International Black Copper Marans Thread - Breeding to the SOP

[NanaK]

Not Marans related but I like to share.
On Monday my 10 yr old Cream Legbar Dixie gave me a pretty blue egg.
I am amazed!

 

[Punkybrewster]

Not Marans related but I like to share.
On Monday my 10 yr old Cream Legbar Dixie gave me a pretty blue egg.
I am amazed!
View attachment 3742379

10 years!
That is a very special egg. And a pretty blue. Way to go Dixie!

 

[wrathsfarm]

View attachment 3741816The legbar eggs have added even more variety to my egg boxes, this is the first lot of the year I’ve managed to organise in colour as a dozen. Marans are as dark as ever, I’m happy with the closest marans egg from Natasha, really shiny. It’s paler with lots of dark speckles, so appears darker overall.

I think I have to sell the two BCM cockerels because they are starting to play up sooner than expected, but there’re still living with the silkies who they could hurt.

I somehow missed this post. Love the graduation of color.

 

[wrathsfarm]

Not Marans related but I like to share.
On Monday my 10 yr old Cream Legbar Dixie gave me a pretty blue egg.
I am amazed!
View attachment 3742379

Very pretty display. Does Dixie lay fairly consistently still for you?

 

[NanaK]

Last year she gave me about 3 dozen. She is a partially disabled girl so she has a private run beside my flock. So no doubt it' her egg.

I have 2 of her full sisters, Dot and Dahlia in my mixed flock. I know Dot gave me a few last year but not sure about Dahlia.

I lost Daisy a 4th sister a few months ago at 9 yrs.

I have several older birds. Sometimes they amaze me.

 

[Tstraub]

When I went out to feed the chickens this morning I found a Marans egg. It was on the coop floor near the feeder. It was terribly dirty and frost covered so I imagine it was laid sometime yesterday. I tried to clean it up as gently as possible to remove as much gunk but as little color as I could. It is pictured the eggs I have collected from my olive egger blue.

 

[wrathsfarm]

When I went out to feed the chickens this morning I found a Marans egg. It was on the coop floor near the feeder. It was terribly dirty and frost covered so I imagine it was laid sometime yesterday. I tried to clean it up as gently as possible to remove as much gunk but as little color as I could. It is pictured the eggs I have collected from my olive egger blue. View attachment 3742427

That's a very pretty egg. Congrats.

I wonder who laid it?

 

[Tstraub]

That's a very pretty egg. Congrats.

I wonder who laid it?

Betty has been showing most the normal behavior of a pullet about to lay. She has been checking out the nesting boxes and submitting to the cockerels when they dance. Penny still runs from the boys. So my best guess is Betty.

I have been wrong before so who knows. I swore my barred rock was days away from laying for months before her actually started. I thought one of the Easter Eggers was weeks away until one day she laid an egg. The more I think I know the more they prove me wrong.

 

[wrathsfarm]

Betty has been showing most the normal behavior of a pullet about to lay. She has been checking out the nesting boxes and submitting to the cockerels when they dance. Penny still runs from the boys. So my best guess is Betty.

I have been wrong before so who knows. I swore my barred rock was days away from laying for months before her actually started. I thought one of the Easter Eggers was weeks away until one day she laid an egg. The more I think I know the more they prove me wrong.

Truth, brotha.

 

[wrathsfarm]

King has taken a downward turn...

He's been stumbling around, tripping and falling down trying to keep up with his girls the last couple days. He's been sleeping in one of the nest boxes since swapping them over, which is a little challenging to get cleaned out first thing so girls could use it without laying in poo. (Thankfully they're not in full on production). I've been good with that, he's been a very reliable friend for going on 3 years...
But over the last week I've had to lower it to almost floor level, and then I added a ramp to it for him.
Tues evening he struggled more to get up the ramp using his wings to balance himself so yesterday morning I set him up in the revamped brooder coop, thick layer of bedding and a box of bedding for him. Food/electro-water is on blocks. For treats wife made him up a plate of dry oatmeal, yogurt, a raw egg, sliced green grapes/blueberries, wet and dry cat food and peas. I hand fed him a whole B12 complex tablet also and just gave him another this morning. He's eating and drinking ok its just the stumbling, lack of balance.
If you've made thru all this please realize he's not a breeder. He's one of my yard partners. I know what's coming and when I see he's struggling too much or in any pain I'll do it.

Any other suggestions surely welcome.... This is mainly just a vent of emotions for the day. I know there's a line drawn between breeding and pets and I'm willing to make that reasoning when I start that part.

@marchick you just went thru this and I'm feeling that pain coming.
This will be my first friend I've had to put down in a couple years. My wife is taking it hard, King was our accidental roo and she latched onto him with .

It never gets easier.