Let's talk Cuckoo and WHITE marans... breeding strategies...

[Hens and Roos]

Ok so I just typed out an elaborate post with a bunch of pictures and hit the wrong button and lost the whole thing.

grrrrrrr.

I am giving the short version now.

The chicks came out between 10pm and 6 am. I did have a few stragglers follow the next two days. It always happens. I have found that bumping up the temp to 100.5* helps get more out on day 21.

Single bar roos are HOTT....I love em. I will post a pic of my blue one he is really cool.

Getting darker eggs is the goal for every color out there. Especially the cuckoo and whites. You can either find a bird form another line with darker eggs, breed to a true black or a silver birchen or consistently line breed I have done all three.

Wheaten or salmon or any of those to cuckoo re going to be considered Crele not golden cuckoo. Golden Cuckoo will be Black Copper x Cuckoo. Trust me I have that one from the source.

Here is a pic of a cuckoo chick his grandpa was a silver birchen. They come out with the cool stripes.




here is a gc hen from a BC line carrying recessive wheaten. I am going to try a Crele with her and my Golden Salmon.




here is my hard work paying off. My eggs won Best Overall at the WCOPC show last month 24 entries and they even beat the Coppers!!
My cuckoo are top left my blue coppers bottom right.




close up...





Now I am even sleepier!! I was cleaning the barn and brooders and setting up breeding pens all day. Raisin' chickens ain't for sissies!!

-Nicol

Congrats! Those look great

 

[wife2abirdman]

Quote:
Oh boy that is different. You're right the one with the one gene is prettier! That's weird, you would think the one with the double barred gene would be the more clearly lined/barred one. I really need to read up on the barred gene! Oh great more reading!

 

[pawtraitart]

Oh boy that is different. You're right the one with the one gene is prettier! That's weird, you would think the one with the double barred gene would be the more clearly lined/barred one. I really need to read up on the barred gene! Oh great more reading!

Cuckoo barring is different than the barring in say......a barred rock where the barring is more distinct than a cuckoo bird.

 

[stevodod]

pretty sure you have 2 roos. The darker one just has one copy of the barring gene. What color are the legs?

pretty sure you have 2 roos. The darker one just has one copy of the barring gene. What color are the legs?

NOOOO! Not 2 roos! That would suck. The lighter one is MUCH heavier, is protective, has a long tail, pointy vent feathers, and a larger comb. The darker one has rounded vent feathers, is much lighter, and seems to have all the features of the female Marans. Legs are light grey/whitish.

 

[OHmamma]

Sorry I didn't get a picture of my blue one today.

Single bar from copper over cuckoo mating...




The barring gene is what makes the silver/white in the bird so if he is carrying two of them then the bars are wider and brighter. It is actually a break in the dark pigment as his feather grows like the color is shut on and off like flipping a switch.

this page is pretty long but informative.

http://ps.fass.org/content/88/9/1811.full.pdf



Nicol

 

[DMRippy]

Quote:
Not sure what you are calling VENT FEATHERS. You can't use saddle and hackle feathers to sex them at this age.

Here is a pullet and a cockerel.... Pullet Left and Cockerel right. Neither have tails and I don't think you can rely on that. Your DARKER one looks like a single barred roo.... comb is just too big for that age.

 

[heritagehabitatfarms]

this is a single barred rooster that i hatched out of my dominant white Marans... out of over 200 chicks in the last 3 years with them he is the only none white bird i have ever gotten... i no longer have him and did not use him for breeding but he was cool...

 

[OHmamma]

this is a single barred rooster that i hatched out of my dominant white Marans... out of over 200 chicks in the last 3 years with them he is the only none white bird i have ever gotten... i no longer have him and did not use him for breeding but he was cool...

Here was an F1 bantam roo I had last year...

 

[beaglady]

Just found this thread am posting to make it easier to find until I get caught up reading it.

 

[OHmamma]

Howdy and welcome

-Nicol