Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[jennifersmith326]

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Haha....I love it! I'm the same way this year and have been told I've lost my mind by friends and family. What kinds of seeds did you scare up for them?

I got some greens like collards and mustards and raddishes.

My crazy birds last year ate the tops off my onions.

 

[gilavina]

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Yeah, I'm gonna have to find a way to fence my garden too. I want to use the lawn out back to run my girls on as well as the small pasture I have and last year they destroyed some parts of my garden in their enthusiasm if I wasn't out there with them.

It certainly does make a big difference to let them forage and to give them treats from the garden, not only for them, but the budget as well.

 

[gilavina]

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Haha....I love it! I'm the same way this year and have been told I've lost my mind by friends and family. What kinds of seeds did you scare up for them?

I got some greens like collards and mustards and raddishes.

My crazy birds last year ate the tops off my onions.

Bet they will love those tasty, tasty treats!

 

[Mountain Mel]

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I've decided to plant only corn in my garden this year. That way, once the plants are up about 12-14 inches (Dad's rule of thumb was that the corn should be knee high by 4th of July) then the chickens can do no harm. Actually, with my outside yard being 15 x 50, the chickens have quite a bit of room to roam on a daily basis.

 

[marquisella]

Where do you get mangel seeds? I have a garden, last year grew squash, tomatoes,but hear mangels are good for chickens and they love them. Corn, no you only get 2 ears per plant, thats a lot of plants to have taking up space.

Sue

 

[gilavina]

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lets see...I got them from Jung's out of Wisconsin. When I ordered a catalog I got an insert order form and they were on there for $1 if I had an order for a certain amount (can't remember now what the amount is).

I still grow a bit of corn, not a ton, but I use the three sisters method. I plant corn to 4 inches tall, then plant pole bean seeds at the base of the corn and every 5 to 8 feet or so throughout the patch I put in a hill of squash or pumpkin and let'em grow. The beans grow up the corn stalks and the squash or pumpkins occupy the ground. And bonus....they deter raccoons from the corn later on and I get three crops from one space.

 

[marquisella]

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lets see...I got them from Jung's out of Wisconsin. When I ordered a catalog I got an insert order form and they were on there for $1 if I had an order for a certain amount (can't remember now what the amount is).

I still grow a bit of corn, not a ton, but I use the three sisters method. I plant corn to 4 inches tall, then plant pole bean seeds at the base of the corn and every 5 to 8 feet or so throughout the patch I put in a hill of squash or pumpkin and let'em grow. The beans grow up the corn stalks and the squash or pumpkins occupy the ground. And bonus....they deter raccoons from the corn later on and I get three crops from one space.

Sounds good, might try it!

 

[rsquared]

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Debbi~

So glad that you have them. Very sorry about the splash egg, hope I didn't do that when I was packing them because the box didn't show any signs of damage. Maybe I pushed down to hard when I was closing up the box. I apologize if it was my fault.

I personally would toss the egg if it is questionable, but if you are going to try and incubate it, I would use clean parafin wax and only enough to put on the effected area. I used scotch tape once on an egg that I dropped when transferring from turner to hatcher, it hatched and it now living the high life on a farm about an hour away and laying lots of eggs.
Lots of luck with them!!!!! Thank you! I am so happy that you are happy with their color. I so hope you get a Bill and Gnarles Jr.

Debbi, sending wonderful hatching vibes your way......I also used scotch tape on a slightly cracked clean egg, the kind of tape that is invisible, and it ended up hatching also. Have tried unscented beeswax candle wax to seal another egg and was unable to get that one to hatch...I think bacteria was an issue on that. Oh by the way, I do candle at days 7, 14 and 18 and pitch any quitters/ non/developers. Have had one explode once and it wasn't a pretty scene.

Risa

 

[rsquared]

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You DID!!!!!! Welcome to the wonderful world of rooster addiction. I love the roosters most of all! Don't get me wrong, I love my girls, how can I not....they give me those eggs....but, I love me some roosters!!!!

Have a decent number of roos here and live within eye shot of a lake that has a significant number of "lakers" who come for the weekend. Last summer had a very distinguished older gent knock on my door and present me with an organic mag featuring a striking Gamebird on the cover and told me how much he loved hearing the Roos crow in the morning. He told me how he loved feeling like he lived in the country.....!!!! LOL, I didn't have the heart to tell him we DO live in the country. Anywhoo, love the Rooster show here

Risa

 

[rsquared]

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Ivy, I let my hens free range here but defintely had to fence in my garden.....they would have had a FIELD DAY in there! You may want to strongly consider same, not that I'm tellin you what to do.....but if you want ANY Tomatoes

Risa