Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[Bravo]

Thank you! Yes, cocci is awful. So glad yours made it through too!

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Thank you for sharing! I had Cocci problems in my young polish this year and almost wiped them out. It is a bad bug!! Very beautiful hen!

 

[chevgrl]

Okay so have a question. Can you get a splash hen to lay darker eggs through breeding. Here's a pic the light egg on the right is a dark brahma for contrast. The one on the left is one of my splash hens eggs. Can splash marans hens lay dark eggs?

 

[flgardengirl]

AH HA!!! Finally found Sassy's egg stash. SHe is my really light blue birchen that just recently started laying. I've been trying to figure out where she has been laying her eggs. Found them in the shavings behind the laundry shed lol. Caught her in the act this time. The rooster gave her away lol. Bad girl.

Also here are some Olive eggs (the three at the top) from my latest OE pullets that just started laying. The darker eggs on the bottom are from my golden cuckoo maransn (Thier egg color really needs some improvement too).

Just for fun a few of Cocoa's eggs in bright sunlight

(she's my big fat blue hen)

 

[chevgrl]

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Those look delisously chocolately!

 

[Illia]

Man those are some beautiful eggs, the Olives and Cocoa's especially!



Answering on the splash - Yes, you can get a dark laying splash. It isn't common but is possible, and it is possible to breed for darker.

 

[chevgrl]

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Hmm I none of my splash hens (there's only 3) lay dark eggs

 

[HeatherLynn]

I asked on emergencies but I'll ask here too. Anyone have any ideas about a 3 day Maran chickie that was born fine, active and able to stand and has slowly declined since then. He keeps flipping on its back and now it can't stand anymore. Today it started having issues drinking. It had gotten vitamine water the past 3 days. Just not sure whats going on. All the others are fine. Its poop is still fine. It was eating and drinking fine. Now it just lays there. Not sure what to do. If this is not fixable my husband is ready to do the needed deed. Pretty upset about this.

 

[chevgrl]

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Wry neck/ crook neck maybe.... does itsit up on its legs and roll over or tuck its heck and rollover. I have a "pet" hen that had this and I gave her a bunch of vitamin supplements someone on here told me to give and she worked it out but I've had others that didn't make it.
Greta walks around nw with her head kind of tilt to the side and every now and then shell have a relapse if she is startled.

 

[chevgrl]

Its selenium and vit E I believe.... here's a link I just found www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=97121

 

[flgardengirl]

Thanks Illia and chevgirl. Those are from my 2nd generation OEs. I have several OE hens just coming into POL that I experimented with crossing their moms back to marans, ameraucanas, and back to an Olive egger to see what colors the offspring would lay. I will post pics on the OE thread as they all start laying. One of the original OEs that was crossed back to an ameraucana, the daughter hen, lays more minty colored eggs than the original f1 OE did and one that was crossed back to a dark egg gene marans roo that was practically more brown than olive but some eggs had too much poo on them because the girls still think the nest box is for sleeping and pooping in lol so I didn't take a pic of those.

Chevgirl: Your splash is a really pretty girl!

Heatherlynn I posted on your emergency thread. I really don't know what is wrong...just asked a few questions etc. Hopefully it will bump up your thread and someone more expert will see it lol.