International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[Hensndoes]

What does it mean if your FCBM does not lay a dark brown egg? I have 2 hens and until couple weeks agoa roo as well. They are going on 7 months old.

Could be a few different things. It may not be a marans. Or it may be of hatchery quality meaning a poorer representation of the breed. In this case it's either bred for advertising a breed name or with little focus on maintaining the qualities you seek for standard of the breed. I should note note it's fair to say many hatchery stock actually do supply some traits worthy of breeder selection and make for good stock. Or it could be a bird from a line so focused on standard that egg color is sacrificed. It's very hard to maintain egg color when breeding for standard.

Either way got pics? We love to see em!

 

[juliejohnson805]

Either way got pics? We love to see em!

These are all the same 2 Maran hens with a couple of photo bombers thrown in. I know their coloring is not right and is too mottled but I was hoping for dark eggs at least. I have a gotten a few that are speckled. I did purchase from a small local breeder so I am not very confident in his ways.

 

[Fanci Feathers Marans]

Can you guys critique my new roo?

He'll be six months old next month, hatched June 10.

Body type/shape

Front
(Sorry, I forgot to take a good frontal pic, but you can see his breast coloring here)

That handsome face~

Healthy feets
(Please ignore my PJ's...)

Hackle coloring

Wing covert
(Couldn't get a pic of his primaries, but there is no white.)

And a close-up of some of his breast feathers.

 

[Fanci Feathers Marans]

This is my first winter with BCM chickens. Mine are little peddler lines.

Even though egg production has dropped significantly among all my chickens (many breeds), I can't help but notice that my BCM have stopped laying all together. It's been at least 2 weeks since I've seen a chocolate egg. I have 3 BCM chickens.

I do have at least 1 chicken that's an egg eater, but usually I know when that has happened since the nest is full of yolk and egg shell. This hasn't happened in a while because I've been collecting more often that usual to prevent egg-eating (which usually happens when eggs remain in the nest for a while).

Can anyone with little peddler lines tell me how their chickens are doing in terms of laying? Or anyone with different lines care to comment on BCM laying prowess in general?

Thanks!

I got some LP's but they're all roos...
To get the color, the eggs have to spend more time in the oviduct (this was told to me by a poultry judge a few years ago.) The balance is how long, and what shade results. This may lead to slower production than non-dark-colored eggers.
They could also be moulting a bit earlier, but I can't say for sure.

 

[Fanci Feathers Marans]

These are all the same 2 Maran hens with a couple of photo bombers thrown in. I know their coloring is not right and is too mottled but I was hoping for dark eggs at least. I have a gotten a few that are speckled. I did purchase from a small local breeder so I am not very confident in his ways.
View attachment 1568695 View attachment 1568694 View attachment 1568691 View attachment 1568692 View attachment 1568693

Did the breeder say he was breeding for show? Is he a Marans breeder or just a backyard enthusiast?
I'd like to say she's crossed with another breed.

 

[juliejohnson805]

Did the breeder say he was breeding for show? Is he a Marans breeder or just a backyard enthusiast?
I'd like to say she's crossed with another breed.

Was actually a small hatchery and I know my roo was off in coloring so who knows what he is doing. I DO know what I won't be doing though.....

 

[Hensndoes]

This is my first winter with BCM chickens. Mine are little peddler lines.

Even though egg production has dropped significantly among all my chickens (many breeds), I can't help but notice that my BCM have stopped laying all together. It's been at least 2 weeks since I've seen a chocolate egg. I have 3 BCM chickens.

I do have at least 1 chicken that's an egg eater, but usually I know when that has happened since the nest is full of yolk and egg shell. This hasn't happened in a while because I've been collecting more often that usual to prevent egg-eating (which usually happens when eggs remain in the nest for a while).

Can anyone with little peddler lines tell me how their chickens are doing in terms of laying? Or anyone with different lines care to comment on BCM laying prowess in general?

Thanks!

Mine have roots in bev Davis, LP, and wade jean that the breeder worked for 5 yrs = now a line completely owned by the breeder I bought from. Egg color and frequency don't go hand in hand unfortunately. What I've noticed over past 2 weeks is I went from 2-3 eggs per day to 1. And I have 3 marans layers. Such is life when you don't use artificial light.

 

[Hensndoes]

Can you guys critique my new roo?

He'll be six months old next month, hatched June 10.

Body type/shape

Front
(Sorry, I forgot to take a good frontal pic, but you can see his breast coloring here)

That handsome face~

Healthy feets
(Please ignore my PJ's...)

Hackle coloring

Wing covert
(Couldn't get a pic of his primaries, but there is no white.)

And a close-up of some of his breast feathers.

He is gorgeous. He has a nice comb- but too many points. That's an easy fix. I'd find a low tailed lady for him. Hopefully a bit undercolored as he has very little chest leakage and I'd want to avoid a new task while working on that tail. Nice mass and bottom line too. Im a bit envious.

 

[Richard Pryor]

Mine have roots in bev Davis, LP, and wade jean that the breeder worked for 5 yrs = now a line completely owned by the breeder I bought from. Egg color and frequency don't go hand in hand unfortunately. What I've noticed over past 2 weeks is I went from 2-3 eggs per day to 1. And I have 3 marans layers. Such is life when you don't use artificial light.

At least they're still laying! I still haven't seen an egg since I posted and for the 2 weeks prior. I have around 20 layers total and I'm getting around 5 eggs per day. And the days are still not that short!

 

[BobletFarmBirds]

Roo 1

Roo 2

Ugh these guys are depressing. Out off 18 chicks, we got 5 hens and 10 Roos. These are the only two that have no leakage into the chest ;(
How do they look? Let me know what other angles you want to see, and I’ll get them for you! Please, critique away!
Hatched Early June.