International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[Red Banks]

It has been quite a chicken day. I found a Cuckoo hen dead in the coop this morning. Never was sick, I don't have a clue what went wrong there. No sick birds anywhere on the place. Of course since I brought those two roosters I have done nothing but worry.

I found Gabby sitting on a nest in the woods. I gathered two eggs she was sitting on and then at dark thirty I had to pick her up and carry her to the coop.

My dog was a gentleman all day and then this evening he went after Antonio. Thank goodness no one was injured ..... especially Antonio.

I am rehoming the roosters tomorrow.

 

[bullets]

It has been quite a chicken day.  I found a Cuckoo hen dead in the coop this morning.  Never was sick, I don't have a clue what went wrong there.  No sick birds anywhere on the place.  Of course since I brought those two roosters I have done nothing but worry.  

I found Gabby sitting on a nest in the woods.  I gathered two eggs she was sitting on and then at dark thirty I had to pick her up and carry her to the coop.

My dog was a gentleman all day and then this evening he went after Antonio.  Thank goodness no one was injured ..... especially Antonio.

I am rehoming the roosters tomorrow.  

What an unfortunate evening. Have you ever performed a necropsy yourself? If you havent done away with her yet you might think about it. I'd especially look for parasites in her tract. Sometimes they can look fine one day and dead the next especially if they've been enduring cold weather. Not just parasites, tumors are a possibility with a whole host of other possible ailments.

Regardless, I'm sorry to hear that. I've been fortunate to not have a chicken die on me unless it was intentional on my part. The mother in me has terrors that I will open the coop one morning to find a dead one.

 

[bullets]

Did you bring Gabbys nest in with her?

 

[KF0002]

It has been quite a chicken day. I found a Cuckoo hen dead in the coop this morning. Never was sick, I don't have a clue what went wrong there. No sick birds anywhere on the place. Of course since I brought those two roosters I have done nothing but worry.

I found Gabby sitting on a nest in the woods. I gathered two eggs she was sitting on and then at dark thirty I had to pick her up and carry her to the coop.

My dog was a gentleman all day and then this evening he went after Antonio. Thank goodness no one was injured ..... especially Antonio.

So glad to hear Antonio is okay! Training new dogs is always a chore. I'm sorry you lost your Cuckoo hen. If she wasn't showing signs of illness I doubt it was anything the roosters brought in, but I don't blame you for worrying.

Are you going to let Gabby continue to set now that you've got her back home or did you break her up? It would be nice to see some chicks from her.

 

[KF0002]

Some informal pictures of my 11 week old group.
A few of the girls have good color on their hackles, I will be taking some proper photos of the best looking ones quite soon.







In about a week I will be letting them out to forage. They were just moved into a new coop so they need some time to recognize this coop as "home" before I start letting them loose.

Nice looking bunch! I see a lot of pullets. Lucky you!

 

[winterhorses]

It has been quite a chicken day. I found a Cuckoo hen dead in the coop this morning. Never was sick, I don't have a clue what went wrong there. No sick birds anywhere on the place. Of course since I brought those two roosters I have done nothing but worry.

I found Gabby sitting on a nest in the woods. I gathered two eggs she was sitting on and then at dark thirty I had to pick her up and carry her to the coop.

My dog was a gentleman all day and then this evening he went after Antonio. Thank goodness no one was injured ..... especially Antonio.

I am rehoming the roosters tomorrow.

So sorry to hear about your hen! I hope you figure it and that it's nothing serious!

What kind of dog do you have? I have a Wheaten Terrier, and he loves chasing anything and everything. I can usually call him off without problem, but every one in a while I have to give him a friendly "reminder" and put a shock collar on him.

 

[Red Banks]

Did you bring Gabbys nest in with her?

I am going to fix Gabby up tomorrow after the new roosters are gone. The nest was little more than a pile of leaves in a dirt depression. She is so sweet. I picked her up and she talked to me in that way she does. She gabbed the whole way back!

 

[Red Banks]

Quote:
Originally Posted by RedBanks

It has been quite a chicken day. I found a Cuckoo hen dead in the coop this morning. Never was sick, I don't have a clue what went wrong there. No sick birds anywhere on the place. Of course since I brought those two roosters I have done nothing but worry.

I found Gabby sitting on a nest in the woods. I gathered two eggs she was sitting on and then at dark thirty I had to pick her up and carry her to the coop.

My dog was a gentleman all day and then this evening he went after Antonio. Thank goodness no one was injured ..... especially Antonio.

I am rehoming the roosters tomorrow.

So sorry to hear about your hen! I hope you figure it and that it's nothing serious!

What kind of dog do you have? I have a Wheaten Terrier, and he loves chasing anything and everything. I can usually call him off without problem, but every one in a while I have to give him a friendly "reminder" and put a shock collar on him.


Yes..... after I finally got him to leave the chickens alone I thought, I need a shock collar. He is a Staffordshire Terrier.

 

[Bantambird]

Once trained, Staffordshire terriers are super smart. I use my boxer to help me with my chickens. I'm not sure if boxers are bully or working or something in between, but she hangs with my birds in their pen all day when the weather is warmer. She isn't allowed in the henhouse, however, as she is a great connesur of eggs. There are never any hidden nests around outside, she eats them all and then toots in the house!
I need to get some pics of this year's ladies so I can better pair up Jake. Those striking pullets with the pure silver hackles? Raccoons ate those, but we got the coon later. I just need to line up my ladies left!

 

[chickengr]

@RedBanks sorry for your loss.

@Chooks man I have just discovered that marco has a lot of white near his skin. I have never checked his father mario before and he is out of his 12 month old molting. he has mostly gray and some white colour near the skin. you cannot see that unless you divide their feathers. I guess mario had more white before molting. he also had some white on his wings but it has gone now.

my question is: will those white feathers disappear after 18 months molt? if I use them at 2 yo for breeding will their progeny be free of white feathers?

I really like marco and I can keep him with naked necks and blue eggers till he gets older.