Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

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Wahoo! Congrats Donna. Are they Blue Copper or Blue eggs?

They are from my original flock of BCM... just eating eggs right now.... 4 more left to start laying. When we get the electricity running out to the coop, anytime now, they should all start laying.

I have got to send you pics soon of my boys... Now that I have been shown how to process chickens I have one aggressive FBCM roo that I can't wait to cull!!! Hubby wants him for Thanksgiving dinner I just need to figure out if I should cull the others too.

haha...isn't knowing how to process your own birds empowering when it comes to managing your flock and etc? I know it is for me!
I look forward to seein how those boys are filling out. I've got a BCM boy that is gonna have to go too...Debbi, remember that BCM boy I sent pics to you of to see about his tail? Well...as nice as he is, he's gonna have to go...In the last 2 weeks he's gotten more and more brazen about attacking and taking cheap shots. I don't keep mean birds, so, he might be a guest at thanksgiving as well. I also have two other boys that are bein a bit sassy...so if they don't come out of it soon, as much as I don't want to...they might have to go too. I'm not about to start playing dodge the dillholes.

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They are from my original flock of BCM... just eating eggs right now.... 4 more left to start laying. When we get the electricity running out to the coop, anytime now, they should all start laying.

I have got to send you pics soon of my boys... Now that I have been shown how to process chickens I have one aggressive FBCM roo that I can't wait to cull!!! Hubby wants him for Thanksgiving dinner I just need to figure out if I should cull the others too.

haha...isn't knowing how to process your own birds empowering when it comes to managing your flock and etc? I know it is for me!
I look forward to seein how those boys are filling out. I've got a BCM boy that is gonna have to go too...Debbi, remember that BCM boy I sent pics to you of to see about his tail? Well...as nice as he is, he's gonna have to go...In the last 2 weeks he's gotten more and more brazen about attacking and taking cheap shots. I don't keep mean birds, so, he might be a guest at thanksgiving as well. I also have two other boys that are bein a bit sassy...so if they don't come out of it soon, as much as I don't want to...they might have to go too. I'm not about to start playing dodge the dillholes.

I just re-read the email you sent me about the 6 boys and you where SPOT ON! well except this aggressive guy.... Got to get pics of how this guy has filled out. He even came to my rescue when aggressive roo attacked me one day SOOOO glad this guy is not the one you thought looked wheaten. I am feeling good about him. He seems to be taking control away from aggressive guy

I have a general question about winter. It is relativity mild here most of the winter... just wet. We do get snow... but not USUALLY much at a time. We do get down to zero for a few days some winters. So my question is if I move my roos to the breeding pens alone will they be ok with out any other birds for extra heat? These breeding pens are only netted between the coops. I can put plastic over the coops to keep the draft down and could lock them in if it should get really cold. I only ask because I would like to keep my layers up in the main coops for the light to keep them laying (they are young pullets, I only have 3 hens and they are moulting) This is my first winter with birds and I have close to 100 now

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haha...isn't knowing how to process your own birds empowering when it comes to managing your flock and etc? I know it is for me!
I look forward to seein how those boys are filling out. I've got a BCM boy that is gonna have to go too...Debbi, remember that BCM boy I sent pics to you of to see about his tail? Well...as nice as he is, he's gonna have to go...In the last 2 weeks he's gotten more and more brazen about attacking and taking cheap shots. I don't keep mean birds, so, he might be a guest at thanksgiving as well. I also have two other boys that are bein a bit sassy...so if they don't come out of it soon, as much as I don't want to...they might have to go too. I'm not about to start playing dodge the dillholes.

I just re-read the email you sent me about the 6 boys and you where SPOT ON! well except this aggressive guy.... Got to get pics of how this guy has filled out. He even came to my rescue when aggressive roo attacked me one day SOOOO glad this guy is not the one you thought looked wheaten. I am feeling good about him. He seems to be taking control away from aggressive guy

I have a general question about winter. It is relativity mild here most of the winter... just wet. We do get snow... but not USUALLY much at a time. We do get down to zero for a few days some winters. So my question is if I move my roos to the breeding pens alone will they be ok with out any other birds for extra heat? These breeding pens are only netted between the coops. I can put plastic over the coops to keep the draft down and could lock them in if it should get really cold. I only ask because I would like to keep my layers up in the main coops for the light to keep them laying (they are young pullets, I only have 3 hens and they are moulting) This is my first winter with birds and I have close to 100 now

haha....too funny. You've been bitten by the chicken bug eh?

