Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[melloladies]

Quote:
X2 cockadoodledoo! Though ya never know. I had one at that age I thought was a Roo and she's turning into one fine pullet!

It's been slow to feather, and today I noticed some little wattles... so I was kinda thinking roo too. He/she can stay...until he crows! If he's a he- he'll need a home w/some purdy girls who will appreciate his affections

I keep a nunery around here

Thanks for your opinions!

 

[snowbird]

Quote:
Mel, check the blade part of the comb , either is split or has a sprig.

 

[gilavina]

sounds like we're in for storms over the next few days. I'm praying we won't get the hail that they are talking about. Battened down the hatches on the chickers pens and am crossing my fingers like crazy over my plants in the garden.

I turned my incubator off a bit ago...I had given up on my BCM girls ever wanting to give me some eggs...they did NOT like the cold, wet weather we had been having...and in the last 4 days...they have laid like crazy...go figure. I'm thinking of maybe running the incubator enough to do a hatch from their pen finally...but we'll see. This stormy weather might have them changing their minds about wanting to give their me beautiful eggs.

anyone have temperamental egg layers? that, or else maybe im just being impatient

 

[Debbi]

I find these weirdo changes in the weather affect my girls too. Nice days, I'll get 5 out of 5, even though they are molting! Then the weather changes to wet and cool, and I'll get anywhere from 0-3 eggs. You may want to wait till the weather evens out and the power outage thing isn't so typical. I've got some more (only 7) in the bator right now, and the storms this morning had the dad-gummed power flickering on and off. When I finally do get a big cabinet model incubator, I will have a battery back up system added to it!! this has been one strange spring here in the midwest! Went out to check the garden tonight, and it looks like my Brandywine tomatoes have drowned!

 

[gilavina]

Quote:
haha...ok that makes me feel better that my girls might not be crazy. I'm gonna have to do some checking on fertility and am not in a rush to get the incubator goin luckily. Just happy to know that I might get some eggs I can hatch from. I have some bantam cornish as well that are more of the warm/hot weather lovers, so I haven't hatched any eggs from them either...guess what color they are....yup...more blues...I love the blues.

I've thought about a battery backup for my sportsman, but I wasn't sure what kind of system to get.

I agree about the strangeness in the midwest. Its not making me happy at all. I have waited to put my tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, jicama, sweet potatoes and other vine crops out because just at the beginning of the week we were in a frost advisory still. Its after the last frost dates....but still no good weather to enjoy.

that's too bad about your tomatoes....

Do you have any other kinds that still are going strong?

 

[Mountain Mel]

Quote:
Mel, check the blade part of the comb , either is split or has a sprig.

You have good eyes, and you are absolutely correct. The back of the comb on that roo is "split" with a "sprig" on both sides. Thank you for bringing this to my attention, as I will waste no more food on him and he will soon become food for me! I am hoping to keep about 13-14 hens and 2 Roos...this is a "growing year" and next Spring I would like to try to try hatching some eggs.
Thanks Again for your input, Don
Mountain Mel

 

[Velvet Hairpiece]

Hello Marans people!

I'm trying to identify a mystery chick we "rescued" out of an assorted pullet bin. (She didn't need rescuing, but was oh-so-cute, and the boyfriend didn't even try to talk me out of it!). I have posted on a couple of different threads (Jersey Giant, Partridge Rock) and someone suggested I ask you guys and see if she's a Marans-albeit some kind of mutt I'm assuming as she doesn't have feathered legs.

She's all black on her feet, comb, beak, feathers, even her cute little eyes seem black. I've heard about black combs maturing into red, but for now hers is still black.

These pictures, she's about 2 weeks old. She does have a little bit of greyish feathers on her underside, if you can tell.

This pictures she is almost 3.5 weeks old.

And here she is today around 5 weeks old.

