Black Copper Marans discussion thread

[scflock]

I think if others don't pony up they slide down the list, but don't quote me on that. Good luck with them! 

I'm looking forward to them

 

[chickengr]

Speaking of that, this year I started bagging the lawn leaves and putting them in the pens. Now I have zero odor, the chickens are clean, and so are the eggs. I don't imagine you have many leaves where you are, but I was just throwing that out there for anyone that does. It's been a lifesaver for me during the wet fall and winter

I agree with this. I collected some dry pine leaves and have the same result. it is even better than sawdust and wood shavings I use as well.

 

[marchick]

I will let someone with more experience make suggestions for you. I only know what birds not to use

I am right there with you on that one! Is there one of those little faces where I slap myself! They need to make one of those just for me!

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Are light colored legs a cull at hatch or do they tend to darken up over time? I have a chick or two that hatched with light colored legs instead of slate. Not yellow at all, just not slate.

 

[FeelsRightFarm]

Hello everyone, been a while since I posted but wanted to update anyone who has inquired about the greenfire line.

My hens are all laying now, get about 5 eggs a day on average. We have 46 in the incubator and are set to add another 35 today. I am so anxious to see how these chicks turn out.

They will be a mix of Little Peddler and Greenfire Farms lines. We want to separate them by line here soon but don't have the space for another month or so, just going to see what we end up with from the mix.

I am going to post pics of the eggs when I get on my computer, mobile isn't letting me upload

 

[FeelsRightFarm]

Here we go!

 

[scflock]

Here we go!

Wow, very nice!
GFF and LP are some of the most expensive birds I have seen. Do you notice that much of a difference vs a breeder that spends a lot of time working their flock, but doesn't charge $60/chick?

 

[FeelsRightFarm]

Wow, very nice!
GFF and LP are some of the most expensive birds I have seen. Do you notice that much of a difference vs a breeder that spends a lot of time working their flock, but doesn't charge $60/chick?

I looked at it this way, Greenfire imported these so they are newer, less messed with birds for the most part. Little Peddler we got but I'm not sure I'd do again, we ordered 12 hatching eggs and they were $$ and we only ended up with 3 developed and hatched. However, the hens we got from that hatch are total sweethearts.

We paid $15 a piece for day old chicks from Greenfire. We went to a sustainable poultry workshop there years ago and became friends with one of the girls who worked there, which benefited us because we got chicks for a much better price than on their site. Prior to that we only ever purchased greenfire chicks through their online auctions through rarebreedauctions which is all I'd ever do, the cost on their site is much more than I would pay.


But really, I just figured if we got two lines that weren't "tainted" so to speak then we could truly work on what we wanted. Any time we had ordered them from people in the past there were so many issues to work through because everyone has been trying to breed for specifics and everyone has different standards as to what they think the breed needs to be.


Both our roosters are grumpy though. I've heard you shouldn't breed aggressive roos, and these aren't stalking me to attack or anything, but they are so much less friendly than my bielefelders, Swedish black hen and cemanis.

 

[scflock]

I looked at it this way, Greenfire imported these so they are newer, less messed with birds for the most part. Little Peddler we got but I'm not sure I'd do again, we ordered 12 hatching eggs and they were $$ and we only ended up with 3 developed and hatched. However, the hens we got from that hatch are total sweethearts.

We paid $15 a piece for day old chicks from Greenfire. We went to a sustainable poultry workshop there years ago and became friends with one of the girls who worked there, which benefited us because we got chicks for a much better price than on their site. Prior to that we only ever purchased greenfire chicks through their online auctions through rarebreedauctions which is all I'd ever do, the cost on their site is much more than I would pay.


But really, I just figured if we got two lines that weren't "tainted" so to speak then we could truly work on what we wanted. Any time we had ordered them from people in the past there were so many issues to work through because everyone has been trying to breed for specifics and everyone has different standards as to what they think the breed needs to be.


Both our roosters are grumpy though. I've heard you shouldn't breed aggressive roos, and these aren't stalking me to attack or anything, but they are so much less friendly than my bielefelders, Swedish black hen and cemanis.

That's a very acceptable answer, thank you. I can understand that. Especially at $15/chick

 

[FeelsRightFarm]

That's a very acceptable answer, thank you. I can understand that. Especially at $15/chick

If you check during the winter off rarebreeduactions you get amazing deals. We got our bielefelders from them in 2013 in early February for $160 for 19 of them and ended up with 9 hens! Pretty good deal compared to their site cost.

I love chickens, but at the end of the day they all do the same thing! I couldn't pay $49 a chick unless it would cook it's own eggs for me