INDIANA BYC'ers HERE!

[Indyshent]

I would love them again but am just not ready. I will sure be PM'ing you when we are. I want young or hand raised for sure. Would really love to give a broody turkey eggs! To me that would imprint them to the flock the best. With the Midget Whites broody hens is a total non issue, same with bourbons lol.

Speaking of broody hens, the chocolate muscovy you gave us last year disappeared, and I finally found her this morning... on a nest. Got her some much needed food and water, but the eggs she's sitting on are surely infertile because it's been a month since a drake was around. Two roosters have periodically tried but there's a host of reasons they couldn't get the job done

I'll need to get a couple fertile eggs because the last time I had one sit on infertile eggs, she was on the nest for months, trying desperately to hatch air. I eventually had to pitch all of them because she was starving to death. This girl's at least as desperate for motherhood as the Swedish was. I'm not sure if she's left the nest at all in two days. She did nip me when I tried to roll one of the eggs back under her (it had rolled to where she couldn't get to it). Even nipping me, she was much nicer about it than the Swedish, but I've taken eggs out from under her before, and she just doesn't want to take chances.

Other notes:

Summer harvest of cherry tomatoes and cucumbers is going splendidly. Cantaloupes are taking over everything. Strawberries have been very poor producers. Pumpkins seem to be infested with squash borers

Trogdor will need to be put down, which is just heartbreaking. DH and I engineered a sling for him, but it started tearing (not where we thought it would at all) in the night and left him turned around--away from food and water overnight--and also cut off circulation to parts of his legs. I took him down this morning and let him rest on some foam rubber mats, but he's apparently losing consciousness due to pain in his legs and has passed out in his water bowl. He hasn't drowned yet, but it's just a matter of time before he does, and he's in so much pain that he's not eating this morning. He doesn't even want to eat the cheese (I use it to hide his aspirin). So, yeah... despite initial progress, his prognosis is grim, and the weeks he would likely spend in recovery just don't seem to be worth it, knowing that he's going to be in this much pain indefinitely.

One of the silkie chicks also went missing a few days ago. I'm hoping a kid saw it and mistook it for a "baby bird". No sign of attack at all; it just bodily disappeared.

Of the seven muscovy chicks, it looks like we may have a 3 drakes/ 4 hens split. The tiny two are catching up to the middle two who are behind the big three. It looks like all but one is pied. Not sure if we have any chocolates--everyone seems to be black. At least two are barred

 

[jenaman]

Did you see the parent stock or get picks? What color are the eggs you hatched?

Oh and what type of Marans are they supposed to be?

Their feet should have some slate color and can be a tinge yellowish but are more pink but only as chicks. Grown will be slate&pink.

Thsee are mine pictured below.

My uncle was coming over from Ohio and said his friend had some fertile French black copper Marans eggs that he was going to toss because they had already hatched all the chicks they wanted. At first the guy said he only had FBCM then when I received the eggs I saw a few blue eggs and was like where did these come from? Someone else? I called the guy and asked and he said he has ameraucanas as well but they are separated from the Marans to keep the blood line strong. Now I'm wondering wth is going on. To answer your questions...1) no pics, he said free FBCM and I said hell yes!! 2) Medium brown, not pale but not as dark as yours. Mine look nothing like a FBCM...at all!! One is black with yellow feathers splashed throughout its body, 5 toes, yellow feet not pink or slate. It does have leg feathers. The other one has yellow feathers not a trace of one black feather, 5 toes, and can't stay upright. He is not doing good at all. Guess I need to look for some locally so I can see the parents. It sucks because I really wanted good lines and full blooded chickens.

 

[Faraday40]

I bought some "French Marans" eggs from craigslist when we quickly needed fertile eggs for our DD's experiment. One hatched out BLUE!!! The others were black with feathered shanks like in the EllymayRans photo. The blue one, though, has a little more feathering - Hobbit-like feet. The outer toes have thick feather quills, so I also thought it looked like an extra toe until I examined it closely. Now they just look like it's wearing dust mops for feet. Most of the eggs looked very dark, but some were lighter. I never really asked about the quality b/c we only needed eggs, but I'm pretty sure they should have feathered legs. The only thing that threw me was the blue one. I thought all marans were "black copper marans."

BTW- This is the blue one. I'm pretty sure it's a male, so he'll be donated soon. If anyone thinks it's a female, please let me know before we give away our favorite chick.



Here's Blue a few weeks ago





Here's its brother to compare: "Mr Obvious"

 

[iamfivewire]

@Faraday40 : marans come in black, blue, black copper, cookoo, birchen, splash, & some other exotic variations

 

[iamfivewire]

this little guy was a black maran (not black/copper) :

 

[Faraday40]

About a week ago I thought I saw some fertile eggs from one of my hens. Yesterday I swear I saw another fertile egg from a different hen. Today it was confirmed. I caught my dominant cockerel attempting to mount a hen. She was patiently waiting for him to balance himself. Quite a funny sight & a rather desperate hen! The boy is only 3.5 months old, but I must give him an A for effort. (Kittydoc - This is Cogburn's offspring!)

We were laughing b/c I kept finding him inside the coop - often inside a nest box. I told my DH that he was trying to learn how to lay an egg. Now I know why he was "hanging out" in there. LOL

 

[Faraday40]

@Faraday40 : marans come in black, blue, black copper, cookoo, birchen, splash, & some other exotic variations

Thanks. I know that now. I just always read "French black copper marans" together. Are they the most common variety? (Like "Buff orpington") That's why when I bought eggs labeled "French marans" I was surprised by a blue.

 

[iamfivewire]

our chickies had a little visitor this eve . . . . .

 

[Indyshent]

Well, we are butchering our first bird. The whole reason I got Cornish crosses was so that we could have some practice for when we had to butcher a turkey, but that wasn't God's plan on this one. Our poor jake suffered a leg injury which has been compounded by straining himself too quickly and finally by horrible swelling. We have tried everything else we could think of to help him, but he was passing out in his water dish and aspirating it, his appetite has suffered due to pain and trouble breathing, and we just couldn't bear to have him in so much pain indefinitely. Initially, the plan was that I could help set up, and my husband would 'do the deed', but he wound up needing me to hold our jake's head down so he could get a cleaner shot. And I bawled like a baby. We've both invested so much in this bird, trying to get him back on his feet, giving him treats and pets, keeping him cool and supplied with aspirin, wiping his bottom.

His hens are going crazy. They bombarded my house and refused to leave while we were gearing up for the deed. Walked out the front door and around the house, ate some ornamental strawberries and ransacked some cherry tomato plants, still refused to go back to our backyard, so I had to pick them and take them (oo, how Vermithrax HATES being picked up, too). They seemed really worried, like they were looking for him. We had him in the garage.

I really ought to be hungry, but I just can't work up an appetite.

 

[kittydoc]

About a week ago I thought I saw some fertile eggs from one of my hens. Yesterday I swear I saw another fertile egg from a different hen. Today it was confirmed. I caught my dominant cockerel attempting to mount a hen. She was patiently waiting for him to balance himself. Quite a funny sight & a rather desperate hen! The boy is only 3.5 months old, but I must give him an A for effort. (Kittydoc - This is Cogburn's offspring!)

We were laughing b/c I kept finding him inside the coop - often inside a nest box. I told my DH that he was trying to learn how to lay an egg. Now I know why he was "hanging out" in there. LOL

He's taking after his daddy for sure! He was breeding at the same age. So much for English Orpingtons being "slower" to develop! Not all of 'em! I hope he takes after his daddy in as many ways as possible.