Pro's and Con's, Breed Choice

[Bullitt]

We always liked Buff Orpingtons for the leg 1/4's - they are huge. They are pretty good egg layers but slow to fill out. Marans have the best taste and for an all around meat bird we like the dark Cornish.

Do the Dark Cornish chickens forage well?

 

[Shan30]

Mine were great foragers, excellent survivors, good broodys but I never ate mine so I can't comment on that.

 

[BCMaraniac]

We always liked Buff Orpingtons for the leg 1/4's - they are huge. They are pretty good egg layers but slow to fill out. Marans have the best taste and for an all around meat bird we like the dark Cornish.

Is this why my BCM/Lavender Orpington crosses are really big? The bird pictured in my avatar is a 25 week old capon from that cross and he weighed 8lb 3 oz.....and still growing. I have heard that the Marans/dark Cornish cross is supposed to be a good one.

 

[Bullitt]

Is this why my BCM/Lavender Orpington crosses are really big? The bird pictured in my avatar is a 25 week old capon from that cross and he weighed 8lb 3 oz.....and still growing. I have heard that the Marans/dark Cornish cross is supposed to be a good one.

BCM = Black Copper Marans, right?

Well, caponizing may have something to do with him getting big.

He should be about full grown at 6 months old.

Buff Orpington roosters get up to 10 pounds or more. I am guessing Lavender Orpingtons are about the same. The Black Copper Marans rooster gets up to 8 pounds. So your rooster seems to be the weight it should be.

 

[BCMaraniac]

BCM = Black Copper Marans, right?

Well, caponizing may have something to do with him getting big.

He should be about full grown at 6 months old.

Buff Orpington roosters get up to 10 pounds or more. I am guessing Lavender Orpingtons are about the same. The Black Copper Marans rooster gets up to 8 pounds. So your rooster seems to be the weight it should be.

Yes, Black Copper Marans. I am going to keep him a while longer to see what his weight does. He doesn't appear to have filled out quite yet. All it is going to cost is a bit more feed, so what the heck?

My LO is very large, but I haven't weighed him.

The capon project is a work in progress for me, so I am doing a bit of experimenting to see what works best.

 

[Natalijaasbj]

i am ALL about THE TASTE!
i DID NOT TRY MANY BREEDS JUST YET, BUT BEFORE i PICKED A BREEED i WAS RESEARCHING A LOT.
In France some restaurants serve and prefer Marans as a gourmet bird. So I thought I will try to raise them,
Guess what - they were HUGE and very DELICIOUS - rich and complex taste. Amazing broth. But it also depends on how you cook it. at what age. I prfer mature rooster. I mean after he starts crowing - so slow cooking is preferable. I tried Orpington -the meat was "gentlier" , but I preferred the taste of the Marans - hands down. Also the hens supposed to bring dark color eggs.

 

[BCMaraniac]

i am ALL about THE TASTE!
i DID NOT TRY MANY BREEDS JUST YET, BUT BEFORE i PICKED A BREEED i WAS RESEARCHING A LOT.
In France some restaurants serve and prefer Marans as a gourmet bird. So I thought I will try to raise them,
Guess what - they were HUGE and very DELICIOUS - rich and complex taste. Amazing broth. But it also depends on how you cook it. at what age. I prfer mature rooster. I mean after he starts crowing - so slow cooking is preferable. I tried Orpington -the meat was "gentlier" , but I preferred the taste of the Marans - hands down. Also the hens supposed to bring dark color eggs.

I learned to caponize this year, and my first 5 were failures. I lost the very first one because I nicked the vena cava, but the others survived. However they were not completely castrated, so they grew just like roosters. I finally butchered them last week at about 7 1/2 - 8 months of age. I cooked some over the weekend for chicken noodle soup, and it was absolutely wonderful! I knew in my head, but didn't think about it, but they were Blue Copper and Black Copper Marans! I think it may have been the best tasting chicken I have ever eaten! The broth was so very rich and flavorful. The hens do lay dark eggs, and it appears to me that they have much richer yolks than other breeds eating the same diet and foraging the same ground. This summer, the yolks of their eggs were orange, not yellow. The protein in the egg white is very firm, so the egg makes an absolutely beautiful sunny-side-up or over-easy egg. If you are going to raise them, you will love the eggs! They aren't prolific layers like some of the lighter breeds, but I probably get 180-200 eggs per year. Also, remember that they are frequent brooders. I had two of my four hens go broody this past summer......one them twice! So incubating your eggs under a broody is a good possibility as well.

I have a rooster and a few hens, so I will be raising them next year! I will be interested to see how the Marans/Orpington cross capons taste when I butcher them in another 3-4 months. I want to see how big they grow out.

 

[Bullitt]

I have heard that the eggs of Black Copper Marans are supposed to be the favorite of the character James Bond in he books by Ian Fleming. They must be good if James Bond likes them.

You said they aren't as prolific layers as some of the lighter breeds. Many of the heavy breeds lay better also. Such as Rhode Island Red, Barred Plymouth Rock, Australorp, New Hampshire, Buff Orpington, and Delaware.

You said the yolks were orange and not yellow. The yolk color is determined by what chickens eat. If you feed them white corn meal their yolks will be white and not yellow or orange.

But Marans may still have the best tasting eggs. I do not know.

 

[BCMaraniac]

I have heard that the eggs of Black Copper Marans are supposed to be the favorite of the character James Bond in he books by Ian Fleming. They must be good if James Bond likes them.

You said they aren't as prolific layers as some of the lighter breeds. Many of the heavy breeds lay better also. Such as Rhode Island Red, Barred Plymouth Rock, Australorp, New Hampshire, Buff Orpington, and Delaware.

You said the yolks were orange and not yellow. The yolk color is determined by what chickens eat. If you feed them white corn meal their yolks will be white and not yellow or orange.

But Marans may still have the best tasting eggs. I do not know.

Yep, 007's favorite

.

As far as laying, they are a little less prolific, but keep in mind, I had 3 sets of chicks from 2 broody hens this past summer. That doesn't help with the numbers....

When they started laying after brooding, they were very prolific. One of them even started laying 2 weeks after her eggs hatched while she brooded her babies....which I finally had to take away from her at 8 weeks so I could caponize the boys....jumbo eggs 5 days out of 6, 70-76 grams.

About the color.....I am comparing eggs on the same day from birds in the same flock of different breeds who forage on the same ground and eat the same feed. The Marans eggs are so much richer looking. You can tell the Marans from the other eggs when you break them in the skillet. I break them into the skillet, and then I ask my hubby to tell me which ones are Marans....he can always spot them...and of course they are the ones he chooses to eat. He swears they are better than the others.....I like 'em all.

 

[Bullitt]

About the color.....I am comparing eggs on the same day from birds in the same flock of different breeds who forage on the same ground and eat the same feed. The Marans eggs are so much richer looking.

Interesting. Maybe there is a difference, then. I see the hens are mostly black. The roosters have a beautiful color that is similar to a Brown Leghorn.