Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[gilavina]

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Yay...you tracked some down! Byers stock?

 

[pinkchick]

Ohhhh....forgot to say that these flies and their larvae are not filthy flies like regular flies....they are clean.

 

[Debbi]

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Cool! I'll have to check it out. The thing that attracts me to the mealworms is they don't fly or crawl out of the tubs. Not a big fan of flying bugs, but we had a major fly season this year, so that may encourage me! Yes, if you could make enough of them, that would sure cut down on the feed cost. BOSS is now $39.00/50# bag! We will be growing our own sunflowers next year! I did have some sports come up this year from the BOSS seeds, and when they ripened, I just threw the whole flower head into the runs. They loved them!

 

[gilavina]

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It looks like I'll have some reading to do eh? They do sound interesting.

mornin by the way!

 

[Debbi]

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Yay...you tracked some down! Byers stock?

No, not coming from Helen. May have some of hers in the flock though. Good combs, heavy shank feathers, and slate legs. Look like nice birds, so keep your fingers crossed for me!

 

[Debbi]

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clean flies?? Sounds like an oxymoron to me!

 

[gilavina]

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Yay...you tracked some down! Byers stock?

No, not coming from Helen. May have some of hers in the flock though. Good combs, heavy shank feathers, and slate legs. Look like nice birds, so keep your fingers crossed for me!

good deal! i hope u get some really good stock!

 

[pinkchick]

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Cool! I'll have to check it out. The thing that attracts me to the mealworms is they don't fly or crawl out of the tubs. Not a big fan of flying bugs, but we had a major fly season this year, so that may encourage me! Yes, if you could make enough of them, that would sure cut down on the feed cost. BOSS is now $39.00/50# bag! We will be growing our own sunflowers next year! I did have some sports come up this year from the BOSS seeds, and when they ripened, I just threw the whole flower head into the runs. They loved them!

The nice thing about these Black Soldier Fliy larvae is that they crawl right out of the reactor set up and into a collection jug and you dump to the chicken or you rig it up so that they drop right into a feeder. The adults only live for a few days and their only purpose as an adult is to mate and lay eggs, they are not interested in flying into your home or coops, they are after rotting food and such....only takes 4 days for the larvae to hatch. The larvae can devour 2 rainbow trout in just a couple of days. The other nice thing about them is that they eat everything including manure...so it's not like we have to worry about what we are going to feed them with all the time....just drop in some chicken pooh, horse pooh, goatie pooh or any kitchen scraps you have.....oh and you know how you can't normally compost meats....these things eat EVERYTHING!

 

[pinkchick]

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clean flies?? Sounds like an oxymoron to me!

I know huh....but tis true. You know how the regular flies are nasty filthy little creatures....well these flies don't have that problem.

MORNING VICKI!

 

[Debbi]

Me too!

I've got all of the pullets/hens in the run today. Charlotte and Olivia were NOT amused! Got two nice eggies yesterday, one from Olivia and one may have been a new layer, as I have not seen this color yet. Kind of a blend of a terra cotta and a ruby, with a shiney finish. Pretty!