Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[math ace]

Quote:
NO HOPE of me wrapping my head around any of this . . . . IT is spinning at an incredible velocity right now and about to launch off my shoulders!

 

[seabreeze]

Hey Vicki, thanks! A huge congrats on your Dorkings, they are really cool looking birds!! are you going to post some pics?

Yes, have a bunch of stuff in the incubator, boyfriend is the tender to those as I have a litter of 13 puppies to tend to

But first hatch goes into lockdown April 2, next hatch goes into lockdown April 10 which includes the midget whites and blue Orps.

When you talk about higher hatch success by leaving them in hatching trays before moving to turners.....can you please clarify a bit? I do have two Hovabators with turners in them and after getting the shipped eggs in, the rest with small end down and then put into bators. Should I be doing something different?

Our last hatches were about 50-60%, far better than the 1% hatches we were getting once I convinced chick loving boyfriend to NOT open the bators during lockdown

 

[gilavina]

Quote:
NO HOPE of me wrapping my head around any of this . . . . IT is spinning at an incredible velocity right now and about to launch off my shoulders!

haha...you made me crack up out loud and scare my pup away.

She was in heavy slumber next to me... way too funny just picturing that.

 

[seabreeze]

Math Ace, you just made me spit coffee on my Mac!! Orbiting Math Ace to Earth!

 

[math ace]

Quote:
GOOD EGGS / GOOD STOCK does NOT have to cost a fortune. . . Don't be led by the price tag.

I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you

1.) Watch what people are posting pics of on here and the feedback they receive ( GO BACK AND LOOK AT PREVIOUS PICTURES AND FEEDBACK)

2.) Ask others what they think about so and so's stock.

3.) Be prepared to WAIT.. . some of these ladies have a few month waiting list.

4.) Another source of folks that are not on BYC is people who are showing marans - - - ( ie Newnan, Ga show)
Look for shows that had a LOT of entries in the marans division. Being in the top 5 when there are only 10 entries does not really tell you much.
However, being in the top 5 when there are 40 marans entries does give you a better indicator.

5.) ASK PEOPLE who bought their eggs a year ago what they thought about them. I did this on some ebay sellers. If I was worried about particular faults showing up in the line . . . I asked if they saw it in their birds.

GOOD does not mean EXPENSIVE! There are many of us who have paid top dollar for JUNK . . . MANY Many many of us . . . We all learn that lesson!

 

[gilavina]

Quote:
I will try to get some pics soon...I have created a few projects around the place, like clearing out the barn of 30+ years of collected stuff and clearing out all the storage areas in the house and garage...its hard work, but boy does it feel fantastic throwing things away, donating things, giving them to people I know can use them, and repurposing things into something new (my all time favorite thing).

I still need to get some pics of the Wyandottes I got from Paul's poultry, they are gorgeous so far and growing daily!
I have those dorkings, my first hatches of Sussex from my stock and some test hatches of my Marans...its going really well, but just so much to do. I promise I will catch up soon! I was thinking I just need to make a BYC page finally and put pics up there and etc.

I read on here, can't remember whether it was on this thread or another one, but someone had been talking to a guy that gets pretty great hatches from shipped eggs and he gave them a layout of what he did, so I've done two hatches this way on the shipped eggs and on the one that should start hatching out friday as well.
What he would do was unpack the shipped eggs, leave them with the small end down for 24 hours. Then when he put them in the incubator, leaving them stationary and didn't turn them for 10 days. I haven't quite left mine that long. I have left mine for 6 days at the longest so far. In my case with my sportsman, that means I have to put them down in the hatching tray and let the incubation start on them there. Then after those first few days down in the hatching tray I will move them up to my turner trays. in your case I would think you would be able to put them in your incubator and just not turn them for the first few days and wouldn't probably need to move them that way, you would just start turning them.
The theory is that extra time of being still while they start the incubation process is that it further lets the aircells settle and gives eggs a better chance of developing. It has been very consistent so far..one hatch I had about an 85% hatch rate. I was shocked!

And yes, the not opening the incubator during lockdown is the best thing ever!

I also think I'm in trouble...I'm eyeing some birds I am dying over....Seriously....I'm dying!

 

[flgardengirl]

Quote:
I will try to get some pics soon...I have created a few projects around the place, like clearing out the barn of 30+ years of collected stuff and clearing out all the storage areas in the house and garage...its hard work, but boy does it feel fantastic throwing things away, donating things, giving them to people I know can use them, and repurposing things into something new (my all time favorite thing).

