International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[kfelton0002]

Ya know. I come here a little too much but find it fascinating all the things I learn. I see some truly quality birds by all of you and see how you all bounce things off each other and it is inspiring to listen to your travels in this hobby. I see how defeated you all get at times and I think... heck they should see the birds people are selling in my 2 state area as breeder quality. Y'all would make stew without thinking twice! And to top it off a novice like me can pop in and be responded to without being made to feel dumb.

@marchick i know it gets frustrating to see a flaw or have a challenge but look at what you've accomplished. If you want to feel good just go to vermont fanciers Facebook page and look at some of their marans stock. Drives me nuts they sell for $5-$10 a chick and I paid $25 straight run but I'm going to have a much better starting point when I ask for eggs from y'all to start my own hobby line. And if I remember correctly yours lay such nice dark eggs. That's valuable!!!

Absolutely! We are blessed to have a really great group so we can learn from each other. No line of Marans is without its flaws believe you me. I have nearly given up many times. My first few sets of Marans chicks were straight up junk. All stew pot worthy (yellow legged, clean legged, overmelanized, black eyes, you name it) each and every one. Then I met some amazing show folk and got my start with decent Marans. After that I met Redbanks, Keith, Chooks man, and all you guys and I have learned so much.

@marchick I consider you all friends and I hate to see you get discouraged. Our birds aren't perfect, I get all sorts.. the good, the bad, and the ugly. And losing chickens and having runs of bad luck go with the territory. You have been a great addition to our little Marans classroom and I do hope you stay with us. We are all here for you for support.

 

[marchick]

Thank guys, It's not the Marans it's me. It's something I did and I am having a hard time with it. I feel like a idiot. Maybe I am just not cut out for this as much as I love to work with my birds.

 

[pioneerchick816]

I love this thread!! You all are always so helpful & I love to learn from every part of it (the good, the bad & the ugly) I don’t think I’ve seen even ONE “ugly” bird on here lol. It’s encouraging to read through & listen & learn

 

[kfelton0002]

Thank guys, It's not the Marans it's me. It's something I did and I am having a hard time with it. I feel like a idiot. Maybe I am just not cut out for this as much as I love to work with my birds.

I bet whatever it is you did to make yourself feel stupid, I have a story to top it. We make mistakes because we're human. We live and we learn. Don't be too hard on yourself.

 

[kfelton0002]

List of stupid things I've done with chickens over the years:

Forgot to plug the incubator back in (several clutches ruined).

Ran incubator dry at lockdown by accident (chicks stuck).

Mixed newborn chicks with chicks several weeks older (new chicks became dead chicks).

Accidentally left zip ties on chicks' legs too long causing chicks to have to be culled .

Tried to give a broody hen surrogate chicks during the daytime (she killed chicks).

Left my son's cat in my brooder building while we baited a trap for a possum (cat killed several chicks even though he has been around them his whole life).

Left the coop door unlached (wind blew open = free chickens).

Left important eggs on top of a pen and they froze overnight and busted.

Forgot to switch autoturner in incubator back to auto (= eggs not turned for a hot minute).

Im sure there are more. I hope this makes you feel some better. @marchick

 

[chickengr]

Thank guys, It's not the Marans it's me. It's something I did and I am having a hard time with it. I feel like a idiot. Maybe I am just not cut out for this as much as I love to work with my birds.

we learn from mistakes. tomorrow is another day. don't punish yourself.

 

[chickengr]

List of stupid things I've done with chickens over the years:

Forgot to plug the incubator back in (several clutches ruined).

Ran incubator dry at lockdown by accident (chicks stuck).

Mixed newborn chicks with chicks several weeks older (new chicks became dead chicks).

Accidentally left zip ties on chicks' legs too long causing chicks to have to be culled .

Tried to give a broody hen surrogate chicks during the daytime (she killed chicks).

Left my son's cat in my brooder building while we baited a trap for a possum (cat killed several chicks even though he has been around them his whole life).

Left the coop door unlached (wind blew open = free chickens).

Left important eggs on top of a pen and they froze overnight and busted.

Forgot to switch autoturner in incubator back to auto (= eggs not turned for a hot minute).

Im sure there are more. I hope this makes you feel some better. @marchick

wow! reading your list I have almost forgot mine, lol.

 

[marchick]

List of stupid things I've done with chickens over the years:

Forgot to plug the incubator back in (several clutches ruined).

Ran incubator dry at lockdown by accident (chicks stuck).

Mixed newborn chicks with chicks several weeks older (new chicks became dead chicks).

Accidentally left zip ties on chicks' legs too long causing chicks to have to be culled .

Tried to give a broody hen surrogate chicks during the daytime (she killed chicks).

Left my son's cat in my brooder building while we baited a trap for a possum (cat killed several chicks even though he has been around them his whole life).

Left the coop door unlached (wind blew open = free chickens).

Left important eggs on top of a pen and they froze overnight and busted.

Forgot to switch autoturner in incubator back to auto (= eggs not turned for a hot minute).

Im sure there are more. I hope this makes you feel some better. @marchick

Thank you for trying to make me feel better. Right now I am just trying to get over this. Maybe one day I will get up the guts to tell you all what I did. I think what I did was worse but none died.

 

[marchick]

Thank you all for trying to make me feel better. I am trying to forget so how do I decide to help me forget! I went and checked my Marans eggs and temperature. I still have 4 thermometers going all with different temperatures. One reading 98.7. The yellow mercury thermometer is reading 99.5 and the other two are reading 100 degrees. humidity is between 37% and 40%

 

[marchick]

we learn from mistakes. tomorrow is another day. don't punish yourself.

Thank you! I will beat myself up but hope everything will be ok in time. I learned.