Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[NicoleRM]

Thanks for the tail info. I've been wondering how my guy's tail is going to be when it grows back. I'm told he was in a pen with several other extra roosters before I got him and must have been low on the pecking order, because he has NO tail. He's also rather timid and I have yet to hear him crow. Turns out he has white in his primaries too, so I suppose he'll end up in my olive egger group.

 

[pinkchick]

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Sorry if you have answered this before Nicole, but how old is he? Is the white in his primary wing feathers or at the tips of a couple of his secondaries?

 

[NicoleRM]

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I just picked him up a couple weeks ago, and was told he's not quite a year old. I bought him for $8 sight-unseen on sort of an impulse after I lost the little cockerel I was raising.

I haven't gotten a good look at the feathers to be honest, just saw an obvious flash of white as he was flapping his way across the yard a few days ago. LOL I'm going to get out there tonight after he's roosting and see if I can get a better look. I'll have to get some pics of him - he's so funny looking with no tail!

 

[Wynette]

Pink, I don't know that your boy could possibly throw ugly!

I feed oyster shells, always have, and have never had issues. I DO supplement my roosters with a bit of extra protein & rooster booster once a week or so. I remove them from the breed pen for 1/2 a day and put them in a grow-out pen to eat at their leisure. We must all do what works for us!

I haven't feed eggshells for years. But when I did, I would nuke them in the microwave rather than baking in the oven to dry them. It's much quicker!

 

[Ivywoods]

I have never fed eggshells back, but nuking them sounds easy. I'm all for recycling, so feeding them back sounds like a good idea to me. Do you crush them up first? How do you know when they are well "done?"

All my roosters are separate from the hens... free range right now (in the snow!) I don't have any breeder pens ready yet.

 

[sewandgrow]

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Lucky you Mel...........I am a good girl, waiting my turn.....LOL

 

[Wynette]

Ivy, I nuke them whole (well, you know!) for about 15 seconds. THen, I put them in a gallon ziploc bag (wait a few seconds before removal from nuker as they'll be hot), and roll them with a rolling pin to crush them into small pieces.

 

[sewandgrow]

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? which pics? Sorry!

Oh, flgardengirl, I have some black olive egger girls - one just began to lay, they were sired by a black copper marans cock and an EE for 1st generation, then bred back to a pure blue amerauana to try to bring more green (the eggs of F1 were coppery/olive). These pullets are just gorgeous IMO, and should be recessive for blue, so I can't wait to hatch some of their eggs:

http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff66/Wadamson/salesoliveeggers.jpg

http://i236.photobucket.com/albums/ff66/Wadamson/salesoliveeggers2.jpg

Pretty girls Wynette. It is so tempting to get into all this cross breeding but I can't even keep up with what I have...........LOL

 

[Mountain Mel]

Out here in the balmy West Coast where PInkchik & I live it is going to be in the 40's & 50's for the next week or so...no snow & very little rain. My daffodils are coming up. (I better go take some pics)

I'm not trying to make anyone jealous or anything...just puttin' it out there...

 

[Hens and Roos]

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Thanks for the up date, gives me something to look forward to

we are currently at 16* and I am heading out to do chores...brrrr