Let's talk Cuckoo and WHITE marans... breeding strategies...

[Raven1]

No way I will make the Newnan Show. I really wanted to go but something has come up. Good Luck to all that are going!!

 

[Chickielady]

Hi Chickielady, The pullets that I got from you do not have as high of a tail as the girl in your photo. So you must be doing something right! Maybe try and figure out which hens you got the eggs from that you sent me and who the roo/roos were that might have been the father and maybe hatch some more chicks from them? One of the cuckoo cockerals that I have, has a particularly low tail set so I am going to use him over my pullets. Boy, those boys are getting monsterous!
I think with the next batch of chicks I get from these cuckoos. I am going to switch them to a gamebird feed with higher protein when they start on their growth spurt. The young cockerals really are huge compared to my other varieties.

Hi guys, I am finally back again & my old puter is giving me fits !
It needs more RAM~~~~~~~~~
Thanks for the look-see over these birds.
I have gone over the flock, and yes indeed I have quite a few hens with a perfect tail set, and there is a few (as shown) with the high tail set.sooooo...
What I am doing is separating the two....and breeding the lower tail set to the best cockerels.
Hard to cull the "looser" birds...they still lay a whopper egg !
So......
The "loosers" will go into a "layer" only pen...I have far too many regular customers who come weekly (each on their appointed day) to buy these giant eggs.
So far, just now getting 1 egg one day, maybe 2 the next/ and maybe none the next day.
They have yet to start up laying for spring............those of you waiting for eggs, hang in there !
We are wiring the house now...roof all done !
Soon we'll have the plumber in to do the PECK system...it seems to be both going fast & slow at the same time..............
florida garden girl !!! That pullet is awesome !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Chickielady]

Same here, my cuckoos are BIGGER than my coppers too. Bigger eggs too.

Mine too, and the eggs are monster and a beautiful "golden brown sugar" color, not the blackish-brownish of the Black Coppers.
I really LOVE the Cuckoo Marans' eggs better, especially when I wash the eggs for customers and the Black copper's egg color would come off & look so cruddy.
I even have had a customer refuse to eat the black copper eggs as she thought they looked so OLD and yucky..........I had to admit the black copper eggs do look cruddy after washing..despite how tender I treated them, all that color came smearing off..................just my experience & opinion here.
The Blue copper's color does not wash off easily either...so they are a favorite here also.

 

[kian]

I am really late to this thread, so I will start here and then try and catch up! I have two Cuckoo Marans, both age 25 weeks. One has given me 13 eggs (only missed yesterday!) the other is very close to starting but hasn't yet. My layer lays fairly small eggs, but from what I just read above, that will change? They seem to be a little bigger than in the beginning, and I also notice that they are getting darker brown, but probably won't end up being that deep chocolate, am I correct? I also noticed that I could sort of scratch off the color.... I thought I was imagining it, but again, after reading above I see that I wasn't!

OK now all that's out of the way, I will go back to the beginning and start my education

 

[OHmamma]

I am really late to this thread, so I will start here and then try and catch up! I have two Cuckoo Marans, both age 25 weeks. One has given me 13 eggs (only missed yesterday!) the other is very close to starting but hasn't yet. My layer lays fairly small eggs, but from what I just read above, that will change? They seem to be a little bigger than in the beginning, and I also notice that they are getting darker brown, but probably won't end up being that deep chocolate, am I correct? I also noticed that I could sort of scratch off the color.... I thought I was imagining it, but again, after reading above I see that I wasn't!

OK now all that's out of the way, I will go back to the beginning and start my education

Her eggs should get bigger but by 13 they are probably as dark as they will get. I do have a blue copper bantam hen that still surpirses me with an even darker egg once in a while but I am starting to think it depends on what she decides to eat from the mix I give them.

I still have a few hens that just lay smaller eggs, of course they freerange mostly and don't wolf down the food like the others that are penned.

-Nicol

 

[OHmamma]

No way I will make the Newnan Show. I really wanted to go but something has come up. Good Luck to all that are going!!

Too bad, now there are over 280 Marans in the show. I am gonna go wash my birds and get ready to go, I am so excited that it is just killing me!!


-Nicol

 

[kian]

Her eggs should get bigger but by 13 they are probably as dark as they will get. I do have a blue copper bantam hen that still surpirses me with an even darker egg once in a while but I am starting to think it depends on what she decides to eat from the mix I give them. I still have a few hens that just lay smaller eggs, of course they freerange mostly and don't wolf down the food like the others that are penned. -Nicol

Thank you so much for the info! I have much to learn Mine get a good amount of exercise when they are in the run, and they get let out to range around at least 4 days a week (it'll be more now that the weather is so nice). Sorry for all theduplicate. I am on my Nook and it acts up sometimes

 

[kian]

Her eggs should get bigger but by 13 they are probably as dark as they will get. I do have a blue copper bantam hen that still surpirses me with an even darker egg once in a while but I am starting to think it depends on what she decides to eat from the mix I give them. I still have a few hens that just lay smaller eggs, of course they freerange mostly and don't wolf down the food like the others that are penned. -Nicol

Thank you so much for the info! I have much to learn Mine get a good amount of exercise when they are in the run, and they get let out to range around at least 4 days a week (it'll be more now that the weather is so nice). I wasn't aware free ranging affected egg size! Mucccccch to learn.....

 

[Hens and Roos]

well our hatch doesn't seem to be going anywhere yet at day 22, we have 1 cuckoo chick hatched out but not sure it will make it.......seemed to have a lot of the eggs showing blood rings so not sure what is going on, probably give it till monday and go from there

 

[TNBEARCHICK]

well our hatch doesn't seem to be going anywhere yet at day 22, we have 1 cuckoo chick hatched out but not sure it will make it.......seemed to have a lot of the eggs showing blood rings so not sure what is going on, probably give it till monday and go from there

so sorry