I still need to get some pics of the Wyandottes I got from Paul's poultry, they are gorgeous so far and growing daily!
I have those dorkings, my first hatches of Sussex from my stock and some test hatches of my Marans...its going really well, but just so much to do. I promise I will catch up soon! I was thinking I just need to make a BYC page finally and put pics up there and etc.

I read on here, can't remember whether it was on this thread or another one, but someone had been talking to a guy that gets pretty great hatches from shipped eggs and he gave them a layout of what he did, so I've done two hatches this way on the shipped eggs and on the one that should start hatching out friday as well.
What he would do was unpack the shipped eggs, leave them with the small end down for 24 hours. Then when he put them in the incubator, leaving them stationary and didn't turn them for 10 days. I haven't quite left mine that long. I have left mine for 6 days at the longest so far. In my case with my sportsman, that means I have to put them down in the hatching tray and let the incubation start on them there. Then after those first few days down in the hatching tray I will move them up to my turner trays. in your case I would think you would be able to put them in your incubator and just not turn them for the first few days and wouldn't probably need to move them that way, you would just start turning them.
The theory is that extra time of being still while they start the incubation process is that it further lets the aircells settle and gives eggs a better chance of developing. It has been very consistent so far..one hatch I had about an 85% hatch rate. I was shocked!

And yes, the not opening the incubator during lockdown is the best thing ever!

I also think I'm in trouble...I'm eyeing some birds I am dying over....Seriously....I'm dying!

Funny you should mention about not turning the eggs. One time I had some eggs I was saving for a week until I got enough. I forgot to turn the eggs or prop them from side to side for about 7 days. Well I had a great hatch that time like 98%. Maybe there is something to that!

 

[gilavina]

Quote:
I will try to get some pics soon...I have created a few projects around the place, like clearing out the barn of 30+ years of collected stuff and clearing out all the storage areas in the house and garage...its hard work, but boy does it feel fantastic throwing things away, donating things, giving them to people I know can use them, and repurposing things into something new (my all time favorite thing).

I still need to get some pics of the Wyandottes I got from Paul's poultry, they are gorgeous so far and growing daily!
I have those dorkings, my first hatches of Sussex from my stock and some test hatches of my Marans...its going really well, but just so much to do. I promise I will catch up soon! I was thinking I just need to make a BYC page finally and put pics up there and etc.

I read on here, can't remember whether it was on this thread or another one, but someone had been talking to a guy that gets pretty great hatches from shipped eggs and he gave them a layout of what he did, so I've done two hatches this way on the shipped eggs and on the one that should start hatching out friday as well.
What he would do was unpack the shipped eggs, leave them with the small end down for 24 hours. Then when he put them in the incubator, leaving them stationary and didn't turn them for 10 days. I haven't quite left mine that long. I have left mine for 6 days at the longest so far. In my case with my sportsman, that means I have to put them down in the hatching tray and let the incubation start on them there. Then after those first few days down in the hatching tray I will move them up to my turner trays. in your case I would think you would be able to put them in your incubator and just not turn them for the first few days and wouldn't probably need to move them that way, you would just start turning them.
The theory is that extra time of being still while they start the incubation process is that it further lets the aircells settle and gives eggs a better chance of developing. It has been very consistent so far..one hatch I had about an 85% hatch rate. I was shocked!

And yes, the not opening the incubator during lockdown is the best thing ever!

I also think I'm in trouble...I'm eyeing some birds I am dying over....Seriously....I'm dying!

Funny you should mention about not turning the eggs. One time I had some eggs I was saving for a week until I got enough. I forgot to turn the eggs or prop them from side to side for about 7 days. Well I had a great hatch that time like 98%. Maybe there is something to that!

indeed...a lot of people when I was reading about it chimed in with their experiences and all had really good experiences doing it that way. That's why I just had to try it! I figured it wouldn't hurt since some of the shipped eggs I had done before were pretty poor from the shipped ones!

 

[flgardengirl]

Hey u guys and gals. I have this little OE chick that is a few wks old. Ever since he was born, he sways his head from side to side. Kinda like it drifts without him doing it on purpose. He will pull it back midline and then it drifts again. He doesn't do it all the time just once in a while. He eats, runs around, drinks, and poos normally. I think it must be something neurological..has anyone seen this in a chick, any ideas what I could do? I don't think it is wry neck.

 

[pinkchick]

Math Ace~ I agree with 1000% with your post at the top of the page. You ROCK and I appreciate everything you contribute here.