Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[Debbi]

Quote:
Wynette,

Obviously you didn't read my whole post there. I have no problem with people having their project birds at all. It's when they start to sell, an unfinished product as something, "new, rare, and special", when the "project" is still a project. That's where the "money, greed, and fame" come in. Folks then bite and buy these birds as "Marans", when in all reality, they are MUTTS. Until the projects breed true to type, color, and function for at least several generations, keep them in your backyard. There are a few folks on BYC that have dedicated "projects" that take years to complete, and even then are honest about what may pop up. I'm just finding now, duh I'm a bit slow, that some Marans folks are not quite so dedicated, or honest. Easy peasy!

I am so NOT wanting to stir up trouble here because I very much like and respect both you ladies but when, exactly, is a Marans' "project" finished??? All the crap that continues to show up in the Black Coppers, for example, even from the best lines and best breeders - seems to me a few more decades at least of serious, SERIOUS closed breeding before we can even consider them finished ... and we all know that isn't going to happen.

Goddess, That's the problem. With all the projects and influx of new colors, and then newer folks breeding X to Y and selling them as "Marans", well, you catch my drift. In cases, it does take decades, but in these years of self gratification, folks tend to fudge. If I stay in this breed at all after this year, I will breed only BCMs and Blue Coppers. Until I have in my mind gotten to where I am pleased with my birds, only then will I sell them. Just saying, and that's just me. Like has been said before, "you feed them, they are yours, do what you want", but that won't help the problems at all within the breed as long as they are being sold under this and that name, and as Marans. Not trying to be a burr under any one's saddle, it's just my opinion.

 

[gilavina]

Quote:
Holy cow! Between you and Susie, you guys get some great deals! Pumpkins here, 2/$9.00, and these are probably 12 pounders and less. I want some pumpkins for the chooks, but not at that price! I do have an opportunity to pick up some after these folks have their annual "pumpkin shoot". Not something I really see the benefit of, as pumpkins are so high dollar this year; but hey, if they want me to take some pumpkin pieces off their hands for free, that may be the way to go!!

haha you are too funny about the pumpkin pieces..but I'd probably do the same thing if I wasn't able to get such a great deal from my job. It would just be so much easier if we all lived a bit closer cause I'd buy ya some and bring'em on over! There's been talk of a shortage of pumpkins this year...the kind that is really good for making pumpkin pie...but here in Nebraska they've had a bumper crop, one of the best in years for the kinds of pumpkin used for jack o lanterns and decorative types. The ones we are getting in are local and are really nice. The watermelons from this summer were also local and the last one I bought was 40 some pounds...it maxed out the weigh scale at work

 

[Debbi]

Yes, we had drowning rains and cold this spring, then that horrible heat and drought. Not a good year here in my neck of the woods for anything!

I did have 4 cherry tomato plants make it through, and the chooks are enjoying them every other evening. You should see the Silkies with them, it is hysterical!!

 

[flower]

Quote:
Holy cow! Between you and Susie, you guys get some great deals! Pumpkins here, 2/$9.00, and these are probably 12 pounders and less. I want some pumpkins for the chooks, but not at that price! I do have an opportunity to pick up some after these folks have their annual "pumpkin shoot". Not something I really see the benefit of, as pumpkins are so high dollar this year; but hey, if they want me to take some pumpkin pieces off their hands for free, that may be the way to go!!

Pumpkin Shoot ? Do they catapult them as in the Highland Games or what. And don't they have some other sport to entertain themselves ?

At least you are able to take advantage of the pumpkin chuck

 

[Debbi]

No, believe it or not, they SHOOT them with guns! Catapult would be too uptown for out here!

May have to dig for a BB or two if they use shotguns, but I have a metal detector!!

Life is good in the country...weird, but good!

 

[flower]

Totally off topic but I have heard that in NYC you can feed, clothe and furnish your apartment by picking the trash. I guess it doesn't matter where you live in US, Canada or Europe, there is a lot of waste in society. I used to live in WV, you wouldn't see folks shooting pumpkins there, or at least I don't think that you would. Not in this burgh either. It boasts the largest Naval Weapons testing station in the world. Talk about waste. where is the little symbol for shaking your head in disgust ?

 

[Mountain Mel 22]

Quote:

 

[gilavina]

ugh...had to step outside for a bit. The neighbors down the road do this youth group hayrack ride thing once a year and tonight's the night. They drop kids off before dark to hide along the ditch and stuff to scare the kids as they go by. This year the kids are extra rude and yelling at my guard dog Goliath. They have so many kids this year too that they are now on round 4 I think of rides, which means they have gone by our house 8 times in the last hour....screaming so loud everytime you literally can barely even hear their tractor. I find it funny tho that people will say kids will be kids, but I stepped out the back door and walked down to the barn to shut animals in....knowing full well they could see me. The second I came in the line of site...the kids hiding before hand quit taunting Goliath like that. Can't tell me that they full well don't know what they are doing. As long as they stay off my property and leave my animals alone...I can handle the screaming and yelling, second they cross that line....they are not gonna wanna deal with me.

 

[Debbi]

Oh, I so agree! In my younger years, and even now when I get the chance, there are all kinds of freebies to be had that can be nicely recycled. In my youth, I furnished homes and apartments with such treasures, many just needed a tad of paint, a good clean up, or a tweak here and there to work again. I've lived all over this country and have found this to be true anywhere. But sad as it is, we live in times where the "new and improved/bigger is better/if it's broken, buy it new" theme of thought seems to be the theme for the day. Disposable, including people. Now while I am not as old as some on here, I am nigh on 60 years, and believe me, it's been a wild and wooly 60! I remember as a kid, the "white only" doors and fountains. I remember when a handshake was as solid as a 5 page contract. I remember when something broke, you fixed it. I remember when folks actually COULD fix it! "Waste not, want not" was a motto in our home. So as hard as society has tried to convince me otherwise, and so has my family (what's left of them), to get with the "new world", I prefer to live in the old world I grew up in. If I can find a good freebie and restore it, I do. If I can fix it myself, I do. If I can learn something new to fix something old, I do! I live simply, without a lot of gadgets of this new world. I still have no clue what an outdated (told to me by my daughter), Blackberry is. A Blackberry to me is something that sprouts up wild in my backyard every year. My daughter gave me one of her old cell phones. What's the point? It doesn't get a signal down here in the holler, so why pay for two phones?? Call while I'm driving? No, when I'm driving, that is my job; to get there safely and without jeopardizing anyone else. I still long for those simpler days, and in my little world, that's how it is. So even within the country setting, off the well beaten path, others around me are getting new and exciting things in their lives. More power to ya, if that's what you need. For me, I'll remain the same. Frugal, simple and content.

 

[gilavina]

Quote:
And this is why I love ya Debbi!! You are who you are, and you don't apologize for it!

And we do live in a disposable culture now...and people are on the top of that list. I am soooo glad that you said something...I've not been around for some of the things you have and don't have as many years under my belt, but I've been saying that about the disposable culture and throwing people away since I was barely 20. I've gotten some strange looks, but its everywhere and hard to miss.

I love how my parents raised me to make do with what you have and if you want something...to save for it and make the most intelligent decision about what you really need and edit the wish list accordingly. I think that's where my passion of creativity comes from....from not having everything handed to me and making it work!