Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[gilavina]

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Sounds like you had a really productive day! Gearing up to get your barn project goin? You will have to post pics of the progress!

 

[Hens and Roos]

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the longest part is boiling the sap down to get it to syrup and that depends on how much sap you have to boil. We boiled down about 28 gals of sap and ended up with 13- 8 oz jars of syrup. We also have our 2nd batch of sap starting to be boiled down and for that we have about 32 gal of syrup collected. We have only 4 trees to tap. This is our 4th year to do this and my DD(11 years) is hoping to take some syrup as a fair project.

Wow! I had no idea it cooked down that much! 28 gallons for 13-8oz jars?!?!?! Crazy!

Yeah, depending the type of maple tree you collect from, it ranges between 20:1 and 40:1 with sugar maples having a higher sugar content compared to the silver maple like we have. But it's fun and when the sap runs it means spring is coming!

 

[gilavina]

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Wow! I had no idea it cooked down that much! 28 gallons for 13-8oz jars?!?!?! Crazy!

Yeah, depending the type of maple tree you collect from, it ranges between 20:1 and 40:1 with sugar maples having a higher sugar content compared to the silver maple like we have. But it's fun and when the sap runs it means spring is coming!

that sounds awesome...how much sap can you collect from one tree on average in a season? It makes me appreciate maple syrup that much more!

 

[Debbi]

gilavina

It literally took weeks/months to get Pip acclimated with the others. I kept him in the house for quite awhile, and took him out to the chicken run daily, and sat with him to watch that he didn't get eaten, literally, by the others. Then I made a seperate pen for him inside the coop, where everyone could see him and he could stay seen, yet not get attacked by the others. That was for about a month before the rest of the chooks got over it. Then I would let him out in the run with the rest of them, always supervised. That took another few weeks before they got over the fact he was actually amoung them, they wanted to kill him! I'm not talking pecking order stuff, they, all of them, wanted to KILL him! He was now very close to the same size as the rest of them, but when one threatened him, he would come running to me, and hide behind my legs. Finally, I decided I was doing him no favors by doing this, so I let nature take it's course. He got the crap beat out of him a couple of times, and never did stand up for himself. It was very sad to watch, but I could not expend the time to supervise any more; he would either HAVE to become a member of the flock, or die. Luckily for Pip, he was fast, and when he discovered that the corners of the run were not the place to stop, he survived. Even now, he is the lowest of the low on the pecking order. Pullets that are 5 weeks younger than him will stand up to him, even though they are much smaller. It's just been lately that he has taken to saving the pullets from the other cockerels, and will dive at them to advert their attention from the pullet, then run away. It's quite fascinating to me really, and if I had more space to seperate him off from the flock, and maybe give him his own, younger girls, things might calm down for his little brain. I have never seen him mate with any of the pullets yet, even for the short time I had him paired off with the "favorite" pullet of the bunch. He was such a sweet boy and my buddy for so long, I hate to see him in his present state of mind where he sees me as the enemy! As soon as I open the back door, he is growling like a dog, and when I get to the run, he greets me at the gate with the angry roo dance, foot stomping and wing dropped! The mid air attack the other night was almost the end for me, yet I still have a soft spot for him as I know his history. for anyone else, he would've been soup by now!

 

[gilavina]

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Awww...poor little guy! I don't blame you for having a soft spot for him. hopefully with time he will find a way to somewhat fit in...even if it isn't how most chickens would. as for the roo dance and foot stomping...yup, that sounds like hormones to me...

 

[Debbi]

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Wow! I had no idea it cooked down that much! 28 gallons for 13-8oz jars?!?!?! Crazy!

Yeah, depending the type of maple tree you collect from, it ranges between 20:1 and 40:1 with sugar maples having a higher sugar content compared to the silver maple like we have. But it's fun and when the sap runs it means spring is coming!

Really?? You can make syrup out of Silver Maples?? I've only heard of using the Sugar/Red Maples for syrup, wow.

 

[jlgoinggreen]

they'reHISchickens :

@jlgoinggreen We are in Northern Berks County. Have you heard of the Chickenfest this May in New Tripoli? That's where we got our FBCM eggies last year from Cottage Garden and A Happy Chick.

Hi neighbor.... No, I have not heard of the Chickenfest. We are fairly new to PA. Originally from FL so new to everything North (including snow). I would love to go though. Could you please PM me the information on it or how I might find information on it.​

 

[Debbi]

Oh yes, definately hormones involved!

I just hope it's not me he is directing them towards?? That occured to me the other night as well. I caught him, ahem, showing affection shall we say, to a plastic coffee can that I had left in the run the other day!

Maybe him attacking me is an Oedipus complex??

 

[gilavina]

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Haha...too funny! Let's hope not! I kind of wonder since he bonded with you for all that time and you were his hatch mate so to speak...I wonder if he attacks you because, yes, he does have hormones coursing, but maybe he feels like you are one of the things in his life he understands and can control in a way? I know that might sound strange...but, maybe its his way of trying to cope with things?

 

[Debbi]

Yes, that's kind of what I've thought. He fears me the least, so feels empowered by familiarity? You always hurt the one you love, kind of thing??

Never mind chicken math, I've got chicken psych 101 going on here!