My particular goals this spring involves starting several new lines of French Marans.It helps if you understand the color varations and what eventual crosses will become,,but the fact remains for me that the Cuckoo Marans is the most valuable variety in my flock at this time.My initial goal this spring,was to first breed my seperated bloodlines-varieties of marans to get more numbers of that particular line,some I got lucky and hatched out 13 hens and 3 roosters,,a perfect ratio,,but some as in my cuckoo marans was 5 hens and 5 roos.My ultimate goal is about 30 hens of each group-line.
But,,my 2 projects will include Golden Cuckoos with feathered shanks,and blue cuckoos with feathered shanks.I first need to increase the number of solid black hens I have so my splash roo can then be put on the hens to get 100% solid blues,,those will be bred to the cuckoos twice for double barred blues,,but to get Golden Cuckoos,you first need to breed cuckoo roos to fbc hens,those offspring will be bred back to the fbc hens to get some goldens
My concern is,,do any breeders move their roos back and forth? Since I need more cuckoos,,and have 5 cuckoo roos, I could get by with leaving the best roo with those 5 hens,,and seperate off the Black copper hens I want,and breed them to the other 4 cuckoo roos of my choosing.But my question is,,does anyone rotate roosters a few times each week with diffrent groups of hens?To me this makes more sense than if a hen was with one roo,and to then insure her eggs are fertilized by the new roo,to wait at least 30 days,,is a big waste of breeding time,especially in a short 6 month egg laying season.
But,,my 2 projects will include Golden Cuckoos with feathered shanks,and blue cuckoos with feathered shanks.I first need to increase the number of solid black hens I have so my splash roo can then be put on the hens to get 100% solid blues,,those will be bred to the cuckoos twice for double barred blues,,but to get Golden Cuckoos,you first need to breed cuckoo roos to fbc hens,those offspring will be bred back to the fbc hens to get some goldens
My concern is,,do any breeders move their roos back and forth? Since I need more cuckoos,,and have 5 cuckoo roos, I could get by with leaving the best roo with those 5 hens,,and seperate off the Black copper hens I want,and breed them to the other 4 cuckoo roos of my choosing.But my question is,,does anyone rotate roosters a few times each week with diffrent groups of hens?To me this makes more sense than if a hen was with one roo,and to then insure her eggs are fertilized by the new roo,to wait at least 30 days,,is a big waste of breeding time,especially in a short 6 month egg laying season.
