Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[1MrsMagoo]

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Thanks again Wynette....you are a wealth of help. I should have thought about the angle thing and me being really tall just makes it worse. I tried to get Nosey to pose on the top board of the goat paddock, but the goats would not quit pestering her.

The feedbag idea is a good one...although I think I'll cut mine open to cover more ground. My cow goes in there to visit her goat and chicken friends every day, which the chickens love (a little cow paddy spreading anyone?) so chicken poo is the least of what I have to watch out for in there.

One good thing: That pasture is highly fertile so when we move the animals to the other shelter it grows like mad.

 

[math ace]

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LOL -- - My husband tried the mandatory prohibition on chicken, chicks, and egg purchases!
That was 1 1/2 years ago, three chicken coops and over 50 chickens ago LOL

Oh did I mention there are another 40 eggs in the incubator.... and I now have 2 incubators LOL

I would say mandatory prohibition did not work worth a lick at this house

 

[math ace]

My BCM hen that went broody last year about this time of year is at it again.....

We noticed her intent yesterday and she was still at it this morning.
I have one laying box that is empty and I use it to store the heat lamp light bulbs in.
I found the crazy hen trying to broody the light bulbs this morning.

She was working so hard to wrap her wing around the light bulb.
It was pittiful that I moved her to a empty nest and gave her an egg.


HERE IS THE QUESTION - - -

I found two eggs on the ground of the pen today..... Do broody hens intimidate some of the laying hens to such a point that they won't go in the laying boxes to lay their eggs? ? ? My girls never lay eggs on the ground, except for one jacked up marans who ALWAYS lays her NASTY chalky egg on the ground!

 

[1MrsMagoo]

Quote:
LOL -- - My husband tried the mandatory prohibition on chicken, chicks, and egg purchases!
That was 1 1/2 years ago, three chicken coops and over 50 chickens ago LOL

Oh did I mention there are another 40 eggs in the incubator.... and I now have 2 incubators LOL

I would say mandatory prohibition did not work worth a lick at this house

Well...he "imposed" the hatching moratorium earlier this year. Needless to say, I defied him to the tune of hatching some shipped Buckeye eggs and of course had to fill the incubator with our eggs too.

Then the Runner Duck eggs I pre-ordered showed up, so I also included some guinea eggs to fill up the bator.

Then a lady gave me some duck eggs and I broke the rules yet again.

I have been wanting peafowl eggs and it is KILLING me to not buy any right now. My incubator is empty and unplugged for the first time since January.

However, the coop is now full and we are still working on the ducks permanent housing: He just dug them a very nice pond. Luckily, our contracting business is booming and he's been swamped. Which sadly means that not only he, but the truck and tools are gone nearly every day. Kind of a double edged sword: He hired help so I don't have to work with him much anymore, but now everything I need here is gone all day long.

SO, I am a bit more inclined to actually participate in the prohibition. Well, that and he finally resorted to bribing me. He agreed to build me a large building in our upper pasture that will include more coop space, an aviary for peafowl, and a large area to breed some different color guineas.

 

[Debbi]

Well nuts! The gal from the Craig's List ad this morning doesn't have a camera. She wanted my cell phone number so she could send them to my phone? Ha! I don't own a cell phone!

 

[gilavina]

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I'd love to see a shot like Wynette suggested of that bertha! From what I can see I like her a lot....she's a beauty.

I personally love a tail that is not too long.

 

[gilavina]

just wanted to say a quick thanks for all the encouragement people have given me over the last few months since I've joined. Even tho I've been around birds and have worked with breeding programs on other breeds, Marans are certainly a learning curve. Whoever came up with the phrase, 'build the barn first' is a freaking genius. I'm actually seeing progress in the year and a half since I started with them! That phrase gets repeated in my mind constantly when I start getting ahead of myself or getting overwhelmed at all the things there are to work on. I feel like I've moved to a new place with this year's hatches...where I'm more relaxed and am more focused on doing things step by step...

Hey Debbi and Ivy....is it blistering hot down your way too? They keep saying that its going to storm and have heavy rains, but it just keeps skipping over us... Its supposed to be extra hot and humid over the next three or four days, so I'm thinking now that I finished my last day of work today and have started my week's vacation time, I will have to get up early one of these mornings if I ever plan to get photos.

 

[rottnjen]

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You know I think this is true. I've had a couple of my fowl sitting and I'm finding eggs all over the place from the rest of the crew. And thanks for the point system and the additional info! I'm learning so much here. Now if I can just find a few chicken shows to attend to see how it all works. For the conditioning points, what happens if your chicken is molting?

MrsMagoo, I'm wondering what kind of bribe you accepted to have your husband do the additional work?!!! I was never very good at that, now I'm divorced and I've had chicks in the bathroom, chickens in the garage, chickens outside... yay!

 

[Debbi]

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ABSOLUTELY!! I was standing by the run, just standing mind you, and I was drenched in sweat tonight. We had one nice rain and some clouds, but this heat and humidity won't quit!! I try to keep reminding myself that I asked for this when it was -10 for a week last winter!

We crab when it's cold, we crab when it's hot. We whine when it's dry and we whine when it's wet. And so we are, we humans...

 

[Debbi]

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You know I think this is true. I've had a couple of my fowl sitting and I'm finding eggs all over the place from the rest of the crew. And thanks for the point system and the additional info! I'm learning so much here. Now if I can just find a few chicken shows to attend to see how it all works. For the conditioning points, what happens if your chicken is molting?

MrsMagoo, I'm wondering what kind of bribe you accepted to have your husband do the additional work?!!! I was never very good at that, now I'm divorced and I've had chicks in the bathroom, chickens in the garage, chickens outside... yay!

I know that feeling. No one here to rein me in either!! A muck, a muck I goooooooooooo!!