Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[DMRippy]

I would LOVE to grow fodder. I think the down fall for me is they are quick to mold. in the summer here that is a huge problem here. sprouting might be an option. VICKI I think you posted it on FB where someone used a pallet vertical to grow plants in. I MIGHT could do that but still a HUGE undertaking with 300-400 birds. one day I will figure it out!

yeah, I'll have to see if I can find that. Do you have a basement in your home? If so, that would be your best bet. For now while I'm still researching, I'm planning on using the black seed trays I use for starting seeds and nesting two together, one with holes set inside one without to be able to soak the seeds once a day and then put them on a greenhouse mesh shelving where they can drain to keep from molding.

no basement for fodder......sigh.....

 

[gilavina]

no basement for fodder......sigh.....

doh! I'm sure there is another answer, just have to experiment some to see what works best

 

[DMRippy]

Brada Puhi - chunky little ones you have there!  It looks like many have pure white leg fuzz...that will likely equate to white shank feathering, which is not something you'll want to use for breeding.  Hope I'm wrong, but just wanted to mention it. 

I have not seen the correlation to white feather when grown, but I don't think I have seen as much white in my chicks and I see it more in blues.

 

[Ihilani Coffee]

Wynette, gilavina, and DMRippy~

There are fodder systems available commercially that unfortunately are WAY more money than most of us can/would spend...entire trailers with fully automated watering/humidity/temperature control, etc. The FarmTek ones are just a rack system and a person could do it themselves for way less. Just search "fodder systems" and see all the ingenious ways people have come up with.

For our flock, we supplement with barley fodder as it seriously helps with the commercial feed costs and as a natural healthcare practitioner I strongly support organically grown, whole, fresh food for everyone. Of course the barley or other fodder does not have a complete nutrient profile so we use some Exotic Bird Formula sprinkled on there to help balance out the vitamin (and especially) mineral profile. (PM if you want to know where/how to get that.)

We have a layer flock of 12, breeder pens totalling 12, and youngstock totalling 14 birds each. We also used the barley fodder for chicks after one month and to help grow out Cornish X and Red Ranger meat birds. We use the nursery trays and a pump-up spray bottle. Trying to douse/drain was leading to a lot of mold/fermentation. It's near freezing at night here, no basement, and so in winter we do this on a stacked shelf system in the living room. In summer we had the shelves outside on the north side of the house so it didn't dry out/cook in the sun. We sprayed it with a fine mist several times a day and let it drain onto the ground (no bottom trays to catch the extra as we do inside).

Things we have learned: buy seed barley, not feed barley. Misting several times a day works better for us than soak/drain. Room temps work best or down to 50 minimum. Many people use a dilute bleach solution initial soak to cut down on the mold but we don't want toxic chlorine in the house/feed. I have used a tiny drop of good tea tree oil in the initial soak when we were having mold issues (but that was feed barley and going to the mist method with seed barley took care of it completely).

Hope this helps. The birds LOVE the fodder and are hilarious chasing and grabbing it out of each others' beaks!

 

[Wynette]

ihilani - that is very interesting. Do you happen to have any pics of your system that you can share?

 

[Ray from PA]

I put few up on the regular Marans thread within the last week, and am hoping if all goes well today with the training at the new job, I'll be home with a couple of hours to spare before it gets dark to do some sorting myself and maybe have time for some photos.

Thanks Vicki,,, I'll have to look for them, I've fallen behind on a couple threads lately,,,, just not enough time lately to keep up with things. Hope the new job is going well for you.

 

[SIMZ]

Hi Everyone,

I was hoping you can help me with something.

One of my BCM males is beautiful with a huge chest, but has always seemed "scrunchy" to me and walks funny. He will occasionally stand beautifully with a nice shape, but mostly is just scrunched. He also seems to walk funny - like a very old man at times, and seems to have trouble mating. He's still around because he isn't mean and acts cute with my bantams (profile picture). Would you believe that I finally noticed today that he's missing the 3rd toe on each foot (not sure if that's accurate terminology). I suppose that's why he looks and walks funny.

Is that something that is common with chickens? I've wasn't planning on using him with my marans because my other male is much nicer, but he is in my general flock that I hatch and sell chicks from for mixed breed meat and layers. Am I correct that this is something that will breed forward and is indeed genetic?

Any insights?

Thanks!

 

[Nikki816]

Can black copper marans have white markings on them? The only hatching out of one of my eBay orders kinda looks like it is crossed with cuckoo. I'm trying to upload a picture, but its not cooperating today. Wings are black but chest and back have white marked feathers. Chick in question is about 3-4 weeks

 

[Runawaylobster]

I would LOVE to grow fodder. I think the down fall for me is they are quick to mold. in the summer here that is a huge problem here. sprouting might be an option. VICKI I think you posted it on FB where someone used a pallet vertical to grow plants in. I MIGHT could do that but still a HUGE undertaking with 300-400 birds. one day I will figure it out!

ditto, i tried it and here in Florida it was hopeless because of the humidity, the mold took over almost immediately... Maybe i will have better luck if i try in the winter..

 

[Ray from PA]

I put few up on the regular Marans thread within the last week, and am hoping if all goes well today with the training at the new job, I'll be home with a couple of hours to spare before it gets dark to do some sorting myself and maybe have time for some photos.

Look forward to more pics, I read through the other thread and found you posts, you've got some tough culling ahead of you....LOL . I would be wanting to keep 'em, some really nice stock you've got again. I'd really be interested in Luella's offspring pics if you could mark their pics if you post any of them. I saw you posted one of hers to show edging on your blues.

I was fortunate enough to get 3 cockerals this season that very nice open tails, hoping to improve on next years pullets with their help ! I am very happy with 2 of them overall, each has room for improvement, but overall they are pretty nice structured birds.