Recent content by chicken-whisperer

I have hatched out hundreds of Black Copper Marans and have experimented finding the best moisture is dry for the first week and very wet the last week. The air pocket needs to form and with these eggs being extra sealed this dry week process has increased my hatch rate. The last week into lock...

Welcome I have put newly hatched chicks in a brooder with 2 week old with no problem . My feed store sells chicks from 3 day old up to pullets. So you can buy the same age.Without knowing the size of the coop If you let them out often and keep the pen clean they should be alright.

I also have some Blues that lay lighter eggs and some of my Black Copper eggs have been not as dark as they use to be. I live in Vista .

Thank you but all our eggs are not that dark here is a a couple dozen with a white plastic dummy egg to compare.

Welcome I have been raising Marans in Vista CA for 4 + years and enjoy helping out people bitten by the Marans bug.

Here are some egg photos about $1each more at http://sandiego.craigslist.org/nsd/grd/5651526127.html?lang=en&cc=us

Let me know if you still want some eggs We have only Black or blue Copper Marans you can check out my ad on craigslist.com in Vista

I will try to take some pictures tonight if you still need them

When I had quail, the eggs were small and never thought the birds were worth plucking and cleaning although some people love eating them. Two or three hens don't take up a lot of space. A quiet breed like a Buff Orpington or Australope can lay an egg almost evey day but I keep only Black and...

They do sound cute , Several guesses #1 slow to mature #2 to big of perch or even the breed. When I had Silkies they did not like to perch they flopped a lot.

My flock sometimes gets upset when a hawk comes but treats like some popcorn calms them down.

One thing you can try is a pan of water in the pen on a dry board, as a raccoon can not resist water and will leave foot prints.

My hens have not ever had a first egg soft shelled but they were eating layer food later when they free range and the calcium level goes down a soft egg sometimes appears and then they are fed oyster shell. My method for egg eaters is to blow out an egg and fill it with epoxy they learn it hurts...

After four years Twenty BCM chicks now grown with no yellow feet , plenty of shank feathers but no middle toe feathers , no wheaten feathering or mossiness, no halo hackles, but still a few floppy hen combs and some hens with little copper. The perfection part of the SOP is elusive but even so...

A egg can sit for a week or more if cool. It will start developing when warmed up. If the eggs is fertile there is a chance it could still be viable. On the other hand I get 20 eggs a day and would not want it back if it was from my flock.