International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[Bantambird]

Holy cow are the BCM eggs difficult to candle! Day 6 with a strong light I can’t make anything out but the air cell and a darker spot. No seeing veins like with other eggs. I did the next best thing “smell test”.
If no odor they stayed in. What do you guys do? Any tips would be great.

I candle during lockdown and use a very strong LED flashlight with fresh batteries.

 

[RoosterML]

I candle during lockdown and use a very strong LED flashlight with fresh batteries.

I would think that would be even worst as at that point all you usually see is a black blob.

 

[Bantambird]

I would think that would be even worst as at that point all you usually see is a black blob.

You can usually see veining on the edges, and if you see no blob, it's open. Look for veining on the edges. Make sure your light is as bright as you can find.

 

[Bantambird]

this egg is about 10 days along. It's clearly alive. This is the brightest LED flashlight I could buy that has a smaller beam.

 

[Bantambird]

here are marans eggs, legbar eggs, and turkey eggs sitting on a tray to go in on Saturday. The shells are thick and dark, but the LED flashlight will work if strong enough.

 

[NanaK]

View attachment 2036876this egg is about 10 days along. It's clearly alive. This is the brightest LED flashlight I could buy that has a smaller beam.

Very good shot!

 

[kfelton0002]

Holy cow are the BCM eggs difficult to candle! Day 6 with a strong light I can’t make anything out but the air cell and a darker spot. No seeing veins like with other eggs. I did the next best thing “smell test”.
If no odor they stayed in. What do you guys do? Any tips would be great.

I usually dont even attempt candling Marans eggs until lockdown. With a really strong flashlight by day 6 all you can really see is the air cell if the Marans eggs are dark. Further into incubation you will start to see an obvious difference in good vs infertile eggs as the good eggs will be darker under the aircell (the developing chick creates a dark shadow in the egg). Infertile eggs look brighter as the light shines through the egg. I hope that makes sense.

 

[chickengr]

It's the same here. Nobody I've heard of here breeds for looks.
It's almost impossible to explain to breeders in general that their breeding practices and lack of knowledge is in fact killing off the very breed they think they are preserving.
The way things are going in the US it won't be many years before a perfectly healthy breed will have it's lifespan reduced to less than half of what it is capable of through breeding for looks or maximum egg production. You can't fix stupid as they say.
A classic example of breeds that have been left alone (In this case because they are not in a standards register and are small filighty birds) are Fayoumies. It seems that Fayoumies and a number of North African and Persian breeds have developed immunities to a number of the diseases that the bred production and looks birds haven't.
There is something to be learned there.

my first step in breeding healthy chickens is to stay away from vaccines. the second step is to avoid commercial feed as much as possible. I plan to feed chicks with corn meal/cheese/nettle/susam mix and let them free roam at a young age. I will use broody hens when available (silkies and pekins).

 

[RoosterML]

my first step in breeding healthy chickens is to stay away from vaccines. the second step is to avoid commercial feed as much as possible. I plan to feed chicks with corn meal/cheese/nettle/susam mix and let them free roam at a young age. I will use broody hens when available (silkies and pekins).

Not sure why you think using commercial feed would cause unhealthy chickens. I do not agree with that part of your statement.
Personally I feel unhealthy birds come for lack of basic care and unsanitary living conditions.

 

[marchick]

my first step in breeding healthy chickens is to stay away from vaccines. the second step is to avoid commercial feed as much as possible. I plan to feed chicks with corn meal/cheese/nettle/susam mix and let them free roam at a young age. I will use broody hens when available (silkies and pekins).

I have a friend that makes my feed. I buy it $450 a ton. It has corn, wheat, peas, cheese, camelina and I think they add a vitamin supplement. There are a couple ingredients I missed. I can't remember what they where. I added a bag of feather fixer yesterday to two of my pens. My turkeys are molting and I hope that helps. I have really considered going to a commercial feed though. I worry since they don't free range they may not be getting everything they need. That's why I am considering a laying pellet but it would be about $600 or more a ton. A ton lasts me about 4 or 5 months.