in south Louisiana that started with wade Jean and bev davis lines 10 years ago. They were some of the nicest birds i ever seen and i had to get some but he wasn't to keen on selling, it took me weeks to convince the guy that i was wanting them for my personal breeding purposes and he made sure i knew marans and that i wouldn't be just throwing them in a pen letting them ruin. i guess you could say he realized i wasn't trying to make a quick buck off his birds and that i was serious about breeding marans so he finally agreed to sell me some, so i bought 60 chicks, ended up with 29 after first culls.

 

[Old Man Tom]

And also these birds are not products of my breeding, i bought these from a old man that i ran across in south Louisiana that started with wade Jean and bev davis lines 10 years ago. They were some of the nicest birds i ever seen and i had to get some but he wasn't to keen on selling, it took me weeks to convince the guy that i was wanting them for my personal breeding purposes and he made sure i knew marans and that i wouldn't be just throwing them in a pen letting them ruin. i guess you could say he realized i wasn't trying to make a quick buck off his birds and that i was serious about breeding marans so he finally agreed to sell me some, so i bought 60 chicks, ended up with 29 after first culls.

That is what I'm trying to say. The person you bought them from has been breeding them for over 10 years. That is a lot of years and hard work! You culled 50% of those birds and do not know what these will produce. You choose which ones to breed forward and hopefully in another 10 years you will have some nice birds. These birds do not reproduce themselves. We have to selectively breed each pair and hope the genes line up! Then we have to grow them out and breed them again! Just buying dark eggs and hatching those eggs will not work! A lot of time and hard work. I love these Black Copper Marans!!
I believe another issue is most people buying these Marans do not know what SOP is or what a Black Copper Marans should look like. That was the purpose of getting them approved in the Standard of Perfection. Those who can show these birds will really help the breed. One of the more important lessons to learn is breeding culls only produces more culls. TOM