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No, but they had chicks in (three did), so I’m at a loss. All my own eggs hatched, but the hen didn’t put much effort into incubating the rest after the first four chicks hatched, so they died before hatching. I don’t understand why they weren’t hatching at the same time though.

No, England. It seems to me that chickens are harder to come across here but generally better quality when you find them. At least with a lot of breeds. I think it might be a matter of contacts. One of my customers was buying some eggs from John Lobb, who has a 90 year unbroken line of SDWs that...

My monthly(ish) non marans related post, sad this time. I had to cull Captain Jack with SDW cock today as he had gone lame randomly in one leg, and got himself in a state under a part where the water from the roof drips. Unlike some joint issues, when I moved his leg the toes wouldn’t move at...

I have had a person contact me on eBay asking if I post eggs to the states. I told them that it would be costly and I am sold out of Marans eggs until next week. I suggested that I could ask around for any one across the pond selling Marans eggs, and wondered if anyone here would be interested...

Sad news: no more chicks. I checked each egg and only found two DCM chicks compared to the six I thought I had candling. I think my next move is buying DCM pullets/a trio. The breeder I used has great stock and I don’t think it was his fault, so I might see if I can arrange something when he has...

I thought the BlCM appeared paler and with a yellower belly than Chanel did when she hatched, but looking back at photos I don’t think this is true. The Olive egger is almost certainly a cockerel (sex linkage). Five silkies hatched this year, and all different colours, I think this is a blue...

5 hatched so far. Natasha’s chick, Chanel’s chick and Esme’s chick, the olive egger and a silkie. Chanel’s chick died, it appeared to have broken its neck getting out the egg. No cuckoos hatched yet, there are six of their eggs remaining after candling. I’m worried because all my eggs hatched...

DCM is dark cuckoo marans BCM is black copper marans BlCM is blue copper marans So I use B(l)CM to mean black/blue copper marans, when I’m referring to both or either.

Here’s my book, still only at the beginning. I hope this gives you inspiration to lay out your own. I note down each hatch, some notes, and give each chicken a page (or part of a page if they are culls). I then give the birds I keep a scoring and progeny page to note all their offspring and...

Yes, I’ll give a full breakdown of points about a couple more photos would be beneficial.

Do you have a book where you write down all your hatches, marans, breeding programmes etc? I’ve started doing this an I think it’s really helpful. It allows you to keep track of who’s related to who as your flock expands, and therefore understand which pairing has produced the best outcomes...

Something I noticed today while putting new leg bands on my Marans that I thought I might comment on is how big they are under their feathers. All my BCM/BlCM hens look pretty much the same size at a glance, but when handling I got a good understanding of how much more meat was on Chanel...

How many adults is it again? You have King, Kong, Copper, Joanie, Angel, Betty and Raven, right? Any more than that or are the rest young ones?

How many marans will you have once all the eggs are done hatching? One more week for my DCMs, I can’t wait. One Marans and two olive egger eggs were broken, so I have 9 DCMs, 3 B(l)CMs, one CCL olive egger and two Silkie eggs.

Blue wheaten. As a rooster he will be blue with gold hackles, saddles and secondaries.

Loki I just got this post suggested on eBay. I sound strange but I’m almost certain that this is the post I bought half my Marans eggs from originally. If that is true, I think this is Loki’s brother/sire. Even the tail is almost identical, and the copper maybe (despite the lighting). Just a...

I was just about to suggest this. Then if one goes wrong the other can be the backup.

maybe incubate them until lockdown and then give them to Raven. That way, you have the incubation consistency of the incubator but the hen does the hard work of looking after them. Just a thought.

Lost one olive egger and one DCM egg today that were cracked. I’m just drawing out my breeding strategy for the GCMs. I’m aiming to produce a Er/Er, s+s+, B/B rooster by the end of next year, ideally keeping a maximum of two marans roosters at once (one in the marans pen, and I can put one in...

His comb is really good. Maybe on the larger size but I really like the way it is serrated. His legs are really good too. Are all this years chicks sired by Kong? I’m going to have a look through you pullet and cockerel photos to see anyone who stands out.