I am so frustrated with my Marans!

[L&Schickens]

What have I done? I saved every penny I could and sold off all kinds of stuff so I would have enough money for a good amount of hatching Marans eggs. I managed to buy 30 eggs. Out of that 15 hatched. Out of that 5 had deformed feet and 2 died. I culled all but one with bad feet. Out of the 8 left only 4 were pullets and now for the second day in a row a raccoon or weasel has killed a pullet. A BC with great feet and now a wheaton, also with perfect feet. So, I have 1 BC pullet with minor feet issues and one blue Marans pullet left. The cockerels seem to be doing just fine. I had to move what is left of my flock to another cage. They now are in with the Jersey Giants and the Peacocks. What a waste of time effort and money. I hate chickens.

Sorry for the venting. I just got done cleaning up guts and I can't figure out how the varmint got in the cage.

 

[tellynpeep]

I'm TOTALLY with you. Out of my 1st dozen expensive Marans eggs, zero live chicks. Then a dozen expensive BBS Ameraucana eggs: 2 live chicks. At least one, and possibly both are roos.
Second dozen Marans eggs: 1 live chick.
Currently hatching Welsummers. Out of the 13 I received, 7 did not develop at all. 5 are in the hatcher now. Today is day 21.

Meanwhile, EVERY ONE of the eggs I've incubated from my own chicks has hatched. GRRRRRR.
I SO wanted these breeds, but am about done with shipped eggs.

 

[L&Schickens]

That was another breed I got eggs from that didn't work out. I got a dozen rumpless tufted true Auracana eggs. Only 3 hatched and 2 died right away. The one that lived is neither rumpless or tufted and is bantam sized. But at least she is a hen and she does lay a semi blue looking egg, although it is small.

 

[CountryMom]

At least you got pullets! I have yet to get any other than one batch I hatched - the first ever and ebay eggs. Only two pullets survived. I have good roosters, but nothing to breed them to! LOL

I figure I never will show chickens. I am basically owning them to get eggs, enjoy and meat now and then. Even sell a few locally. So I broke down and ordered some pullets from a hatchery. Maybe with the good roosters I have I can make some decent stock out of the hatchery birds.

"Hopeless in Texas," and still have a batch of shipped BBS Orp eggs in the bator!

 

[Cuban Longtails]

Instead of spending all that money on hatching eggs, why not buy a pair of started or adult birds?

 

[tellynpeep]

Well, I decided to go with eggs because they were breeds I can't find easily locally. Also, I had such good luck with hatching my own eggs... I didn't think it would be so very different with shipped eggs.

 

[L&Schickens]

Quote:
Ditto me too.

 

[Wynette]

Yes, it can definitely be frustrating and expensive starting up a new line of your own. I've been there. I've been working on my Marans for quite some time now, with several low hatch rates...Marans are fairly new to the U.S. and the gene pool is quite limited. I think this tends to lead to poor hatchability. Sigh...

 

[Cuban Longtails]

But, you can buy started and adult birds from any breeder in the lower 48 states and they usually ship too.

I know I spent enough on hatching eggs last year that I could have bought two pairs of the breeding pairs I ended up purchasing, and that included shipping and box charges.

It is frustrating when buying shipped hatching eggs. I generally end up giving up and finding someone selling pairs of birds in the breeds I want.

 

[CountryMom]

Quote:
Easier said than done in shipping adult animals. If you live no where close to a cargo office then shipping is a nightmare. I have received some guinea pigs from the other side of the country. Cost was amazingling high by the time I finished paying for the cage, animals, and the flight charges. And a 6 hour round trip for me alone to pick up on their schedule not mine. I cannot imagine with the heat or extreme cold of shipping them any other way.