International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[Chooks man]

I have a question. What is the correct weight for a 6 month old cockerel and 1 year old Roo? Same with 6 months old Pullet and 1 year old hen?

depond on the maturity of the line .
slow maturing line cockerel at 6 months will be around 2,7kg pullets 2,5kg
fast maturing line cockerels at 6 months will be 3kg and over pullets 2.7 kg and over
slow maturing a year old rooster will be 3.3kg to 3,5 and pullets around 2.7 kg or over
fast maturing line roosters will be around 3.5 kg to 4 kg and pullets 3kg and over
slow maturing line rooster will take 18 months to be fully mature 3.5 to 4 kg

chooks man

 

[RoosterML]

depond on the maturity of the line .
slow maturing line cockerel at 6 months will be around 2,7kg pullets 2,5kg
fast maturing line cockerels at 6 months will be 3kg and over pullets 2.7 kg and over
slow maturing a year old rooster will be 3.3kg to 3,5 and pullets around 2.7 kg or over
fast maturing line roosters will be around 3.5 kg to 4 kg and pullets 3kg and over
slow maturing line rooster will take 18 months to be fully mature 3.5 to 4 kg

chooks man

So not super big birds.
I am sure you eat more Marans than I have, what age do you say is the best to put in freezer?

 

[Chooks man]

This is the info i have been missing.
The one sire line and many dams line.

I did not know this.

It opens up a lot more understanding of what you are trying to tell me.

-Line #2 cockerels are my sire line


-I still have line#1 pullets (3)
One is laying a light egg, one lays a very dark egg. But i think we are in agreement to get rid of them?

-Line #2 (5) all nice looking, most with full copper hackles, one is a little small. So far, the couple that are laying, they are dark eggs.

-That one and only pullet that hatched out of shipped eggs. I had added her to line #2 when they arrived as live chicks. (Shes banded).

-Whatever pullets hatch from these eggs.
And i DO NOT keep any cockerels from these eggs if they show any white.

don t forget I m writing book about marans chooks breed . if breeding them was that simple and easy I will wrote booklet . and will be finished long time ago .

I know a French guy @chickengr know him too . Philippe Marans aspiran .he is been breeding his wheaten variety line for over 12 years now ,have added any thing to it .just selective breeding . he started with all mixture of hens and roosters from different breeders ,and start his breeding program .after 10 years of breeding he start showing ,now no one has any chance to win again him ,champion ,reserve champion and all other category .
line breeding is only way to breed marans .

chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

So not super big birds.
I am sure you eat more Marans than I have, what age do you say is the best to put in freezer?

fast maturing line at 16 weeks of age only for Grills use .
marans prefer to be eaten at 6 months or over ,but need specific method to keep the tender , other wise only good for coq au vin .
I prefer to pen my cull cockerels at 5 moths in small cages in calm low light ,well vented area . feed them corm meal with milk or butter milk for 4 or 8 weeks . carcass weight 3 kg average . this meat can be used for all the cooking method .

chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

So not super big birds.
I am sure you eat more Marans than I have, what age do you say is the best to put in freezer?

I had some big heavy marans lines before 5kg rooster and 4 kg hens .over sized , they can not handle the OZ heat .
I look for 3.5 to 4 kg mature rooster and 3 to 3,5 kg mature hens . they have to lay large egg 70g and over .
marans are not large breed ,they are medium triple purpose breed { lot people say they are dual purpose breed , they forget about the eggs color . the third dimension }. marans are in the top of the most testing chooks breed in France after la Bresse and Fleche . in 20111 marans beat them both and got the first place .

chooks man

 

[Punkybrewster]

don t forget I m writing book about marans chooks breed . if breeding them was that simple and easy I will wrote booklet . and will be finished long time ago .

I know a French guy @chickengr know him too . Philippe Marans aspiran .he is been breeding his wheaten variety line for over 12 years now ,have added any thing to it .just selective breeding . he started with all mixture of hens and roosters from different breeders ,and start his breeding program .after 10 years of breeding he start showing ,now no one has any chance to win again him ,champion ,reserve champion and all other category .
line breeding is only way to breed marans .

chooks man

I remember.
It is many years in the making.
No,, it will not be a booklet.
It will be a tome.
An epic encyclopedia.
I look forward to it when you are finished.

 

[Chooks man]

I remember.
It is many years in the making.
No,, it will not be a booklet.
It will be a tome.
An epic encyclopedia.
I look forward to it when you are finished.

writing about marans is very hard because there is not much in the old archives . read all the marans site around the world ,they have a same story = Marans history section =
what I have is recorded breeding record from my mother and grand mother before her .the 50 th /60th and the 70th . a lot of written record . all tested and selected .
I know how peoples used to breed good marans chooks .old farm hen . robust ,chunky ,calm ,pretty .good winter layer { without artificial light} of large 70 g and over of dark eggs .

grand mother likes to breed to solid black .
my mother liked the red , silver cuckoo and the white and the red pyle { she never finished breeding them }
both of they teaching and breeding methods stayed with me not extinct . very special stuff .

what taking time is not writing ,it is the prove of the old breeding methods do work and photos of all marans varieties to back them up .
no where to find marans to take photos ,so I m breeding them and taking photos as I go .
when I finish breeding my marans I will release the book . other wise it is just another book .

this is my journey with marans chooks breed ,from a little boy till the time when all marans varieties are established in my farm { I haven t bought yet }.
I need to past this marans knowledge I have to some body or to a lot peoples if I can .

chooks man

 

[chickengr]

I am tempted to see how they grow out but my gut tells me to sell them as day olds.
"Pet quality".

the colour is not as bad especially if they have been laying for long. my marans by the end of season laid up to 2 shades lighter eggs compared to the eggs at the beginning of the season. to much sun here probably is the reason.

if I could find eggs from such good body type hens I would be keeping all of their offspring and work with them.

 

[chickengr]

Bahaha yea.

There will be a lot of culling i bet.

Oh, and i did weigh them before putting them in the bator. 12 above 65g, 3 just below that.

The one thing i remembered as i was freaking out.

She uses an old still air hovabator, 35-40% humidity start to finish and gets great hatches.

I hatched a huge hen from a 55 g egg. miracles do happen from time to time.

 

[chickengr]

I had some big heavy marans lines before 5kg rooster and 4 kg hens .over sized , they can not handle the OZ heat .
I look for 3.5 to 4 kg mature rooster and 3 to 3,5 kg mature hens . they have to lay large egg 70g and over .
marans are not large breed ,they are medium triple purpose breed { lot people say they are dual purpose breed , they forget about the eggs color . the third dimension }. marans are in the top of the most testing chooks breed in France after la Bresse and Fleche . in 20111 marans beat them both and got the first place .

chooks man

I guess I lost my big hen due to heat. she showed no sign of any illness, she was fine and one day I found her dead. during all of these years I lost all of my big chickens due to heat.

I am getting la fleche and white face black spanish as well. I like their unusual looks. as for marans, I told my friend in north greece to keep and breed her marans for me. they are free of parasitic white which is very important for me. almost all marans I have seen have parasitic white, bad combs even very bad tails. my friend's marans are good enough to start a new line.