International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[Chooks man]

I agree with the filling into his tail. I’ve found that some of my cock birds look best in their second year when they are fully matured and fattened up well.

you are correct most cockerel meed 18 months to fully express they true genetic make up .specialy te big sllow maturing type ,
chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

View attachment 4273273View attachment 4273274View attachment 4273275View attachment 4273276View attachment 4273277Still not the couloir she hatched from, but Mole’s egg is getting darker. I’m hoping it’s still going to keep going to at least a 4 or 5.

lovely shape .I found some pullet start light and they darken as they get it laying more and more ,
chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

View attachment 4273279View attachment 4273280I’m not sure who this is but I’m pretty sure it’s a Chanel pullet. I’m thinking Claudie because she looks more like Chanel than Joan does, but that really doesn’t mean anything.

that is a stunnig egg for a starting pullet , hope will stay that dark for long ,correct shape too ,Bravo
chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

View attachment 4273282View attachment 4273283View attachment 4273285Again not sure who’s laying these speckled ones but it is likely the Chanel pullet who isn’t laying the nice dark ones, as that would mean the older three are laying while the new BCM and DCM lines are a few weeks behind.

love the speckle . I managed to breed them true in few of my line , now I need to cross them to a dark egg layer line to recreate that magical rare marans egg dark with heavy speckle ,
your pullets are laying a proper marans eggs shape ,that is a plus ,and they are laying different shade of colour too ,you should be very pround og your girls ,,
chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

View attachment 4273287View attachment 4273288View attachment 4273289View attachment 4273290View attachment 4273291Badger, my favourite of the dark cuckoos. Big chunky hen, bigger than all my marans females except Claudie and Chanel. Decent cuckoo barring, not too dark or glossy like some of her sisters. Small tail too. Her back is flatter usually than in these pictures.The dark lines seems to have longer legs than my coppers and silver cuckoos, but not too long.

wow she is big ,long ,wide and true marans traits are there ,gorgoeus head and comb too plus lovely small tail ,high quality marans for sure ,love her uniform cuckoo pattern
chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

View attachment 4273296Another decent DCM pullet, Ratty. Not as chunky as Badger but a bit more refined. Nice pointed tail, smaller comb.

I like her too she has better Dark cuckoo pattern I think ,
how are you breeding them ,do you have a Dark cuckoo rooster ? other wise how are you maintainning the dark uniform pattern ?
chooks man

 

[Chooks man]

I picked up Chanel today to treat her leg mites. She’s put on weight again after the moult, might be due to grower’s feed the young ones had. She’s maybe half a pound off my Brahmas in weight, very heavy. Good to see this time of year and for a hen her age, a sign she’ll make it through the winter. Her comb’s reddening so maybe she’ll start laying soon too.

I have a lot of them they adore they feeder, never far away from it ,died soon back to the daily ration ,
they just can t help it ,
chooks man

 

[BlueTheBrahma]

I like her too she has better Dark cuckoo pattern I think ,
how are you breeding them ,do you have a Dark cuckoo rooster ? other wise how are you maintainning the dark uniform pattern ?
chooks man

I don’t have a dark cuckoo cock. Early this year l I had to get rid of most of the cocks due to noise complaints from new build houses near the allotments. There’s been crowing on this land since the 70s, so it annoys me that the less than 10 year old houses get their way. I’m using no crow collars, but still can’t risk having many.
That’s why I only have a silkie and some marans cocks, not even Blue my Brahma or a silver duckwing Welsummer cock anymore.

So I can’t really risk another one yet. My plan is perhaps breed Duke of Wellington, my Silver to the best darks, and see what the E/E^R, B/b+ cockerels look like. If they’re any good I might keep one for a bit and use it to get more silvers and more darks.
It’s risky though, don’t want to ruin the good dark cuckoo pattern with silver leakage or less melenaisers.

I do hope to find somewhere more rooster friendly in the next couple of years, so might hang on to the dark hens and hope to make a proper DCM pen when I can do it properly.

The breeder I got my darks off of has different lines he gives hens and cockerels from, so I could get a good one off of him if I wanted. Could also get a very dark egg and chunky black or blue copper off of him, to make up for my loss of Napoléon.

But this all depends on finding a new place. Ideally it would be my own land I can live on too, but I’ve got some saving to do first.

 

[Chooks man]

I don’t have a dark cuckoo cock. Early this year l I had to get rid of most of the cocks due to noise complaints from new build houses near the allotments. There’s been crowing on this land since the 70s, so it annoys me that the less than 10 year old houses get their way. I’m using no crow collars, but still can’t risk having many.
That’s why I only have a silkie and some marans cocks, not even Blue my Brahma or a silver duckwing Welsummer cock anymore.

So I can’t really risk another one yet. My plan is perhaps breed Duke of Wellington, my Silver to the best darks, and see what the E/E^R, B/b+ cockerels look like. If they’re any good I might keep one for a bit and use it to get more silvers and more darks.
It’s risky though, don’t want to ruin the good dark cuckoo pattern with silver leakage or less melenaisers.

I do hope to find somewhere more rooster friendly in the next couple of years, so might hang on to the dark hens and hope to make a proper DCM pen when I can do it properly.

The breeder I got my darks off of has different lines he gives hens and cockerels from, so I could get a good one off of him if I wanted. Could also get a very dark egg and chunky black or blue copper off of him, to make up for my loss of Napoléon.

But this all depends on finding a new place. Ideally it would be my own land I can live on too, but I’ve got some saving to do first.

we are in a similar situation ,both looking for land for our selves to live on ,I have no problem with how many roosters I can have but still my friend land and it is a rental ,one more year and half and the lease will end ,actually this place is for sale .
I did see in English Club FB page some breeders in there have some stunning Dark cuckoo marans , very rare type
chooks man

 

[BlueTheBrahma]

This is a BCM I bought. Same breeder as the darks. She hasn’t got a name yet but I’m quite happy with her. Not quite as long or big as Claudie but very tidy and refined type. Her hatching egg was an 8 I believe, can’t wait for her to start laying.