International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

This thread has the best people! It is so helpful to learn from the pics and feedback given.
I am so sorry for those of you posting about losing birds to illness and predators.
I am still watching my 1 cockerel grow up to learn more about the breed. He is now 4 months old. He has started crowing, a sad pitiful crow, lol. Looking at posts here, I see Both good and not great things with him. I trying to train my eyes on what to look for. I would love updated opinions.

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This thread has the best people! It is so helpful to learn from the pics and feedback given.
I am so sorry for those of you posting about losing birds to illness and predators.
I am still watching my 1 cockerel grow up to learn more about the breed. He is now 4 months old. He has started crowing, a sad pitiful crow, lol. Looking at posts here, I see Both good and not great things with him. I trying to train my eyes on what to look for. I would love updated opinions.

View attachment 2392326View attachment 2392327View attachment 2392328View attachment 2392329View attachment 2392330

I agree we have a great group! My favorite thing about this group is we have people from many different countries with various experience levels that share a passion for Marans. We strive to give honest constructive critiques when asked but in a respectful manner.

I’m glad you included several pictures. Pictures have a way of making a bird look really good or bad depending on lighting, angle of the bird relative to camera, etc. For example, Pic 1 he looks to have good type but Pic 5 makes him look unbalanced. In Pic 5 I can tell he is on alert so he is naturally standing with his backend kinda low so I take this into consideration.
With that said, your cockerel has both good and bad points.

Let’s start with the bad:
  1. He has a definite halo (gold or yellow feathers on his lower hackles). Unfortunately, this halo is not going away.
  2. His copper color appears uneven - different shades of copper - we want a uniformed copper color whether it be on the lighter or darker side of copper. Think of it like a new penny vs. an old penny and all shades in between.
  3. I would like to see a full red shoulder (upper part of his wing). He’s still young so he may develop more color.
  4. His tail is on the high side - its not a squirrel tail, yet - we want a tail angle of 45 degrees or slightly less. Tail angle usually does not improve with age.
  5. I would also like to see more depth in the lower portion of his breast and abdomen. He’s young so it make take him 3-4 months to fill out.
  6. His comb kinda hugs his skull from front to back - we want the blade (back) to be well lift off his head / neck. This too will probably not change.
OK, now for the good:
  1. He has good type.
  2. His wattles are medium sized and oval.
  3. Nice eye color - they should get a more reddish-orange as he matures
  4. He has a nice short, full tail. There is not a pic from the rear so I can’t tell if his tail is tented (like an upside down V) - we want a short, full, well tented tail.
  5. Legs appear well spaced and medium sized.
  6. He looks to be wide thru his shoulders.
  7. Nice light slate colored legs.
  8. Nice leg feathering

    When breeding Marans (or any breed for that matter) we want to pair up males and females that offset the faults of the other and compliment any shared positive traits.
Is he your only BCM Cockerel? If not, please post pics of your other cocks or cockerels so we have something to compare him to. Do you have any BCM Pullets? If so, it would be helpful to see his potential mating partners too.

Take Care,
Keith
 
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absolutely stunning . big cockerels is sublime .the pullets are very high quality .
Bravo my dear friend . you have done great job .your line is getting better and better every year .
stunning silver ,stunning body pattern and stunning body type plus tail .
stunning plumage type .

chooks man
 
My line #2 are growing out nicely.
The copper is not as rich as line #1.
I think i will have a halo issue with them. Almost 16 weeks and the 2 cockerels have very bright halo-ish hackles.

Cockerel 1-
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Cockerel 2-

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please don t start using this show vocabulary . like halo in hackle .

your cockerel have a perfect copper quality .they hackle is not split between 2 colored . they hackle look more uniform .

chooks man
 
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@Punkybrewster

this pullet is perfect for her age .
she has a perfect copper and a perfect hackle marking .
don t confuse your self by reading from people who don t know marans breed .lot of them in Facebook .

your pullets and cockerels have rich red copper .with gorgeous flames .

they are stunning .
let see the egg color .

well bred BC marans .Bravo to the breeder .
chooks man
 
In person, their hackles look very orange. Because they are only 16 weeks and have that brightness, i am assuming it will get even lighter not darker.

But i certainly know what happens when i assume....

As always, i will have to wait a few more months i suppose.

too much worry and worry my friend .
chooks man
 
I agree we have a great group! My favorite thing about this group is we have people from many different countries with various experience levels that share a passion for Marans. We strive to give honest constructive critiques when asked but in a respectful manner.

I’m glad you included several pictures. Pictures have a way of making a bird look really good or bad depending on lighting, angle of the bird relative to camera, etc. For example, Pic 1 he looks to have good type but Pic 5 makes him look unbalanced. In Pic 5 I can tell he is on alert so he is naturally standing with his backend kinda low so I take this into consideration.
With that said, your cockerel has both good and bad points.

Let’s start with the bad:
  1. He has a definite halo (gold or yellow feathers on his lower hackles). Unfortunately, this halo is not going away.
  2. His copper color appears uneven - different shades of copper - we want a uniformed copper color whether it be on the lighter or darker side of copper. Think of it like a new penny vs. an old penny and all shades in between.
  3. I would like to see a full red shoulder (upper part of his wing). He’s still young so he may develop more color.
  4. His tail is on the high side - its not a squirrel tail, yet - we want a tail angle of 45 degrees or slightly less. Tail angle usually does not improve with age.
  5. I would also like to see more depth in the lower portion of his breast and abdomen. He’s young so it make take him 3-4 months to fill out.
  6. His comb kinda hugs his skull from front to back - we want the blade (back) to be well lift off his head / neck. This too will probably not change.
OK, now for the good:
  1. He has good type.
  2. His wattles are medium sized and oval.
  3. Nice eye color - they should get a more reddish-orange as he matures
  4. He has a nice short, full tail. There is not a pic from the rear so I can’t tell if his tail is tented (like an upside down V) - we want a short, full, well tented tail.
  5. Legs appear well spaced and medium sized.
  6. He looks to be wide thru his shoulders.
  7. Nice light slate colored legs.
  8. Nice leg featheringWhen breeding Marans (or any breed for that matter) we want to pair up males and females that offset the faults of the other and compliment any shared positive traits.
Is he your only BCM Cockerel? If not, please post pics of your other cocks or cockerels so we have something to compare him to. Do you have any BCM Pullets? If so, it would be helpful to see his potential mating partners too.

Take Care,
Keith

X 2 .
chooks man
 

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