Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[Bravo]

Quote:
Ah well....at any rate...

I'm hoping to get there eventually

That post was from Bev Davis the leader of the MCCUSA club. Don

Thanks Don. I'm aware of who she is and love her birds. I was referring to getting to the level to be able to exhibit my own home-bred birds.

 

[sewandgrow]

Quote:
Kim................what's going on with that?????? A broody hen won't lay anymore eggs for you..LOL What do you need more, the chicks or the eggs? None of mine have offered to go broody but I have a small flock & half of them are in the layer pen. I have heard of it happening on this thread somewhere I think. Hope someone else can help with personal experience.
Karen in Turlock

 

[Davlyn]

I just bought a BB Maran & 2 splash Maran chicks

 

[sewandgrow]

Quote:

Holy cow! New Marans folks are popping out of the woodwork this morning!

Batty ~ You didn't say where "locally" was. You may have someone in here right down the road from you!

Then there are always chicks or hatching eggs, and yes, the wait for that first egg is EXASPERATING!!!

...but well worth it!

Hi Debbi,
I too, noticed that Batty didn't say where she/he was from. I always check on new people to see where they are from & what their interests are but so many of them do not fill out the questions for their personal page or profile so there is no information to go on. I am somewhat of a newbie myself but have learned soooooooo much & am more than willing to share. I find very few real "chicken lovers" in my area & at a county poultry show last Sunday found not one Marans of any variety, only 1 Delaware & 1 Ameraucana. I have found this to be so rewarding that I hope all the new people get off to a good start.
Karen in Turlock California

 

[wolftracks]

Quote:
Kim................what's going on with that?????? A broody hen won't lay anymore eggs for you..LOL What do you need more, the chicks or the eggs? None of mine have offered to go broody but I have a small flock & half of them are in the layer pen. I have heard of it happening on this thread somewhere I think. Hope someone else can help with personal experience.
Karen in Turlock

Good news. Guess she was moody not broody. LOL

I have an egg eater though. I've heard mustard in a blown out egg. Does that work?? I had 3 of my FBCMs and an EE in the same box yesterday. All 4 at once. Crazy birds. Anyway the EE lays a pink egg and it rolled completely out of the box, so I grabbed it. The other three were in there a while and then one stayed for the longest time. I kept checking, but by the time I got back there were hens with their heads in the box eating the eggs! I haven't heard an egg song yet today and have to take my car in for breaks and I hate leaving and coming back to nothing. I have an EE pullet that lays beautiful green eggs and I've only gotten 3 and no more. I need to find out who the ring leader is.

 

[Wynette]

Quote:
Kim................what's going on with that?????? A broody hen won't lay anymore eggs for you..LOL What do you need more, the chicks or the eggs? None of mine have offered to go broody but I have a small flock & half of them are in the layer pen. I have heard of it happening on this thread somewhere I think. Hope someone else can help with personal experience.
Karen in Turlock

I've ever only had ONE Marans hen go broody on me. I put her in my breeder cage/broody buster with no nest box access & wire floors - it's on stilts, so the air can flow underneath....3 days there, and she was cured of her broodiness!

 

[sewandgrow]

Quote:
Kim................what's going on with that?????? A broody hen won't lay anymore eggs for you..LOL What do you need more, the chicks or the eggs? None of mine have offered to go broody but I have a small flock & half of them are in the layer pen. I have heard of it happening on this thread somewhere I think. Hope someone else can help with personal experience.
Karen in Turlock

Good news. Guess she was moody not broody. LOL

I have an egg eater though. I've heard mustard in a blown out egg. Does that work?? I had 3 of my FBCMs and an EE in the same box yesterday. All 4 at once. Crazy birds. Anyway the EE lays a pink egg and it rolled completely out of the box, so I grabbed it. The other three were in there a while and then one stayed for the longest time. I kept checking, but by the time I got back there were hens with their heads in the box eating the eggs! I haven't heard an egg song yet today and have to take my car in for breaks and I hate leaving and coming back to nothing. I have an EE pullet that lays beautiful green eggs and I've only gotten 3 and no more. I need to find out who the ring leader is.

I am having trouble with that myself. Today I found a crushed egg in the Delaware pen & another broken one. I don't know yet what to do but will watch & see.

 

[wolftracks]

Quote:
Kim................what's going on with that?????? A broody hen won't lay anymore eggs for you..LOL What do you need more, the chicks or the eggs? None of mine have offered to go broody but I have a small flock & half of them are in the layer pen. I have heard of it happening on this thread somewhere I think. Hope someone else can help with personal experience.
Karen in Turlock

I've ever only had ONE Marans hen go broody on me. I put her in my breeder cage/broody buster with no nest box access & wire floors - it's on stilts, so the air can flow underneath....3 days there, and she was cured of her broodiness!

She's out there now digging a hole in the middle of the lawn and sunning. Time to fill holes again.

Maybe she was trying to hide her egg from my egg eater. I really need to get that stopped. I went to many months with no eggs to hatch out for a young flock to have them eating them.

I got one of my Davis flock chicks to hatch, but I had left it behind in the bator and didn't get it into the hatcher until day 22! It was pipped and peeping, but I have it still in the hatcher. It's not at strong or big as the others. They've been growing like crazy. I want more from this flock so I have something to work with later.

I have a thread out about the cat that got into my brooder yesterday. Killed all but a couple of my FBCMs (Wade Jean) and some of the cuckoos. I had 36 chicks in that brooder and the cat got all but 11. So mad! I have another Jean cockerel in with some mixes in another brooder, but I haven't even checked to see what I have left in the other one. I had what looked like another cockerel and several pullets. I was so upset I switched them out and feed and watered, but I was just too out of it, to see who was gone. Got all my Barnies and all but one of my Wellies. Got my Mottled Java and my blue splash Marans (only one I've ever had) the rest were cuckoos and FBCMs. Now I have neighbor drama.

 

[math ace]

Quote:
I thought I had an egg eater at my house too. . . . I finally figured out what was going on.
I have two hens that are laying thin eggs. One sometimes lays a rubbery, shell less egg and another is a leghorn who is laying thin eggs and missing days in between.

Anyway, these two girls are laying defective eggs and either they are eating them themselves OR the next hen in the box is eating them. I found my EE WEARING the egg from her beard to her feet. She had laid on the egg to lay her egg and it broke all over her. . .

So, no one is going in and breaking eggs. . . they are only cleaning up the mess after the other two lay their defective eggs. I have not figured out what I am going to do about this yet. I don't want the others to develop a habit of eating eggs, so right now I have been going out there to collect the eggs FREQUENTLY all day long. The two slackers want to lay their eggs where everyone else does or I would just let them free range all day. . .

 

[math ace]

Quote:
Ah well....at any rate...

I'm hoping to get there eventually

I think your cockerel looks nice and I am sure Don did not mean his post to sound as snippy as it does . . .