International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[Chooks man]

It is so good to see all the activity and conversations here!
I was not getting alerts for some reason.

I still have 7 cockerels left.
1 of the tall ones has crooked knees I was hoping he would grow out of. #6 or #7. Not the one with a ton of white.

He will go and the guy with a pinched rear, very narrow.

I am keeping all the other cockerels you said to hold on to for now.

I am going through the hens to find a couple who are laying very light eggs #3.
I need to make room for the pullets growing out.
I will get photos of them when I can.

I will also be culling Mr. Good Comb if that is ok to do now.
Nice color, good comb (frost bit now) but white in high tail and short back, sparse leg feathering. He is sire to the grow out pullets.View attachment 3541227
View attachment 3541226

did Mr nice comb produced nice pullet ? do they have high tails like him or no ?
chooks man

 

[Punkybrewster]

agree with you nice comb can go now ,you have better quality cockerel to replace him and JR too .
it is a reason I don t like tall cockerels they tend to have problem with they legs so quick . we only keep the healthy ones .
love to see photos of the pullets when you have time that will be great .
chooks man

I'm so glad JR can go too.
He is the devil. Haha.

I will have my pantry ready for winter with canned chicken.

 

[Chooks man]

I'm so glad JR can go too.
He is the devil. Haha.

I will have my pantry ready for winter with canned chicken.

great my friend you have a lot canned chicken for a winter time Haha
cull any thing do don t like now .you have selected great group of good breeders hens plus nice looking young cockerels ,need to make space and safe feed .
JR has done his job he can go now with pride .his sons will take over .cyrcle of life ,progeny better than they parents that a goal we are trying to achieve .always moving forward.
chooks man

 

[Punkybrewster]

did Mr nice comb produced nice pullet ? do they have high tails like him or no ?
chooks man

I have seen several chicks with no feathered shanks. I know it's an easy fix but still don't like it. A result of fixing the over feathered problem a few generations ago when I had some vulture hocks.

I used that rooster with very sparse leg feathering. It helped a lot but gave me a few with no feathering too.

I will have to go out and check these pullets. I have not studied them in a while.

They still will not go in the coop at night. They pile up in a corner of the run. I've never had this problem before. Usually it is easy to teach them. Not this bunch.

I will try to get photos today

 

[Chooks man]

I have seen several chicks with no feathered shanks. I know it's an easy fix but still don't like it. A result of fixing the over feathered problem a few generations ago when I had some vulture hocks.

I used that rooster with very sparse leg feathering. It helped a lot but gave me a few with no feathering too.

I will have to go out and check these pullets. I have not studied them in a while.

They still will not go in the coop at night. They pile up in a corner of the run. I've never had this problem before. Usually it is easy to teach them. Not this bunch.

I will try to get photos today

marans legs feathering is caused by a Pti#1 gene . a problem with gene is to keep it balance it is not fully dominant like a Pti#2 ( brahma legs feathering or Clean leg gene Pti
Pti#1 gene we are working with behave line a blue color on the chooks ,very hard to get always a blance blue because it is not black neither splash .it is some thing in between ,
marans will alway throw clean legs and vulture hocks . it is nornal .don t expect tohave marans with great legs feathering all time with running into one of the 2 problem I mentioned befor clean legs or over feathering legs .
chooks man

 

[Punkybrewster]

Random photos.
They are not friendly like cockerels. Very timid, so it is hard to get good photos. They hide.
Hardware cloth in their run is in a corner to prevent them from sleeping there.

We had a very bad storm and I was sure they would be dead in the morning because of sleeping out in the open. They were very wet but lived. This batch is just not smart.

They are 4 weeks of hatching so there is a difference in ages.

I see good hackle color and feathered shanks on all of them to some degree.

I hatched only the darkest eggs so these are a mix of only 3 or 4 hens, Mr. Good Comb sire.

 

[Smokerbill]

I started reading at the beginning of this thread last night, and also read some on a French Marans website. Wow, attaining perfection is complicated!

The reason I got the pair of BCMs was so my hatchery quality barred rock pullets would eventually lay fertile eggs that the hens could brood, or I could incubate, and that would provide me with new laying birds and meat birds.

After I brought the cockerels home I learned that crossing a BCM rooster with a barred rock hen created Mystic Marans, or Dominant Copper Marans, or Copper Rock Marans. I guess they are all the same thing. But I don't think they are actually a recognized breed, are they?

It will be interesting to see what the pairing will produce. There's quite a bit of variation in the coloring of my pullets. Some are very light colored with light colored, white ear tufts. Some are mostly black with black ear tufts.

 

[wrathsfarm]

I started reading at the beginning of this thread last night, and also read some on a French Marans website. Wow, attaining perfection is complicated!

The reason I got the pair of BCMs was so my hatchery quality barred rock pullets would eventually lay fertile eggs that the hens could brood, or I could incubate, and that would provide me with new laying birds and meat birds.

After I brought the cockerels home I learned that crossing a BCM rooster with a barred rock hen created Mystic Marans, or Dominant Copper Marans, or Copper Rock Marans. I guess they are all the same thing. But I don't think they are actually a recognized breed, are they?

It will be interesting to see what the pairing will produce. There's quite a bit of variation in the coloring of my pullets. Some are very light colored with light colored, white ear tufts. Some are mostly black with black ear tufts.

View attachment 3541523

View attachment 3541527View attachment 3541528

Mystic marans are not a recognized breed, just a hybrid. I have 1 Midnight Majesty Marans (same thing, different hatchery name). BCM Rooster x BR hen will produce MM pullets and Barred cockerels (sex links). I also have a BR hen with my 1 BCM Roo and 2 very young BR pullets being integrated with a cockerel. MMM's are kinda hot in my area right now. I do believe opposite is true for BR Roo x BCM Hen = MM cockerels and BR hens.

 

[Smokerbill]

Mystic marans are not a recognized breed, just a hybrid. I have 1 Midnight Majesty Marans (same thing, different hatchery name). BCM Rooster x BR hen will produce MM pullets and Barred cockerels (sex links). I also have a BR hen with my 1 BCM Roo and 2 very young BR pullets being integrated with a cockerel. MMM's are kinda hot in my area right now. I do believe opposite is true for BR Roo x BCM Hen = MM cockerels and BR hens.

My thoughts now are that if they are decent layers (color not that important but dark would be cool), grow to a good eating size, evade predators and forage well, have decent personalities and are not prone to disease or other ailments, I could care less what they look like. I guess I'm looking for a good, utilitarian dual purpose chicken.

I know that already exists, but I'll work with the birds I have and see what happens. Maybe I'll end up with a good barnyard mix chicken that fits well into the local environment.

 

[NanaK]

I do believe opposite is true for BR Roo x BCM Hen = MM cockerels and BR hens.

A barred rooster will pass the barring gene to all progeny. All chicks will be barred. So this cross does not make sexlinks.