Marans are HUGE!

[mandelyn]

I had decided to go with Marans, and when I went to the SW Ohio swap yesterday, there were some there. My lord they're giants!! I knew they were big, but seeing them in person was something else!

So I bought a pair of itty-bitty Bantams, while I rethink my coop idea.

The Marans didn't have single combs, non of them had much of a comb at all really. I recall them as having a nice big single comb. Do some breeders remove them or something? Or is there another comb type sometimes seen in the breed? They didn't even have enough to make a pea comb.

I was thinking my old dog house would hold 7. Not Marans! Their heads would bump the ceiling! So I'd have to do another building for them, and save the dog house for itty-bittys, who can even roost inside.

Also need to allow more run space, even for only 7 Marans. The seller had Blue, Speckled, and Black/Copper. Not a one of them with a comb... weird.

 

[Katy]

My Marans all have nice size combs. How old of birds were they?

 

[mandelyn]

I'm not sure, most likely hatched this year though. But they were as tall as my German Shepherds! Looked as big as a turkey!

Surely if they had combs, they would have developed as the grew like every other chicken?

 

[purr]

show birds are huge , don't expect hatchery chicks to get that big. thank goodness those big ones could put you out of house and home with the feed bill.

 

[Katy]

My Marans are good sized...not small birds by any means. I guess I'm so used to them I just don't think of them as big. My cuckoos are larger than my wheatens. That is weird tho about the combs.

 

[pbjmaker]

My BC maran is big and my cuckoo hen ain't little. I have a son by them that outgrew my banty chickens by 6 weeks. At 8 weeks he is already huge. Might hang on to him to see how big he will get. I have a second son by them that we have already named "Baby Monster" I think he will outgrow the first one and he bites.

What color of marans did you see at the show?
Definately weird about the combs.