Glad the boys are filling out well. Its been a while since I looked at the pics from your email. I'll have to go back and refresh my memory before you send updated pics. I just always hate getting an aggressive roo in the mix. I find they are such a hassle and are always stirring something up, whether its with people or other birds. I even have one that takes cheap shots at my young cats who love the chickens. Good to know I'm decent at selecting birds too

As far as weather...will the boys be in the breeding pens each on their own? I would think as long as you prep the pens for winter appropriately and give them a place that is draft free it would help. I tend to go the opposite direction and merge my birds, but mostly that is because I don't want any of my birds in the pens outside of the barn here because the winds are hellacious and a half. That will probably change once I get my other pens built, but I hope that some people who live in a climate more similar to yours will hop on and put in their ideas. It gets pretty nasty here often during the winter...so my impulse when I hear the word 'winter' is to batten down the hatches and etc.

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I just re-read the email you sent me about the 6 boys and you where SPOT ON! well except this aggressive guy.... Got to get pics of how this guy has filled out. He even came to my rescue when aggressive roo attacked me one day SOOOO glad this guy is not the one you thought looked wheaten. I am feeling good about him. He seems to be taking control away from aggressive guy

I have a general question about winter. It is relativity mild here most of the winter... just wet. We do get snow... but not USUALLY much at a time. We do get down to zero for a few days some winters. So my question is if I move my roos to the breeding pens alone will they be ok with out any other birds for extra heat? These breeding pens are only netted between the coops. I can put plastic over the coops to keep the draft down and could lock them in if it should get really cold. I only ask because I would like to keep my layers up in the main coops for the light to keep them laying (they are young pullets, I only have 3 hens and they are moulting) This is my first winter with birds and I have close to 100 now

haha....too funny. You've been bitten by the chicken bug eh?

Glad the boys are filling out well. Its been a while since I looked at the pics from your email. I'll have to go back and refresh my memory before you send updated pics. I just always hate getting an aggressive roo in the mix. I find they are such a hassle and are always stirring something up, whether its with people or other birds. I even have one that takes cheap shots at my young cats who love the chickens. Good to know I'm decent at selecting birds too

As far as weather...will the boys be in the breeding pens each on their own? I would think as long as you prep the pens for winter appropriately and give them a place that is draft free it would help. I tend to go the opposite direction and merge my birds, but mostly that is because I don't want any of my birds in the pens outside of the barn here because the winds are hellacious and a half. That will probably change once I get my other pens built, but I hope that some people who live in a climate more similar to yours will hop on and put in their ideas. It gets pretty nasty here often during the winter...so my impulse when I hear the word 'winter' is to batten down the hatches and etc.

This is a pic of the pens that we are working on



each roo would have their own pen/coop3.5x4/run 4x12 I can put feed bags around 3 sides to keep draft down. What else do I need to do for winter?

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haha....too funny. You've been bitten by the chicken bug eh?

Glad the boys are filling out well. Its been a while since I looked at the pics from your email. I'll have to go back and refresh my memory before you send updated pics. I just always hate getting an aggressive roo in the mix. I find they are such a hassle and are always stirring something up, whether its with people or other birds. I even have one that takes cheap shots at my young cats who love the chickens. Good to know I'm decent at selecting birds too

As far as weather...will the boys be in the breeding pens each on their own? I would think as long as you prep the pens for winter appropriately and give them a place that is draft free it would help. I tend to go the opposite direction and merge my birds, but mostly that is because I don't want any of my birds in the pens outside of the barn here because the winds are hellacious and a half. That will probably change once I get my other pens built, but I hope that some people who live in a climate more similar to yours will hop on and put in their ideas. It gets pretty nasty here often during the winter...so my impulse when I hear the word 'winter' is to batten down the hatches and etc.

This is a pic of the pens that we are working on

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/92428_dsc03695.jpg

each roo would have their own pen/coop3.5x4/run 4x12 I can put feed bags around 3 sides to keep draft down. What else do I need to do for winter?

I would think that in a space like that if the weather does get terrible that you could put them in the coop part and that they would be fine. You could always put some vaseline on the combs and waddles if there was a night that it was supposed to get really cold. I did that last year and it worked like a charm.
I'm still hopin other people will give their opinion. Ya know...get a nice good general consensus

My youngest Blue Copper gal gave me this today. Me likey likey!




The Birchen eggs arrived today also....all were in perfect condition.

The larger Birchen boy...and sadly I found a couple feather stubs in between the outer and middle toes today. I am still going to test mate him and see what happens.

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HOLY CRAP! lovely egg! Bet that was awesome to find!

Glad all of your birchen eggs made it on time. How do you think they fall on the egg chart?

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Good luck with your hatch!