International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[Punkybrewster]

He is very missed. I hope all is well with him.

 

[Chooks man]

Hi every one ,hope you all are great and healthy .
hope we will never see years like 2020 and 2021 in future .every thing went wrong .
thing start to get better now ..lock down has been lifted but most of a damage has been done . will take us long time to recover .
chooks are great .I have t been in the farm for 5 month now .was stuck in Sydney .now I m north in the new farm ,as not done any work to it . I will start soon .
I ll be going down to the farm to see the chooks next weekend if thing are ok .
missed you all .have a lot reading to do to catch up .
Chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

He is very missed. I hope all is well with him.

I missed you guys too . was a bad year .
how are you and how is the chooks ?
chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

I get a lot of mossiness and red in the chest of my cockerels as they grow. So far, they lose most of it as adults. I do have a couple that are exceptions.

Someone correct me if i am wrong but i believe if you have marans rooster with red in the chest (over colored), it is good to breed with your darker marans hens who do not have good copper. It will improve their progeny.

I have some hens that lack good copper on their head and necks so this is what I plan to do this spring.

any BCM hens without a complete hackle marking should be bred to a BCM rooster will a well spotted chest .
BCM rooster with a complete black chest should only be bred to BCM /BLCM hens with a complete hackle marking .
it is very ,very rare these days to find a pen of BCM hens with they complete hackle marking .
to breed a well marked BCM hens a person should use =
1} BCM rooster will marked chest should be used over BCM hens with less hackle marking .
2{ BCM rooster with a solid black chest should be mated to BCM hens with a complete hackle marking .
3} never use BCM rooster with solid black shoulder .
4} never use BCM rooster with spotted chest over BCM hens with a complete hackle marking . except if the rooster chest is mildly spotted .

chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

The babies are 12 weeks old now. They have a long ways to go. I really need one of these guys to turn out workable. Just incase I lose my only rooster. I really wanted them to be BC. Maybe I can hatch a few BC cockerels next year. Right now these two are my only choices.

what happen to all your gorgeous marans ?
this young look good .
chooks man

 

[RoosterML]

One of my newer hens. I really like her, they finally getting chunky . Now chooks man going to tell me no good
That is my only Roo in the background hope all goes well this winter.

 

[Chooks man]

Chooks man- I am glad you see some potential in my pullets. I will get better photos of the cockerels. Why do you think one of my marans pullets is sick?

Mareks.
So when I moved here 4 years ago and got chickens I got ready 8 to lay birds (marans, orpington, easter egger). The blue copper marans never laid an egg...but eventually would just stand by a wall, eyes squinty or closed. Would hardly eat. Then after a couple of months, would need to put her winds down to balance. Then died. I was totally new to chickens and didnt know what was going on. Despite extra vitamins and different foods (scrambled eggs etc) she faded away.
Each year I seem to have one chicken that falls ill to this. This year I had 7 I think. I sort of lost count. All pullets except one cockerel. All around 14-20 weeks. First stage seems to be sleepy/tired/ standing around during the day. Not venturing outside, just staying in the barn, usually against a wall. Within a month they are dead. I separate them as soon as I notice. I have had long discussions about this with my vet. He says "pretty much around here if you have chickens, you have Mareks.Its so common, but there is no way to know without spending hundreds on a necropsy and most people are resigned to just loose a chicken or two here and there. Its so hard to get rid of".
If you have a way, to rid me of this I am very interested. I have sandy soil, so coop/barn is very dry and dusty. The outside barnyard gets scraped down twice a year, and with lots of rain and freezing temps for 5 months of the year, I am not worried about the outside areas. I have 6 pens/coops in all, and 5 holding pens (3 x3 ).

I will get more pictures.

if Marek s disease is in your area than you need=
to vaccinate your chooks .
to fumigate the eggs when you incubate them .
to keep little chicks in very clean and indoor area separate from the adult birds till they are 8 weeks or over .
burn all the feathers you find in the ground .
chooks man

 

[RoosterML]

Glad to see you back @Chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

One of my newer hens. I really like her, they finally getting chunky . Now chooks man going to tell me no good
That is my only Roo in the background hope all goes well this winter. View attachment 2895670View attachment 2895671View attachment 2895672View attachment 2895674

how can I tell you she is not good . are you out of your mind my friend .
she is absolutely sublime in every area . love every thing about her .
I m not sure if her ears lobe is grey or just from the photos ?
she is first class breeder for sure .
chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

Glad to see you back @Chooks man

thanks .
I m glad to be back .
chooks man