I post my silver blacks here because there are no particularly active posts for them, a few pop up and then fade out, so I just post here. Marans are Marans, the shape should be the same, just different color of feather.
International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP
- Thread starter Red Banks
- Start date
I started my first batch with the first hatch to occur in about a week. The polar vortex means I didn't really get enough eggs to set this week, however, so I'll hatch 2 weeks then a break, I guess. The birds DID NOT like the cold weather. The news says it got to -40 and I believe it, the chickens get real mad when it happens. Let's hope they pick back up!
BlueTheBrahma
Crowing
He looks promising to me. Still young, but he has some good qualities showing. One thing I noticed in particular is his face/head, it’s nice and short and deep, with a tidy comb by the looks of it. His body looks long, not deep yet but that will be his age. When he fills out I think you might have a good cockerel on your hands. His legs seem good too, pink with plenty of grey down the shanks. His eyes are still blue, a good sign that they will be lovely red/orange when fully grown, which is what you want.
Update us as he grows, I think he has some real good qualities so far.
Tstraub
Crowing
My Marans are now 7 months old so I thought I would share a couple pictures. The cockerels did suffer frost damage from the sub zero temperatures we had a couple weeks ago. Today it has warmed up to 40 degrees and it is a muddy mess outside. The birds are all wet and dirty so it’s probably not the best time to take the pictures but I have the time today so it is what it is
I have very little experience so it is certainly possible that I’m missing some faults. I welcome any opinions from others.
Betty:
I like her chunky low to the ground body type but she lacks any copper color at all
Penny:
I like her color but she is smaller body type and I think her tail is too high.
Axl:
He has a slight yellow halo in his heckle feathers but I think he is growing out of it as he gets older. He is wide and low to the ground. I think he is the better of the two cockerels
Sammy:
He is too tall not rectangular body type. His tail is way too high. And he has a very yellow halo. He might make an ok sire for olive Eggers but definitely not a breeder for Marans.
I have very little experience so it is certainly possible that I’m missing some faults. I welcome any opinions from others.
Betty:
I like her chunky low to the ground body type but she lacks any copper color at all
Penny:
I like her color but she is smaller body type and I think her tail is too high.
Axl:
He has a slight yellow halo in his heckle feathers but I think he is growing out of it as he gets older. He is wide and low to the ground. I think he is the better of the two cockerels
Sammy:
He is too tall not rectangular body type. His tail is way too high. And he has a very yellow halo. He might make an ok sire for olive Eggers but definitely not a breeder for Marans.
BlueTheBrahma
Crowing
In my
Betty: best body type of all four, good for a Black marans, not BCM. Decent body, good string neck. Face good, comb maybe a bit scruffy but it’s harder to tell in hens. Issues are colour (if you want BCMs) and the leg colour, they should be pink/white with grey shading, but hers are all slate. The tail angle looks okay in the picture (more will make it better to decide) but the tail is too long, this seems to be a problem with all of them, but hers is the least extreme.
Penny: bad head in my opinion, too curved like a huckbill duck’s. Pretty perfect amount of copper, but it could do with being a bit more of a deep orange, she looks a bit too pale. Same issue with legs, body too short and skinny. And the tail will cause some problems. It’s too long, but the biggest issue is how high it is, her sons will have bad squirrel tails (like my Roo does).
Sorry to be so negative about her: she looks lovely, just not a perfect marans.
Axl: (love the name) his pattern (by that I mean the ratio of copper to black) is pretty perfect, better than the other. His colour is also better, but still not 10/10. Some autosomal red genes would help to strengthen the quality of the copper. Body looks well fleshed but is still too short (I’ve found that my boy looks longer now he’s older). His face is relatively nice, shame about the frostbite. Correct number of serrations on comb (5-7), nice round wattles. None of the facial features are too big either, they seem just right. I can’t see the leg colour properly but it looks to have pink on the bottom, better than the hens. Again the tail has some issues: not squirrel but a little high. The problem with his is the length, too long, this might change when he finishes growing out his feathers but I don’t think it will be perfect still.
Sammy: 100% agree with your comments, too pale, not enough copper, body poor. Legs are pink/white I think, this might be a helpful trait. (Unless his legs are yellow, I can’t tell, if so this is wrong). Tail smaller and waiting to fill out, but squirrel. Comb tidy but too many serrations at the back. I think he is developing slower than Axl, I’ve seen this happen a lot when I grow pairs of cockerels together, the dominant one develops quicker (mostly in colour and face more than size).
Sorry, I feel like I’ve been really mean to them. BCMs look beautiful even when they don’t conform to the SOP. If you want to figure out a breeding strategy, feel free to ask. It may take some hard work, as is always the case with breeding strictly to the SOP of any animal, but you can certainly work with what you’ve got, or introduce new blood, depending on what’s right for you.
In my honest opinion, you have most of the ingredients for good marans, but you’re going to have to breed them carefully to combine them correctly.
Betty: best body type of all four, good for a Black marans, not BCM. Decent body, good string neck. Face good, comb maybe a bit scruffy but it’s harder to tell in hens. Issues are colour (if you want BCMs) and the leg colour, they should be pink/white with grey shading, but hers are all slate. The tail angle looks okay in the picture (more will make it better to decide) but the tail is too long, this seems to be a problem with all of them, but hers is the least extreme.
Penny: bad head in my opinion, too curved like a huckbill duck’s. Pretty perfect amount of copper, but it could do with being a bit more of a deep orange, she looks a bit too pale. Same issue with legs, body too short and skinny. And the tail will cause some problems. It’s too long, but the biggest issue is how high it is, her sons will have bad squirrel tails (like my Roo does).
Sorry to be so negative about her: she looks lovely, just not a perfect marans.
Axl: (love the name) his pattern (by that I mean the ratio of copper to black) is pretty perfect, better than the other. His colour is also better, but still not 10/10. Some autosomal red genes would help to strengthen the quality of the copper. Body looks well fleshed but is still too short (I’ve found that my boy looks longer now he’s older). His face is relatively nice, shame about the frostbite. Correct number of serrations on comb (5-7), nice round wattles. None of the facial features are too big either, they seem just right. I can’t see the leg colour properly but it looks to have pink on the bottom, better than the hens. Again the tail has some issues: not squirrel but a little high. The problem with his is the length, too long, this might change when he finishes growing out his feathers but I don’t think it will be perfect still.
Sammy: 100% agree with your comments, too pale, not enough copper, body poor. Legs are pink/white I think, this might be a helpful trait. (Unless his legs are yellow, I can’t tell, if so this is wrong). Tail smaller and waiting to fill out, but squirrel. Comb tidy but too many serrations at the back. I think he is developing slower than Axl, I’ve seen this happen a lot when I grow pairs of cockerels together, the dominant one develops quicker (mostly in colour and face more than size).
Sorry, I feel like I’ve been really mean to them. BCMs look beautiful even when they don’t conform to the SOP. If you want to figure out a breeding strategy, feel free to ask. It may take some hard work, as is always the case with breeding strictly to the SOP of any animal, but you can certainly work with what you’ve got, or introduce new blood, depending on what’s right for you.
MamaPoult
It's not a compound, it's a fortress.
MamaPoult
It's not a compound, it's a fortress.
My boys about 7 momths
wrathsfarm
*this space for rent*
When you forgot to drain the pool before the big freeze...
betty and the boys are good match. penny and the boys would produce overcoloured chicks.
Heres my boy Ty not as handsome as your guys but handsome enough
are you kidding? he looks great. can you post more pics of him?
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