Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[sewandgrow]

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Not a good picture and I can't tell if this is a "big beefy" boy he looks shallow but has a nice long back he has common faults that we all battle with: more than 2 white feathers in the tail and yellowing or brassiness and it looks like your guy's comb lists off to the side not good either and is your guy English or does he have feathered shanks? American birds are going to need feathered shanks.....

I didn't respoind because I haven't had Cuckoos for years but when I did my rooster didn't have that yellowing so I thought maybe yours was a Golden Cuckoo. Lotsapaints should know though.

 

[gilavina]

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Nice! I'll be watching to see how they progress for you...its been very hard to find blue stock with no coppering...not that I don't love the blue coppers, but I like solid BBS as well (having solid blues is a really good base for my flock)...I'm still crossing my fingers these other chicks decide they want to join the world soon...especially the blues...they just started pipping...so maybe soon

can't wait to see pics of your babies! I'll get mine posted hopefully by tonight for what I've got so far!

 

[gilavina]

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Wow, there's lots of people with hatching going on! I love it! (Plus, I think its awesome how you know its hatching day for other people!)

 

[jennifersmith326]

Hatch day for me is March 20th for what I have set right now.

I ordered another incubator and it came today and I already have the eggs I'm gonna pack it full with. Some of them are small so I will probably put in 1 quail rack and the rest will go on the chicken racks. I have 3 Cuckoo Marans, 3 Millie Fluer, 5 Old English game Bantam BBRed, and some projects I have been working on, Barred Rock hens with White Easter Egger Roosters.

 

[Ivywoods]

Pink-Do you keep a calendar with everyone's hatch date on it? I have trouble keeping track of my own!

Karen-You sure can grow a lot of stuff that won't grow in Kansas. I'd have to grow a lemon tree indoors.

Gilavina- Wow! Lots of splash, huh? I may have get with you as my breeding program progresses.

Good hatching vibes to all those "hovering."

 

[Mountain Mel]

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In a "Perfect World" we would all have live streaming cameras in our coops so Pinkchick could keep up on what everyones' birds are doing!

 

[gilavina]

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Haha...I might indeed have some extras (plus I'd love to meet some fellow Marans lovers, not many people around me raise them) never know...I might have a few for sale from one of my project pens too...later on

a couple of my projects are blue and black birchens.
From these splash chicks I'm looking mainly for a nice cockerel and a few nice pullets. I'm on a quest to get myself set up for another small hatch in fall...mostly test hatches from the stock I will decide to keep through fall. Its very hard to be patient sometimes while they grow and fill out...Its a bit of an adjustment for me with the Marans because they develop much slower than a lot of the breeds I've raised before, but I'm catching on quick to indicators of both good and bad qualities.
I mentioned earlier I'd try to get some pics of the chicks I've got hatching now posted tonight if you want to see some of the little fatties. They are just chunks and a half

ps...I'll be passing by you on my way down to Garland for the HOAGBA sale here in a couple of weeks. Got some cuckoo hens I'm picking up and gonna see what other magical things I might find..(I'm hoping for some runner ducklings for bug patrol in the garden!)

 

[Mountain Mel]

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Nice! I'll be watching to see how they progress for you...its been very hard to find blue stock with no coppering...not that I don't love the blue coppers, but I like solid BBS as well (having solid blues is a really good base for my flock)...I'm still crossing my fingers these other chicks decide they want to join the world soon...especially the blues...they just started pipping...so maybe soon

can't wait to see pics of your babies! I'll get mine posted hopefully by tonight for what I've got so far!

These 2 birds were day - olds that I got from Pink in January. They show no coppering at all....so far...

This one I call Dolly Parton...

 

[Ivywoods]

I would love to go to that sale. Unfortunately I work Saturdays and wouldn't be able to make it. I'm hoping to pick up some guineas someday soon. I had some where we used to live, but they were constantly getting picked off by bobcats. Now we have our 3 great pyrenees dogs, and we haven't lost a single animal to predators. I think I would be able to have guineas and let them roam without too much problem. I didn't want to have them if I had to keep them locked up all the time.

Runner ducks? I didn't know they were good insect managers.

The sale at Gardner looks like it is HUGE. They sell a lot of equipment there, too. Have you been there before? Does stuff go pretty high (like the equipment.) I'd still like to pick up a Sportsman incubator again someday.

 

[Ivywoods]

Oh, those are so pretty, Mel!