So she's black, with some coppery/brown feathers coming in as well. BCM?
So far, little Georgette is quite sweet and docile. She's sort of okay with being held/pet and isn't that interested in treats, unlike some of my BRs and EEs! Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[pinkchick]

Quote:
LOL! I didn't think that I saw any Black Copper roosties in your youngin' pen Mel. I did see this one though and please look at the comb like Don has suggested...... I can't see photos on my computer very clearly....they come across pretty fuzzy and they show no details. This is not just your photos Mel.....it's every photo I see online...my monitor stinks and I am too much of a tight wad to purchase a new one.

Edited to say....nevermind just saw that you looked at the comb. Cull is right.......

Gnarles doesn't have any sprigs but his comb has well....here I'll just post a photo of it and Don you can tell me what it is, I have posted it before but you didn't say if it was bad or not.
Never had sprigs come out of Gnarles or my original Davis birds....but I am getting a few not normal things pop up out of the crossings of the 10 mos old BCM girls that came from Florida last summer....ie, the combs and feathered shanks that are TOO heavily feathered and those that are too heavily feathered have very short outer toes, very very low riding birds, which is not the norm for Davis birds to be so low riding and short legged. I also have a hennyroo that I hatched 3 months ago and seriously couldn't tell you if it is a male or female.....again NOT normal from Davis birds in my experience. The kicker is that over the last 2 years I have got really nice combs out of that pen.

I'm starting to think that I will be better off using my Bill to produce anything worth anything and dealing with all the clean legs....however, I do have Lil' Bill with feathered legs that I am seriously thinking of replacing Gnarles with once I see how he coppers out and I have 3 more nice little Blue Copper roosties in the brooder under a broody BCM, but one of them has incredibly heavily feathered shanks and of course he is the one with the best comb.

I give.....UNCLE.....UNLCE!!!

Here's Gnarles comb......
Sorry it's the best photo I could get to upload..the other side of his comb looks identical to this side.

 

[snowbird]

Quote:
LOL! I didn't think that I saw any Black Copper roosties in your youngin' pen Mel. I did see this one though and please look at the comb like Don has suggested...... I can't see photos on my computer very clearly....they come across pretty fuzzy and they show no details. This is not just your photos Mel.....it's every photo I see online...my monitor stinks and I am too much of a tight wad to purchase a new one.

Edited to say....nevermind just saw that you looked at the comb. Cull is right.......

Gnarles doesn't have any sprigs but his comb has well....here I'll just post a photo of it and Don you can tell me what it is, I have posted it before but you didn't say if it was bad or not.
Never had sprigs come out of Gnarles or my original Davis birds....but I am getting a few not normal things pop up out of the crossings of the 10 mos old BCM girls that came from Florida last summer....ie, the combs and feathered shanks that are TOO heavily feathered and those that are too heavily feathered have very short outer toes, very very low riding birds, which is not the norm for Davis birds to be so low riding and short legged. I also have a hennyroo that I hatched 3 months ago and seriously couldn't tell you if it is a male or female.....again NOT normal from Davis birds in my experience. The kicker is that over the last 2 years I have got really nice combs out of that pen.

I'm starting to think that I will be better off using my Bill to produce anything worth anything and dealing with all the clean legs....however, I do have Lil' Bill with feathered legs that I am seriously thinking of replacing Gnarles with once I see how he coppers out and I have 3 more nice little Blue Copper roosties in the brooder under a broody BCM, but one of them has incredibly heavily feathered shanks and of course he is the one with the best comb.

I give.....UNCLE.....UNLCE!!!

Here's Gnarles comb......
Sorry it's the best photo I could get to upload..the other side of his comb looks identical to this side.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/11170_imgp7867.jpg

Kim, there is really nothing for sure that we can say about the comb, but I have noticed that when the comb blade is serrated like his that the sprig and split is more common. I have done a lot on the comb improvement and will write something on what I have found if anyone is interested.

 

[flgardengirl]

Snowbird I would like to hear about your experiences improving combs. I just dealt with a side sprig issue in blue coppers. I had mated one pair and got a bunch of chicks showing side sprig- even one on a female chick. On very close examination of the parents, I found the tiniest bump on the rooster's comb very low down where it connected to his head. You really had to look to see it. Needless to say he is gone lol. It is interesting though the chicks that had the side sprigs, you could really tell they were there, right in plain sight.