I am a proud member of the Marans Chicken Club, U.S.A., a group that has been working hard to get the Marans breed officially recognized by the American Poultry Association.  On February 19, 2011, at the Chattahoochee Valley Poultry Show in Newnan, Georgia, the Black Copper Marans were recommended for APA acceptance by show judge Pat Malone, and on April 16, 2011, the APA board officially voted to approve and recognize the breed.  Black Copper Marans can now be shown in the Continental class of any APA poultry exhibition.  Whoohoo!! There was a lot of hard work done by so many people to get this done, and I am proud to have been able to play a part in it.

 

To learn more about this exceptional breed and its history please visit www.marans.org.

 

As for our own Black Copper Marans here at Red Barn Meadows, I am extremely pleased with this past year's generation.  I have selected toward show quality birds, with appropriate leg feathering, conformation, size, and color.  Of course, egg color is a topmost priority as well, second only to health in determining the selection of our breeding stock. It's always wonderful to see progress with each new generation, and last year's chicks were no exception.  Of course, there are still a few faults that I am working on in our BC flock, such as high tail angle, white tail feathers in the males, occasional birds with "mossiness" of the black feathers, and the occasional chick with clean or sparsely-feathered legs, and I am working on culling out these traits and selecting for better ones, and each generation has consistently been better than the last. That's what breeding is all about.

 

Bloodlines:  Our Black Copper flock is of mixed bloodlines. My main focus for this variety is on the characteristics of the individual birds and their egg color and not necessarily on bloodlines.  If you are looking for pure bloodlines of one breeder or another, please contact me and I would be happy to put you in touch with another breeder who has what you are looking for.

 

 

 

My primary objective with Marans is to breed toward the standard and to help others do the same.  This is a hobby for me and I enjoy it immensely.  I do not consider it a business, and I'm not interested in charging an arm and a leg for a decent breeding-quality bird.  However, I also have that pesky feed bill, so….
 
My current prices are as follows:

- Hatching eggs $30/dozen, plus shipping (cannot guarantee hatch rate)

 

- Started juveniles (approx. 8-week-old) $12 each, plus shipping (available beginning around early May through October)

*This is my preferred option as I consider it to be the best way for a person to get their money's worth. By this age I have already culled any chicks with significant faults such as mossiness, too much copper in the breast, etc., and with the Black Coppers I can make a fairly good guess as to gender. It is also far more economical to ship juveniles at this age rather than adults as obviously they are still small and weigh very little. I believe this is the best option for getting good quality stock without spending a fortune in shipping.

 

I do offer shipping when the weather allows. I only charge for actual shipping costs plus the cost of the box(es).  Cost will be based on weight, destination, and box(es).