International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[LaFleche]

I will add a good camera to keep photos record of the all lines .
my marans photos album are classify by month ,started 2013 till now .month by month .
I can compare my work at any time .

Yes! That's exactly the best way to success.

 

[Chooks man]

I am only familiar with the French, Belgian, Austrian and German Marans and their eggs and having imported several times hatching eggs from different French breeders, because here in Germany due to the quite narrow focus on only the SOP, the egg colour had been adversely affected.
So, in more than 15 years of breeding Marans, despite quite a lot of setbacks I was able to get results that meet my own personal preference, which is a dark red with spots.

Personally, I do not like the extremely dark colour as shown in my last pictures. And the hen that laid the almost black eggs did not last very long in my breeding program as all of her male offspring was very human aggressive and all of her female offspring were rather poor layers the same as she.

you are in the best place in the world far as marans goes .best line are from the country you mentioned .
agree with you more and more peoples want to show ,so they are more interesting in the conformation and show traits rather than breeding well balance dual purpose farm hens . body type + large dark eggs 150/180 /year + conformation + mass . lot to balance for some peoples .
yes the very dark egg #9 do not come from the best layers .they are dark not because the hen have extra ink but she is a poor layer ,the egg seem to stay longer and travel slowly before they get laid .so they get extra color .

I prefer correct body type .
correct conformation .
large oval #6 egg for a long duration , those type of hen normally start laying #7 for few months and they drop to #6 . and no less than 150 eggs a year .

here in OZ it is all mixed up . peoples are not that familiar to marans .
chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

I am only familiar with the French, Belgian, Austrian and German Marans and their eggs and having imported several times hatching eggs from different French breeders, because here in Germany due to the quite narrow focus on only the SOP, the egg colour had been adversely affected.
So, in more than 15 years of breeding Marans, despite quite a lot of setbacks I was able to get results that meet my own personal preference, which is a dark red with spots.

Personally, I do not like the extremely dark colour as shown in my last pictures. And the hen that laid the almost black eggs did not last very long in my breeding program as all of her male offspring was very human aggressive and all of her female offspring were rather poor layers the same as she.

love to see photos of your marans . you seem to know what you are talking about .
chooks man

 

[LaFleche]

Well, show is nice and of course I strive to breed my birds to the SOP, but I do not have any use for a "perfect" show hen that is hardly able to lay an egg and only will stay alive on a pharmaceutical industry's drip.

Robustness, good health, proper egg size and colour, longtime egg production (my oldest breeding hen is almost 7 years old and still laying nicely).

These are the important parameters for me.

 

[Chooks man]

Well, show is nice and of course I strive to breed my birds to the SOP, but I do not have any use for a "perfect" show hen that is hardly able to lay an egg and only will stay alive on a pharmaceutical industry's drip.

Robustness, good health, proper egg size and colour, longtime egg production (my oldest breeding hen is almost 7 years old and still laying nicely).

These are the important parameters for me.

properly bred marans hen is stunning chook, she has all the good and well balanced qualities .the SOP is great just breeding practices defer a lot from one person to another .
it is a reason we are here to learn from each other and share ours practices .so maybe one day we will breed these perfect SOP old farm hen of yesteryears .

chooks man

 

[LaFleche]

you are in the best place in the world far as marans goes .best line are from the country you mentioned .

Once I had quite a bad surprise hatching the eggs of one French breeder. I already had my suspicions when the chicks hatched, but as it turned out when assessing the pullets and cockerels later on and then at around 5-6 months of age, there must have taken place some kind of crossbreeding with Brahma.
The birds would have too much feathering on their shanks and even on the middle toe, strange looking faces, long necks, very heavy body type, would not stop to grow and the pullets started to lay at almost 9+ month some minuscule rather pale reddish eggs. Bummer.

I butchered them all, at more or less 5+ kg they were all meaty and delicious.

 

[LaFleche]

breeding practices defer a lot from one person to another .

And rightly so, and of course "perfect" for one is not always perfect to the other, as personal preferences have a strong influence and even the SOP changes over the years and depending on the respective country.

 

[Chooks man]

Once I had quite a bad surprise hatching the eggs of one French breeder. I already had my suspicions when the chicks hatched, but as it turned out when assessing the pullets and cockerels later on and then at around 5-6 months of age, there must have taken place some kind of crossbreeding with Brahma.
The birds would have too much feathering on their shanks and even on the middle toe, strange looking faces, long necks, very heavy body type, would not stop to grow and the pullets started to lay at almost 9+ month some minuscule rather pale reddish eggs. Bummer.

I butchered them all, at more or less 5+ kg they were all meaty and delicious.

you did well cutting they head .
not all French marans breeders are good one . I m in they forums all the time and I see what they are doing .
there is some stunning breeders too .

chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

And rightly so, and of course "perfect" for one is not always perfect to the other, as personal preferences have a strong influence and even the SOP changes over the years and depending on the respective country.

that true . have seen the original French SOP changes through time . just playing with words nothing really got done.

lucky me I can speak and read French so I don t need translation other wise I ll be lost like most peoples .

chooks man

 

[LaFleche]

lucky me I can speak and read French so I don t need translation

Me too