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

[KF0002]

they are all single barred B/b+ 2end generation .except the one in the 3rd photos no feathered shank but he is DF double barred B/B. thet still have a lot growing to do.

chooks man

They look good! I love the silver hackle and saddle feathers on yours! My other roo has a lighter hackle kinda like that. I will try to get some better pics as soon as I get out there today. I had to pen up the cuckoo roos and my splash roo because they were fighting through the wire of my husbands Game pens.

 

[Red Banks]

here few photos of my young marans 3 month and over some are older 5 month old

Love these pics and the genetic explanation.

 

[KF0002]

Here are some better pics @Chooks man. Feel free to review my splash as well. I know the splash have brown eyes and that isnt good.

Also, my hubby is griping about having to make more pen space for my extra cuckoo roo, whichever I choose not yo use right now. Should I just keep both of them in the pen together for genetic diversity or get rid of one? What is your opinion?

 

[Chooks man]

photo 1,2 and 3 I think is the same cockerel silver cuckoo ;
correct silver colour.
pretty eyes
small head NO GOOD
nice comb still small.
long tilted back.
nice tail angle BUT too long and open
well feathered shanks

Need ;
mass
width along the back ,shoulders and the rear

he will throw a big number a pullets with lighter hackle ( Birchen type NOT accepted by your standard ).

Photos 4 and 5 Silver cuckoo 2 I think that is a Top dog. the way he carry him self
nice uniform colour he is Dark cuckoo single barred Bb+.need lighter hackle .
nice thick head .
nice comb and weatles
pretty eyes
nice long tilted back
nice tail angle nice size a little longer.
well feathered shanks proper length

Need mass he will grow and fill up with age .

he will throw nice uniform pullets accepted by the American poultry standard . He is a breeder.

A Splash he is going a be a big rooster when matured .super long and wide tilted back
nice tail shape and angle.
nice head and comb
he shanks look feathered to me
his eyes are Black

That what i think of your cockerels

Chooks man

 

[KF0002]

photo 1,2 and 3 I think is the same cockerel silver cuckoo ;
correct silver colour.
pretty eyes
small head NO GOOD
nice comb still small.
long tilted back.
nice tail angle BUT too long and open
well feathered shanks

Need ;
mass
width along the back ,shoulders and the rear

he will throw a big number a pullets with lighter hackle ( Birchen type NOT accepted by your standard ).

Photos 4 and 5 Silver cuckoo 2 I think that is a Top dog. the way he carry him self
nice uniform colour  he is Dark cuckoo single barred Bb+.need lighter hackle .
nice thick head .
nice comb and weatles
pretty eyes
nice long tilted back
nice tail angle nice size a little longer.
well feathered shanks proper length

Need mass he will grow and fill up with age .

he will throw nice uniform pullets accepted by the American poultry standard . He is a breeder.

A Splash he is going a be a big rooster when matured .super long and wide tilted  back
nice tail shape and angle.
nice head and comb
he shanks look feathered to me
his eyes are Black

That what i think of your cockerels

Chooks man

Thank u so much for your input! Looks like my smaller cockerel will be culled and I will only use the top dog rooster as my breeder.

Can the black eyes on my splash be corrected or is that a cull worthy flaw?

Thanks again!

 

[Chooks man]

Hi Kfelton.

good chose Top dog is going to make you a lot nice chicks.

Ah What about the Splashes ? because they have a black eyes and is not good breeding from a Splash rooster any way ( because we can t see the colour pattern is like navigating in the dark ) but a splash pullets could be work with and actually you can create your own Blue Silver Cuckoo and a Blue Birchen pullets from her.

here how you do t;
YEAR 1; mate her to Top dog ( silver cuckoo he has a good eyes) = you will get F1 Blue silver cuckoo pullets
Blue Birchen pullets
the cockerels are a culls

Year 2; breed back the the Blue silver cuckoo pullets to a silver cuckoo Rooster = you will get a Blue silver cuckoo double barred BB Male and Females. you can breed from
Silver cuckoo Male double barred BB.and Females you can breed from.
Birchen pullets you can breed from
and single barred cockerels Blue and silver all cull.

You see in 2 years time you will have your own Silver cuckoo ,Blue silver cuckoo .Birchen .and Blue birchen .

I ll tell you later how to recreate a Birchen rooster and A blue birchen . I did t my self and I m very pleased.

as breeders we can turn a bad chooks to an excellent one in fews years of selective breeding. we don t have to breed only the gorgeous chooks .we have to find a much for the faulty one to get the best out off them.

good luck

chooks man

 

[KF0002]

Hi Kfelton.

good chose Top dog is going to make you a lot nice chicks.

