Dark Egg Breeds Thread

[drom]

Quote:
They will lay, but anything that stresses Marans hens can cause them to lay lighter colored eggs.

In the summer of 2009 here we had well over a month of triple digit heat. I actually lost one of my pullets when it was 108 degrees. It still totally breaks my heart to think of her; she was my favorite. I am really careful now to make sure they can go where they want to when it is really hot. I will let them out loose, because they will go to the spot on the property which is the coolest for them; whether it is at the base of a tree or underneath my truck. They will dig in to the dirt where it is cool. Sometimes you don't realize how hot the coops are. The temps in a small space can change very, very quickly. So, it's best to give them lots of space to go where they want to and sometimes you don't want them to go back to their coop to lay eggs in the afternoon if it is not a cool spot.

There are some things I haven't tried yet that horse people often use, such as misters and fans.

 

[knjinnm]

Quote:
Hi,
IMO misters in a run are fine but a fan blows germs and bacteria around if used in a barn or coop. Keeping their dirt area damp and shaded and if necessary turn the soil to help them dust cool soil between their feathers.
Joe

 

[Steve_of_sandspoultry]

Quote:
The one thing that really stood out to me is they seem to be holding their shell color longer thru the laying cycle than our Cuckoo's or the BHB Marans. We hatched these out this year and just as a guess they have been laying 3 months-ish now (i'm not the best record keeper lol ) and the eggs I pictured the other day are from them. The BHB birds we have are in full molt so I doubt any of them are laying. The eggs we got from Buddy hatched out strong, healthy chicks - we haven't hatched any ourselves as of yet. I really really don't like to brood chicks in the winter.

Steve

Here are some other pics from on the Cottage Hill line. Read the lineage, it's interesting.

http://hpbaa.com/Marans_Photos.html

Steve

 

[Happy Chooks]

Quote:
Beautiful eggs Kim!

I must know, how on Earth are your girls laying? My 2 girls that are pullets from this spring just up and quit laying about a month ago. Not molting, just quit laying.

 

[Debbi]

Hi all! Have only been lurking in here as I had yet to have an egg. Well, it finally happened for me!

Forgive me all from the Marans thread, I've probably bored you guys enough! Just walk on by!

Two pullets have started laying, and while they are not near as nice as those in here, I've finally got a starting point, and maybe they'll darken up as they go for a bit. These are the first eggs of my 20 1/2 WEEK old BCM pullets! I'm so proud of them!

yesterday

Today

Kim, Love those eggs! Give Bill and Gnarles a squeeze from me!

 

[drom]

Quote:
Hi,
IMO misters in a run are fine but a fan blows germs and bacteria around if used in a barn or coop. Keeping their dirt area damp and shaded and if necessary turn the soil to help them dust cool soil between their feathers.
Joe

That's exactly why I haven't used them yet with the birds. I was a little concerned about the bedding getting moldy or growing bacteria. It works great for horses though.

 

[drom]

Quote:
Congratulations!! Getting the first eggs from your pullets is so exciting. I'll never get bored with it. It's like a Christmas morning surprise.

 

[drom]

Quote:
You are going to have the darkest eggs of all when your pullets from the hatch pictured in post #21 start to lay. Those are some of the darkest BCM eggs I've ever seen

Maybe they will lay early

 

[drom]

Good evening, and welcome to Wheatie, or not a Wheatie. This is the game where we let the experts decide if the Wheaten cockerel out of my Black Copper flock is actually going to end up looking like a Wheaten or not.

So let's begin.

I will describe him in a vernacular which demonstrates my knowledge of the Wheaten Marans variety

He has a white fuzzy-butt and white fluff about the base of his tail

He has a light orangey-gold, almost monotone, hackle color. Where some black would appear in the center of the end feathers on the BCM, it is a deeper orange color instead.

The top of his saddle feathers match his shoulders; they are a deep, bright crimson color on the top and then melt down in to a burnt orange color at the ends.

He has a cinnamon wing triangle

He had lots of cinnamon splotches on his breast feathers, but they have mostly gone away. He is almost solid black breasted now

He also had cinnamon shank feathers, but they have turned almost all black as well

He has cinnamon splotches on the feathers around the top of his legs

He has white legs.

This cockerel is 8 1/2 months old.

Wheatie or not a Wheatie?

 

[Illia]

Quote:
Wheaten.

Number one rule is about the Cinnamon Triangle. Number two is the pearl/pink shanks.


Take a look at this Wheaten - Would you believe he is? Because he is indeed a Wheaten. Came out of Wheatens, has a cinnamon triangle, has pink shanks, just. . . A LOT of red.