Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[Debbi]

Oh man! Dang those combs!!!

These little guys all have decent combs, for right now anyway. Of your 3 boys, yes, Billie turned into a Billy!

Billy and Myron are tall, long legged guys! JR, the Gnarles son is more medium legged. Billy is just now starting to get copper in, like ONE feather's worth! Myron, the dark blue guy has some nice, dark coppering. JR is nicely colored, but with the STUPID comb! I'm going to test breed him over my pullets with the very best combs only and see what pops up. If I even smell stupid, out he goes. He is such a pretty boy in all other ways, and a sweety too! Billy and Myron, both Bill sons, not so much. They are nice to me so far, but are big bullies to each other and other smaller chicks. They all seem to like Pip though, and I'm not fond of what he could be teaching the young roos!

OH! Did I mention that at 14 1/2 weeks of age, that they are already showing interest in BREEDING???!!! Little horndogs!

 

[loprettaerin]

Quote:
very cute little herford calf you have there!

 

[Ivywoods]

Where do you buy marans ink cartridges? I get eggs like that sometimes, too. Terra cotta, speckled and half & half.

Do you guys get blood spots in your marans eggs?

 

[Debbi]

Yes, me too Susie. Some of mine started off very light colored with dark speckles, then turned to darker eggs with darker speckles. Some are pure ruby colored, some are huge, some are large, some are those bloomy looking eggs. It's always a surprise!

The only blood spots I ever got were from first time layers. It went on for about a week, then died off. Didn't bother me, I'd just dig them out, but I can see where it may bother some folks that are buying eggs. They were also very tiny blood spots, like the size of a colored pinhead.

 

[AyeUpChuck]

I've been getting blood spots in my wheaten pullets eggs but only on occasion.

MORNING btw!

 

[Hens and Roos]

I see it in the other breeds we have too and it seems like it is in the pullet eggs-we tend to just take it out before mixing the eggs into whatever they are being used for.

 

[DMRippy]

Quote:
Are the backups something that would sell at say, a Radio Shack or some place like that? Sounds like it's just what I need! Power outages here, unless it's a major storm with lots of damage, usually only last average of 5 hours or so.

As for the roos, keep them as long as possible. They can change so drastically from week to week, and month to month. If pressed for space and time, I would try keeping them until they are at least 5-6 months old. Look for true type, as in a chunky, well proportioned body, well balanced, poor combs (cull for side sprigs or oddly shaped), poor tail sets (as in too high or wry tails), feathered shanks, eye color (which should be close to true by 5 months), color or lack of, proper color balance from hackles to saddle, and just an overall nice total picture is what you want, with all the other factors adding towards it. Hope this helps some?

I would like to get a power inverter that I can hook up to a car battery for short term use. Those generators are so noisy at least ours is lol. I read that there are solar power inverters now as well. I need to do more research before I buy one. I am starting to think about hurricane season here so need to get stocked up on stuff anyways. Solar stuff is always good for power outages as long as there is still sunshine lol. I use those solar garden lights when the power goes out at night you can always bring them indoor to use as a flashlight. I also got a crank weather radio that has a little tv and a light in it that was worth every penny when we went through H. Rita years ago.

I think the power outage protector you guys are talking about is an UPS (uninterruptible power supply). They can be bought at various places online. The good thing about those is alot have a surge protector in them and if hooked up to a computer or other electical device it can kick on right at power loss whereas with an inverter you would probably have to be home to notice the power going out and hook it up to a battery yourself. We have a smaller UPS for a couple of our computers. They have to stay plugged in to be charged and ours only lasts about 45 min or so lol. You will also have to make sure you replace the batteries every couple years or more often if they are used more.

We have one of those too, but my husband keeps the truck running while we use it. I don't know how long it would last on just a battery. Yes the UPS is what I was talking about. We just call it a battery backup. but that is what you should ask for or do your search on the Internet.

BTW you can get very small generators for under $100 may not be quite so loud.

 

[flgardengirl]

I get blood spot on occasion not just in the Marans but the other breeds as well. I have a large layer flock and see them here and there. They don't bother us we just use them like any other egg.

I love those spotted eggs Pink!!

 

[MuffsnFluff]

I feel accomplished I HAVE ACTUALLY REACHED THE END OF THIS THREAD!!!!

Lol! Ok, so I read the first 300-400 pages, gave up and skipped to the last 300, lol! Quite the feat when you have a hubby, two busy boys 3 months old and 2 years old, 4 dogs, 4 cats, one exasperating pygmy goat, and a slew of chickens, lol!

I've got a laying flock of EE's, a few bantam cochins, one lone millie fleur rooster who's taken up with my son's special cochin hen, and a couple months ago finally bought me some black copper marans which I'd been wanting every since hearing tell of the "magical" chocolate colored eggs, and started reading on this thread

(also got some gorgeous buff orps from him after seeing his rooster, the biggest rooster either of us had ever seen! Literally as tall as my very-tall-for-his-age 2 year old!

)

Hubby and I have raised gobs of chickens over the past 10+ years, he specializes in banty cochins, and I take a fancy to silkies and easter eggers, and now the marans of course! I love a pretty egg, and the pets they come from.

Right now I've got 6 Cottage Hill black coppers (direct from Mr. Bivens, who's taken over some of buddy henry's stock) and 7 that he hatched out of some shipped eggs that were said to be from wade jeane/davis lines, (bid on them on a whim because they were cheap, but no one out bid him and he didn't want to breed anything other than his cottage hills. Since I was just wanting nice dark eggs, he sold them to me

) Although I think I'm going to just keep those ones for laying myself, since so far I'm really liking the looks and development of the cottage hill guys and gals I've got better. Unfortunately out of six I would manage to end up with 4 roosters

However, I think I might use an extra one to hatch me some olive eggers out later this year

Anyways, my name's Katrina and just thought I'd introduce myself

I'll post pictures once I'm allowed (apparently once I'm no longer "new", lol!)

 

[MuffsnFluff]

Oh yes, flgardengirl, I AM IN LOVE WITH YOUR AVATAR!!!! I would be tickled silly if I got eggs like that someday!!!!