Ah What about the Splashes ? because they have a black eyes and is not good breeding from a Splash rooster any way ( because we can t see the colour pattern is like navigating in the dark ) but a splash pullets could be work with and actually you can create your own Blue Silver Cuckoo and a Blue Birchen pullets from her.

here how you do t;
YEAR 1; mate her to Top dog ( silver cuckoo he has a good eyes) = you will get F1 Blue silver cuckoo pullets
Blue Birchen pullets
the cockerels are a culls

Year 2; breed back the the Blue silver cuckoo pullets to a silver cuckoo Rooster = you will get a Blue silver cuckoo double barred BB Male and Females. you can breed from
Silver cuckoo Male double barred BB.and Females you can breed from.
Birchen pullets you can breed from
and single barred cockerels Blue and silver all cull.

You see in 2 years time you will have your own Silver cuckoo ,Blue silver cuckoo .Birchen .and Blue birchen .

I ll tell you later how to recreate a Birchen rooster and A blue birchen . I did t my self and I m very pleased.

as breeders we can turn a bad chooks to an excellent one in fews years of selective breeding. we don t have to breed only the gorgeous chooks .we have to find a much for the faulty one to get the best out off them.

good luck

chooks man

Thank you so much for all your wonderful advice. I am giving my cull cuckoo rooster to a friend today to improve the leg feathering in her cuckoos. I will cull my splash rooster. My plan is to put a black copper rooster over my splash pullets but it will be a while as my black copper eggs are in lockdown now. They are Bev Davis infused with Little Peddler. I got them from a breeder that shows his chickens so they will hopefully turn out nice.

Can black coppers be used to improve egg color in cuckoos? If so, how would I go about doing that?

Thanks again!!

 

[Chooks man]

Hi Kfelton .

That great you scored Black copper eggs from Bev s Davis with a LP line .Bev s is a best breeder in your country of a good marans. So you are lucky .

HOW TO WORK WITH A BLACK COPPER TO IMPROVE A SILVER CUCKOO LINE.

Easy for us down here and in France but not where you are. WHY?

we follow the French standard .that mean a Silver cuckoo is ER/ER based chook ( hen with hackles ) and That is NO NO in your Standard. you guy s looking for a solid Cuckoo NO hackle for the girls.

What you can do with a Black copper in your case is to create a golden cuckoo marans is easier because you will be working with a same Golden gene s+.

Here how you do t.
Mate a Black copper rooster hatched from dark egg to a silver cuckoo hen/hens = that will give you a F1 single barred cockerels ( dark cuckoo B/b+ .S/s+ carrying a Golden gene)

From here you can go 2 ways ;
Golden cuckoo = take the best F1 barred cockerel and mate him to a Black copper hen/hens ho lays dark eggs = you will get F2 50% dark cuckoo pullets and cockerels and 50% Black copper;
YEAR 2 mate you F2 Golden cuckoo between them selves = you will get F3 .double barred cockerels BB, s+s+. and a single barred pullets ( pullets are always single barred B/- ) they are your breeders and they will breed true from now on. the rest is a cull.

Silver Cuckoo;= this cross will produce a lot cull because we adding a Golden gene s+ to a Silver chook S. but could be done if you produce a lot chicks ( I m working my self with this cross and I m in the F3 generation and I tell you I hatched over 200 chicks to get 5 pure silver double barred cockerels BB,SS as F3 .a lot golden Cuckoo and silver cuckoo with a red leakage ( straw )a culls.
start a Same way like a Golden cuckoo in the 1 st stage= F1 take a best barred cockerel ( B/b+, S/s+ ).
stage 2; take a F1 cockerel and mate him to your silver cuckoo hens =you will get a F2 . 50 % of the cockerels silver cuckoo ( same with a red leakage ) and 50% Golden/Silver cuckoo cockerel a culls. Keep a best and the pure silver cuckoo cockerel. ( you can check a pullets they should lay darker eggs than they mum )
stage 2= mate a F2 cockerel you selected with a silver cuckoo hens= you will get all silver cuckoo some with a Red leakage BUT you have to watch a hackles on the girls choose only the one s are solid cuckoo and keep doing t for a few years to breed a Red gene out ( is not easy )

Hope that help. IF I was you I ll Do a Golden cuckoo you have all the best Black copper genetic to work with and you will have no Hackles problem , JUST opinion do what you like with your chooks

chooks man

 

[KF0002]

Wow that sounds like a lot of chickens to cull through. I can only imagine raising 200 chicks and culling all but 5. Sounds like a lot of chicken dinners! lol. Thank you so much for all the great info. The Golden Cuckoos are pretty and I was wondering how to go about breeding some so they will breed true so they can be auto sexing. I may give it a go.

My black copper chicks are hatching now! So far the darkest eggs I was really hoping would hatch are pipped or have already hatched. They are solid 7's and have a dark rich color. So beautiful! I am trying to leg band each as they hatch and will wing band each individual chick when they are old enough. I have 2 different sets that are distantly related so I can line breed them. Those are hatching separately. I am doing as you said, and recording which chick hatched from what color egg. I will keep meticulous records and only breed a rooster that hatched from the darkest egg. Can't wait to see how they turn out.

 

[Red Banks]

What do the terms "slow feathering" and "fast feathering" mean?