International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[kcrandall]

These guys are both 22 weeks now. There is certainly no copper anywhere. I recall the lady telling me they were FRENCH marans. She said French about 5 times. LOL. I didnt really know much (even less than I do now) .... yes, the one guy has a modified pea it looks like a glob type comb I see with barnyard mixes. He was going to be dinner.... but the other one Im not sure-its got clean black legs.. Im wondering if it may be a black orpington? or one of the olive egger eggs that hatched possibly. Sounds like we should eat both.

Unfortunately, I would say that they are both mixed breeds. Word of advice, some sellers of Marans use the term “French” as a sales tactic. Marans originated in France so IMO there is no need to call them French BCMs because no matter where they are raised or breed in the world their origin is rooted in France. The only exception I would make is. English Marans because the UK choose to breed out feathered feet so that is a noteworthy distinction.

A true shepherd of Marans should be willing to disclose all they know about their Marans Line without taking offense by a buyers questions. When buying hatching eggs or chicks you are buying genetics (good and bad) not correct SOP birds. It’s up to us to use that genetic potential to create our own line of SOP Quality Birds through good breeding practices. The Show Breeders have spent years breeding their Marans Line(s).

 

[marchick]

marans hen is not a new thing neither bastard hen ,Marans hen LA POULE DE MARANS has a standard .has a history .
the Standard tell us what to look for . what traits we should be breeding for . what the conformation of the breed ,
so marans hens does not look like Australorp hens .does not look like Sussex . marans hen look like marans hen described in her Standard .

I m the one who stated that black pullet is 100 % marans .she has all the marans traits except her legs are clean . she is not . maybe some thing has been added to her parent line by crossing or jumping fences . I don t know about that .What I m saying .she has all the marans traits . And I will stand by what I said .

m not recreating the SOP .I m just commenting in the photos you guys post in here . I don t know nothing about any body chooks except @marchick and @kfelton0002 . rest are just photos .

any way that not what I come to the thread for .
chooks man

Chooksman I believe you 100%! You know your chooks. She looked Marans to me too. I was just curious what he sees that I didn't. I don't think any Marans lines in the U.S. are pure. I have heard from breeders that when Marans got started here they used all sorts of different breeds to produce their lines. That's why we are trying to breed out all the stuff that keeps popping up. So we can get them as close to standards as we can.

 

[Cturber]

Updated pics on my 1st BCM. He is 16 weeks now. I really appreciate learning from the feedback you guys give. What is good, what’s not good?

 

[marchick]

You could add a dehumidifier to the room where you hatch your eggs. My incubator has two small adjustable vents that are used to help control air flow and humidity. I open these vents as wide as they go to vent excess moisture. Humidity in North Texas can range from 30% to 65% depending on the season.

I don’t really have a good answer for why I change egg position other than that’s what I was taught as a child. I know some people that hatch in egg cartons (fat side up) and they have good hatches.

I also do not candle Marans Eggs so I only open the incubator to reposition the eggs at lockdown then on Day 21 to move the chicks to the brooder.

I use to candle all the time and mark aircells. It drove me crazy! Now I might candle at the 14 day mark and throw out the bad ones or wait till lockdown and throw them out. I also use to assist because of shrink wrapping with the old Incubator. My cabinet fixed that problem. I would stay up at night during hatching. Checking every little bit. Not anymore. I go to sleep and don't worry about it. So much less stress now. Lol

 

[kcrandall]

I use to candle all the time and mark aircells. It drove me crazy! Now I might candle at the 14 day mark and throw out the bad ones or wait till lockdown and throw them out. I also use to assist because of shrink wrapping with the old Incubator. My cabinet fixed that problem. I would stay up at night during hatching. Checking every little bit. Not anymore. I go to sleep and don't worry about it. So much less stress now. Lol

Agree with you, we can make it too stressful on ourselves. We provide a good sterile hatching environment then it is up to the chick to develop and hatch. I don’t assist either - if the chick cannot hatch on its own then it lacks the vitality that I’m looking for in my chooks.

 

[kcrandall]

Updated pics on my 1st BCM. He is 16 weeks now. I really appreciate learning from the feedback you guys give. What is good, what’s not good?
View attachment 2369172View attachment 2369173View attachment 2369174View attachment 2369175

I don’t see any obvious DQs so that’s good. He has a nice shaped head, good eyes, good comb / wattles but looks like he may have a wrinkle in the front of comb, nice feathered legs, legs well spaced and straight and good color so far. I can’t really get a good feel for his type or back length because of the pictures. Need a straight on side shot on his level. Tail looks long to me. I can give a better comment if you post a picture from the rear. He is young so he will change a lot over the next few months. You will have a much better idea about him by 32 weeks old.

 

[Minky]

Wow. So quiet in here.. it was Canadian thanksgiving this weekend.... woke up to 15 giant wild turkeys in my yard. It was very funny..like they were taunting us. They were safe... we ate chicken.
Said goodbye to 7 more roosters. Still have 10 to go.... Put my new BCM rooster "Millbrook" (his quarantine was finally up) in his own "apartment" in the barn, beside the hen's coop..... and he managed to get the better of my CLB rooster with the giant floppy comb... Blood everywhere. Like a murder scene..How on earth can they manage that through 2 inch square welded wire??!!
My CLB rooster is very skittish and there was no way I could catch him... So he just dripped blood all day yesterday poor guy. Why on earth would he be in side fighting through a wall when he could be roaming free in the glorious sunshine of fall? I hope they work it out- they will be pen mates some day soon...

Is there a way to stop a bleeding comb? Its finally stopped now, but its black and crusty in spots. Shall I smear polysporin on it tomorrow night after he roosts?

 

[kcrandall]

Wow. So quiet in here.. it was Canadian thanksgiving this weekend.... woke up to 15 giant wild turkeys in my yard. It was very funny..like they were taunting us. They were safe... we ate chicken.
Said goodbye to 7 more roosters. Still have 10 to go.... Put my new BCM rooster "Millbrook" (his quarantine was finally up) in his own "apartment" in the barn, beside the hen's coop..... and he managed to get the better of my CLB rooster with the giant floppy comb... Blood everywhere. Like a murder scene..How on earth can they manage that through 2 inch square welded wire??!!
My CLB rooster is very skittish and there was no way I could catch him... So he just dripped blood all day yesterday poor guy. Why on earth would he be in side fighting through a wall when he could be roaming free in the glorious sunshine of fall? I hope they work it out- they will be pen mates some day soon...

Is there a way to stop a bleeding comb? Its finally stopped now, but its black and crusty in spots. Shall I smear polysporin on it tomorrow night after he roosts?

Styptic powder will help to stop bleeding. Leave the scabs (natures bandaid) and put some polysporin or neosporin on his comb after he goes to roost. There is a lot of blood in the comb so it will bleed quit a bit after an injury.

Cocks will fight especially if they do not know each other. Also, fighting cocks were used to create BCMs many many years ago so its in their DNA. You may not be able to pen these cocks together.

I have a lot of wild turkeys that live around where I live in North Texas. They are fascinating to watch for sure. Glad you had a Happy Thanksgiving! We have to wait another 5 weeks before our Thanksgiving.

 

[kcrandall]

Couple pics of one of my 10 week old cockerels. I don’t think I posted pics of him before. He is maturing slower than the others but I like his type, tail, dark copper hackles and eyes. He’s well chunky and wide thru the shoulders. He has a long way to go but I like what I’m seeing so far.

 

[kcrandall]

Here are a few pics of some of the 10 week old pullets. A few pullets are expressing nice copper.