Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[Bravo]

Thanks Mountain Mel and Aye! I have lots of work to do on my breeding program...this stuff is hard!

Congrats Debbi on the new babies! Go chickies!

Hope you all have a wonderful 4th with your families and friends!

 

[BarnGoddess01]

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Congratulations!!!!

Looking forward to pictures!

 

[Hens and Roos]

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Congratulations!!!!

Looking forward to pictures!

x2

 

[Debbi]

Good morning all

I awoke to 4 Silkie chicks this morning!

I'm getting too old for "all night chicken tv", but did get up a couple of times to check on them. There were only two born at 3am, so two more this morning was nice to see. Cute little buggers with their funny looking heads

Wish my Marans chicks had their shank feathering!!

Susie ~ Sorry to hear you lost one of your babies. This heat has been awful, and not even a breeze to help stir the air. I spent most of yesterday cooling off the chicken waterers, running the hose through the run and under my deck where the free birds go, and watching the ones looking the hottest. I had put little Solo outside in the cooler part of the morning yesterday to get her acclimated to the other chicks, but by 11:00, she was in distress. Panting heavily, wings spread, and not drinking. Back into the house she came! She was soooo glad to be back inside, and cooled down after 15 minutes or so. Guess I'll have to wait for a slight break in the heat before she can go out for good.

Seems I have another huge male Ground Hog back again

. As big and fat as he is, he sure can run! I saw him slinking around the back of the coop. Chickens were all upset, so I ran inside and grabbed the 20 gauge. By the time I got back he had slipped through the border fence into the pasture behind me. I've got a trap I need to set, but I'm thinking he may be too big for the trap. Got great recipes for Woodchuck stew and roast, so he'd better be careful. He doesn't bother the chickens, but he does dig under my wellhouse and cause all kinds of problems. It's always something around here...

 

[pinkchick]

Congrats on the chickies Debbi!

 

[Debbi]

Thanks Pink and all! Two more zipping!! These babies hatch waaaaay faster than Marans!

 

[pinkchick]

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They are fast little buggers Debbi......just wait until you are trying to catch them all. Can't wait to see them and most of all can't wait to see the first photo of a broody with Marans eggs under her!!!

 

[Debbi]

Me too! Just had another one hatch. This one is a Buff. It's so different, and nice, to see assorted colors!! Yes, I can tell I'm going to have a time getting them out of the bator! They are already quick!

 

[VillageChicken]

Another interesting fact from a German Marans breeder:
They did a freshness test on Marans vs. "plain" eggs. The plain egg floated in the water after 7 weeks. The Marans egg took a MONTH longer to float to the top.

So in theory, Marans eggs stay fresh longer... and potentially they are not the same as other eggs as far as humidity and hatching - I think we already knew that.

 

[Debbi]

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Yeah! We already knew they were the "better eggs"! As thick and hard as the shells are, I can see why they would stay fresher longer, and I know that they are harder to hatch out of too! With this Silkie hatch and the Marans hatch before this, I tried the lower humidity levels. More went to lockdown, but with the Marans hatch, I still had the hatching humidity too high (60-65%). This time I set my humidity at 35% for the first 18 days, with 50-55% for the last 3 days. Not only are they hatching on time (day 20 and 21), but they are coming out quickly. Now granted, these are the Silkies, but this is my plan for hatching the Marans too. I think most of mine drowned in the lockdown with the 65% humidity. They were all rocking on day 20, but out of 14 eggs, only TWO hatched! I think I finally found my hatching "groove"....

FIVE more Silkie pips!!!! FIVE have hatched!!!