Australia - Six states..and that funny little island.

[cluckcluckluke]

I am not sure what age they should start Luke but I have sent a message off to the lady I bought the eggs from to see what average age she thinks. You got to post a picture of your maran eggs when they start to lay Luke. I have looked everywhere for some decent marans but have yet to find any.

Well her wellies are late bloomers then!
I too hope my Marans lay a dark egg. The lady said they would lay a 6+ which is good for around here. I plan on breeding them ( as they sell for a lot ) and improve the darkness of the eggs.
Sorry to hear about cheap. I hope if I ever get a "poultry friend" like that, that he/she will never ever die, i think that's why i don't have one though!

 

[satay]

Did you get a rooster for them Luke?

 

[cluckcluckluke]

Did you get a rooster for them Luke?

Not as such, But I have seen 2 Wheaten Marans roosters on Gumtree so far so I hope there are a few people out there with them.
Also the lady who gave me the pullets has roosters she sell's for $10-$20 each so they may be the go, unless they are siblings.

 

[appps]

Not as such, But I have seen 2 Wheaten Marans roosters on Gumtree so far so I hope there are a few people out there with them.
Also the lady who gave me the pullets has roosters she sell's for $10-$20 each so they may be the go, unless they are siblings.

Funny, I saw that on gumtree and thought of you lol

 

[cluckcluckluke]

Funny, I saw that on gumtree and thought of you lol

thanks, glad I'm the Marans Man to you now.lol. If you see anything to do with Marans show me please, I'm hooked on them!

 

[Pinky Macgyver]

Y'all probably will think this is silly but.. I just had my first attempt at hatching. I couldn't bring myself to give up on them even though they were a week late. For one (which I called Alien) that was a very bad idea. Was nothing but black liquid in there when I eventually opened it to see what went wrong. The other (called little foot) nearly gave me a heart attack - actual chest pain - because it started to hatch. It started around six in the morning, had a good little hole going where I could see his beak and maybe a bit of wing, but then he stopped making progress, hot weaker and at about two am the next day, stopped all together. I'm new to It all, and have the ridiculous emotional rollercoaster of a newbie. I haven't ever had something die on my watch and, for lack of a more eloquent term, it sucks.
Anyway, the point of the story is that I've buried Little Foot and the others and planted a magnolia tree (my favorite) over them. Maybe it's overly sentimental but I needed to do something.

 

[IamSamSam]

You know my world always comes to an end when my pets die. But on the farm I would kill a chook or lamb for dinner. I think how we react depends on how much emotional investment you put in.

I was never upset about dinner chooks just the ones I cuddled and fed. So

I don't think your silly or overly sentimental just caring. It was a lovely thing to do

 

[cluckcluckluke]

That's nice and don't worry with my first attempt and hatching eggs ( It was under a broody ) I buried mine aswell and gave a moments silence.lol. It was only because when I opened them there were full sized chicks in them, no deformities nothing wrong at all. I think it was just from the thunder storm we had.

 

[satay]

Y'all probably will think this is silly but.. I just had my first attempt at hatching. I couldn't bring myself to give up on them even though they were a week late. For one (which I called Alien) that was a very bad idea. Was nothing but black liquid in there when I eventually opened it to see what went wrong. The other (called little foot) nearly gave me a heart attack - actual chest pain - because it started to hatch. It started around six in the morning, had a good little hole going where I could see his beak and maybe a bit of wing, but then he stopped making progress, hot weaker and at about two am the next day, stopped all together. I'm new to It all, and have the ridiculous emotional rollercoaster of a newbie. I haven't ever had something die on my watch and, for lack of a more eloquent term, it sucks.
Anyway, the point of the story is that I've buried Little Foot and the others and planted a magnolia tree (my favorite) over them. Maybe it's overly sentimental but I needed to do something.

Oh don't feel bad Pinky. You gave that little one the best chance at life and for that you should be proud. I have incubated so many times and open all my eggs that don't hatch to see why they didn't. I can now tell if they started or at what age they stopped. Hubby says I am gross but I like to lean from my experiences. In saying that I lost my drake when we first moved here. I had him in the city with 3 other ducks and a bantam. I cried for hours.when I lost my 14 year old dog I cried for days . I still get really upset if I loose a favourite that will never change. Don't let it put you of trying to incubate again.

 

[Pinky Macgyver]

I was really emotionally invested. Even now, days later, I still find myself getting up from whatever I'm doing to go check the temps. Anyway..
I might try again someday. Will get a proper incubator instead of my homemade one.
I never actually planned to hatch eggs. My two chickens were sold to me as girls but one turned out to be a roo. Then I suddenly had all these fertile eggs and I couldn't bare the thought of them being eaten, so I started to incubate them. I probably won't be as emotionally invested in further tries but I'm not sure that's a good thing.