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

[OHmamma]

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Purty eggs.

Love the GC, I have a few in the brooder right now. I can't wait to see them grown!!

 

[Goose and Fig]

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Purty eggs.

Love the GC, I have a few in the brooder right now. I can't wait to see them grown!!

Wow!!!!! Beautiful.

My chicks aren't looking like that AT ALL though. I am getting mostly ones that look like silver cuckoo and a few that look like rhodebars and I had those yellow ones that are god-knows-whats. So glad I found this thread- I cannot get enough of the GCs!

 

[Lotsapaints]

HappyMtn that one is a boy the girls are darker and not as brown I don't think yours are very pure Cuckoos getting the red ones and all but still fun to raise up let me run outside and get some pictures of both sexes together. The brown ones come from crossing the BC's in with them and should be culled someplace in this thread https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=343605 there is the formula for breeding Goldens from regular Cuckoos there is a lot of color culling to get there but a fun journey at any rate.......

 

[Goose and Fig]

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I wanted to get a REALLY GOOD REALLY GOLD roo and put him over some black copper hens that lay super dark. Is this what other people are doing? Or it this what will bring wheaten genes into play?

I have the most amazing dark eggs due on Monday

First time ever seeing such nice color in person- I so hope at least a few hatch - I really need those genes!

 

[HenThymes]

I don't know a ton about egg color yet but I do know that my girls are starting with darker eggs than they were hatched from, I hope that is a good sign for golds in the right direction.

 

[Lotsapaints]

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I wanted to get a REALLY GOOD REALLY GOLD roo and put him over some black copper hens that lay super dark. Is this what other people are doing? Or it this what will bring wheaten genes into play?

I have the most amazing dark eggs due on Monday

First time ever seeing such nice color in person- I so hope at least a few hatch - I really need those genes!

Yes these eggs are darker than what they hatched from and that is too cool as I've hatched eggs and then sold the hens as the eggs looked like Barred Rock eggs not a goal of mine

That's the idea if you're meaning Black Copper but you need to cross both ways and would use full siblings http://frenchmaransclubaustralia.yolasite.com/notes-on-breeding.php shows you how scroll way down the page you use the same formula to improve egg color and keep your barring I personally wouldn't add Wheaten the chicks are yellow then bar out but again it's personal choice if they had the egg color I might.....it's still a long term project for both type and dark eggs but that is the fun again using what you have.....I cannot wait for my babies to start laying either not until this fall but I do have some full siblings and that will help now that I've found a rooster who is an outcross read some of Resolutions posts on enhancing your egg color with your breeding program and have fun.

 

[Goose and Fig]

I have a RED marans roo- was hoping to get a red daughter out of him and cross with a GC roo- omg my head just spins! I have never been so excited about a breed project like this.

I DO have wheaten hens that lay about an 8, but I had never considered using them. Maybe just a test hatch would be fun though.

Thanks for the links! Resolution is one of my FB friends, maybe I will go pick his brain sometime....

 

[HenThymes]

What about using solid blacks instead of BC? I hatched some from some really nice dark eggs that are growing out now, this way you don't have to worry about the copper?

Happy - You have a red marans, would love to see a pic of that.

 

[Goose and Fig]

Oh my, oh my! I followed that link to the Aussie marans site- I have been there before. Good info. ANYWAY- my crazy roo looks like a black tailed buff! Except with a blue tail. Never noticed it before since I haven't been to the site since he grew out.


He's alot bigger now that he filled out. I will have to get new pics soon.

HenThymes- you could use black, but I was thinking that the copper might help add more gold to the GC. I don't like how some of them hatch looking silver and you have to grow them all out, but its the best I have for now....

 

[jeremy]

Blue & red is my favorite color combo on a chicken... box him up and ship him to CA, okay Amy?