International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[Chooks man]

my 3 breeding pens for 2026 , built them last week ,they are small just to house a quad of breeders .this 3 are my future foundation of my true lines of BCM and BLCM ,
pen #1 =has 3 sisters daughters of Dark Angel ,2 are SPCM and BCM mated to BCM rooster from Amori X Blackgen line Siberian Tiger,
pen #2 =3 BCM hens daughters of LoveSong X Blackgen all sisters ,,rooster is BCM OneEyeAngel son of DarkAngel XTalking Angel . will produce all BCM progeny,
pen #3 = 3 BCM hens all sister daughters of Amori X Blackgen they have minimum hackle marking ,rooster is a Splash copper Talking Angel a Son of Dark Angel with her son The Talker . all progeny will be BLC .
this breeding method combine 3 blood lines together ,DarkAngel = Amori and Love Song. the 3 best lines I have for the moment.
Talking Angel pen= has 4 hens one will be pulled out .

One Eye Angel pen =

Siberian tiger pen =

first day of the NY I ll start collecting they fertile eggs ,will be using broody hens ,
chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

I built this 3 small hens houses for this type of breeding ,very cheap to build and only took me 3/4 hour to build each one ,easy to move when I find my own place , they are about 4ft long= 4ft high but lifted from the ground so they can go under them in a hot days and 2.5ft deep .

need to be painted ,I ll do that in a couples of month when I finish breeding them ,
I order a lot of that cheap Marine Plywood to build more 17 hens house ,20 easy to fit in my 40ft container when I move , had enough of building large coop than I have to leave them behind no more ,
plus they are very easy to clean and maintain ,
chooks man

 

[chickengr]

that is great ,do you manage to keep your goats in .
how about the poultry ?
chooks man

I have fenced areas for different animals. goats of course destroyed a part of the outside fence but they do return on their own. luckily I don't have neighbors.

I have some hybrids for eggs, a few greek landrace that I plan to keep as they are hardy dual purpose chickens. some of them are naked necks, some are frizzle and I have a pair of frizzle naked necks. I also kept a few fayoumis bc they can survive with little feed (they forage and feed themselves). I also have geese, muscovy/indian runner/khaki campbell ducks, bourbon red turkeys and guinea fowl but much less than before. feed cost went up and people are not willing to pay for hatching eggs, chicks/ducklings, etc. I am also getting rid of vietnamese pigs as they don't sell either.

 

[Chooks man]

I have fenced areas for different animals. goats of course destroyed a part of the outside fence but they do return on their own. luckily I don't have neighbors.

I have some hybrids for eggs, a few greek landrace that I plan to keep as they are hardy dual purpose chickens. some of them are naked necks, some are frizzle and I have a pair of frizzle naked necks. I also kept a few fayoumis bc they can survive with little feed (they forage and feed themselves). I also have geese, muscovy/indian runner/khaki campbell ducks, bourbon red turkeys and guinea fowl but much less than before. feed cost went up and people are not willing to pay for hatching eggs, chicks/ducklings, etc. I am also getting rid of vietnamese pigs as they don't sell either.

that why I asked to see if you manage to keep the goat in ,I couldn t I had to let them go .
tell me about the animals feed I m paying 50% more than 5 years ago .I can t hatch 1000 chicks like I used to do before ,
landrace chooks are hardy and easy to keep .
chooks man

 

[chickengr]

that why I asked to see if you manage to keep the goat in ,I couldn t I had to let them go .
tell me about the animals feed I m paying 50% more than 5 years ago .I can t hatch 1000 chicks like I used to do before ,
landrace chooks are hardy and easy to keep .
chooks man

years ago marans were a popular breed. today people want cheap chicks for eggs and meat. many people abandoned different breeds. I miss my silkies too. unfortunately I cannot afford to breed for fun.

I am thinking about getting 2 sheep as well. they will be with female goats and I'll be able (hopefully) to fix the fence. I am building the goat house for the males and already started a much more sturdy fence. it is my stupid, jealous billy goat who is a trouble maker. at the moment I have (spanish) florida goats and a friend of mine is willing to give me murcia-granada goats. goats/sheep forage a lot for free, there are a lot of olive branches from pruning for free and they need little corn/barley/etc. much cheaper than raising poultry.

 

[BlueTheBrahma]

Three French hens on the third day of Christmas. I can’t believe that Claudie (top right) and Joannie (bottom right) are full sisters, hatched on the same day. The one on the left is one I bought, I’m a big fan of her too.

 

[realenthusiast]

Ill get better pictures for you guys because Im actually really proud of this cockerel, he's only about 6-7 months old. He's been a pain to photograph LOL. Ran completely off of my property during a photoshoot.

Here was him about a month ago.

Here he is now

Please tell me what you think!!

 

[BlueTheBrahma]

Ill get better pictures for you guys because Im actually really proud of this cockerel, he's only about 6-7 months old. He's been a pain to photograph LOL. Ran completely off of my property during a photoshoot.

Here was him about a month ago.
View attachment 4273067

Here he is now
View attachment 4273069View attachment 4273070
Please tell me what you think!!

His tail is a tad big, throwing his type of balance, but that really is the only bad thing I have to say about him. Fantastic. I love his comb, it’s perfectly straight and a good size. Very tidy. Good colour, chunky looking, strong beak. All you could ask for.
Very well done.
I’d score him around a 85, maybe higher.

 

[Chooks man]

His tail is a tad big, throwing his type of balance, but that really is the only bad thing I have to say about him. Fantastic. I love his comb, it’s perfectly straight and a good size. Very tidy. Good colour, chunky looking, strong beak. All you could ask for.
Very well done.
I’d score him around a 85, maybe higher.

I ll add he has a deep chest , nice flat and tilted back ,his tail is full and correct angle I think he will grow into it ,he is still young more growing and filling up to do ,nice legs well feathered and colored .gorgeous bright orange eyes .his copper could be more rich red . we love to see photo of him standing to show his stance . I know you are saying is camera shy but keep trying we are not in rush .
chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

View attachment 4272866Three French hens on the third day of Christmas. I can’t believe that Claudie (top right) and Joannie (bottom right) are full sisters, hatched on the same day. The one on the left is one I bought, I’m a big fan of her too.

wow the 2 sisters look pretty different ,If you did not say it I will never know I will thought the 2 big one at the top are sisters ,love they hackle marking and quality of they copper ., love to see individual photos please .
chooks man