Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[gilavina]

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oh yeah??? What kind of eggies will these be??

 

[Debbi]

Quote:
oh yeah??? What kind of eggies will these be??

Blue/Splash Marans....I hope!

 

[gilavina]

Quote:
oh yeah??? What kind of eggies will these be??

Blue/Splash Marans....I hope!

nice! I hope you get some good ones for your project!!

 

[Debbi]

Yes, me too! If this round doesn't fare well, I may just pitch the whole breed! Although, trying to make an omelet with Silkie eggs could be a challenge!

 

[Ivywoods]

I've thinned down most of mine to just my breeders and what I am saving for people when I meet up with them in a month or so, plus I still have a few extra cockerells. I sold some ameraucanas last night to some folks. One of their boys wanted a rooster that would get BIG, so I gave him a BCM cockerell, one of the sons of Goliath. I hope he grows well and doesn't get mean. This boy was old enough to handle him, I think, as the rooster gets older.

 

[Debbi]

I'll end up with 4 pullets, and 2, maybe 3 roos. Plus the nutty Silkie clan, plus whatever comes of the possible Blue/Splash eggs. If I get them this next week, they'll be 5 months old by February, so if there any (HA!) culls, they should move pretty easily with spring around the corner. This time of year seems like everyone is winding down on the birds, and not much is moving. ETA: Hopefully, now that I have found my "hatching groove" with this bator, I won't have to buy a bunch of eggs just to get one or two chicks like last year! One hatch should set me up!

 

[Ivywoods]

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One hatch? ONE hatch?

I wouldn't bet my lunch that you will only have one hatch!

 

[Debbi]

Quote:
One hatch? ONE hatch?

I wouldn't bet my lunch that you will only have one hatch!



Oh, ok. Maybe two??

 

[gilavina]

Ok...I grabbed a couple of shots of a couple of my birchen boys growing out....they definitely need work...but I'm heading in a good direction. The first one is of a birchen boy that was running away from me...hes terrified of the camera. He is a split for gold and silver....but I can work with him. He is the smaller of these two boys I'm showing

this next boy I'm really liking. He is just starting to show birchen markings in his neck and doesn't have the saddlefeathers or wing markings yet, but I love his blue, the subtle lacing, and his body type. He has sparse leg feathering....when he was a chick it was much stronger, but the girls in with him now in the grow out pen are fascinated by it...and pick at it...little turds.
He is an armful and a half when you pick him up. I am really looking forward to how he finishes out.

I did some counting and etc and am down to 9 birchen boys to let grow out and see how they finish. I'm lightyears ahead of where I was last year. So, this next year should be even better!

 

[flgardengirl]

Nice boys. My blue birchen has the same thing going on in his wing as the one in your first photo. He has silver everywhere he's supposed to, except that spot on his wing is kinda creamy gold now. He thinks he's the lead roo now. I need to get new pics

Its funny, but all my birchens are spunky especially the girls. The little black birchen girl runs up and pecks me in the foot and is bossy to the other birds in her group just like Sassy (the older bl birchen hen). Once she pecks me in the foot she wants to get picked up and petted. Its kinda like a 'hey, pick me up' kinda peck lol. Sassy actually looks like she might be a good size when she matures (not real big but decent as some of my bcms). Sassy still refuses to associate with the younger birchens and still hangs with the turkey hens instead of the chickens. The other day the two big turkey hens were jumping up trying to get sunflower seeds from the dried up flowers and Sassy kept jumping on one's back making sure she got her share.

I have to figure out what my next breeding step will be with him. I have a black birchen girl who has lots of nice silver in her hackles but it extends a little far down in the front (kinda like lacing) more than I would like to see. Not sure if I want to breed them together yet because I know thier egg color would suck. So I am wanting to get some darker egg genes in there. I am thinking I might breed her to my pure black roo and him to a pure black or blue hen that lays dark...decisions... decisions.... or, I could easily breed them both to dark egg gened bcms but then I'd have to work the gold back out once I got the egg color up. I might just do a bunch of test hatches.
My birchens need shank feathering improvement as well.