Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[gilavina]

Be nice to have a lull in the feed bill before all those chicks starting eating us out of house and home, too!!

haha no crap. I have never had a batch of chicks that eat like these goofballs do. I am hoping to get those thinned down quickly. I already know for sure 5 of the 33 will not be kept. Eyein a couple more, but waiting to see how they color in.

 

[Cadeau]

I did send you an e-mail the other day, but no hurry!

I'm still working on pics for the girls, now that the boys are sorted out momentarily!


How do you already know some will go? Mine are entering their velociraptor stage...(same age as yours!)
Is this when I should be thinning out the smallest kids?

Mine don't color in until their juvie molt, for the most part....??

(Where is everyone tonight??)

 

[gilavina]

I did send you an e-mail the other day, but no hurry!

I'm still working on pics for the girls, now that the boys are sorted out momentarily!


How do you already know some will go? Mine are entering their velociraptor stage...(same age as yours!)
Is this when I should be thinning out the smallest kids?

Mine don't color in until their juvie molt, for the most part....??

(Where is everyone tonight??)

haha...there's no need for you to start this early. I just do because there are some things I'm working towards this year and am culling the ones that don't have what I want. Like the two splashers are cockerels and don't have the blue slate legs I'm really looking for, so they will go. Also, I have three wyandotte/Marans crosses and don't need any more layers, so no need to keep these either. I'm eyeing a couple more because of various factors...like leg feathering...I have a couple of chicks that are feathering in pretty slowly compared to the others, so think those might go as well...

I also know what I have in my breeding pens and raised all of them from chicks, so I know what they grew from and such...so it helps me to see a bit clearer at earlier stages. I also know kind of what gaps I am trying to fill in my program, so I can afford to be a bit more picky. Will help me keep my feed bill down haha
I don't know where everyone is

 

[DMRippy]

Yep - I have @50 girls in the layer house with about 2/3 being POL (raised them in my BASEMENT this winter

- remind me never to do that again!)
I'm not selling the BCM - just the BCMxRed Star for now.

I'm too greedy - I want a pretty egg basket at home and for eating eggs!
With the dark egg layers, plus my sole blue egg layer, and my olive eggers should be starting to lay any day now = should be a really pretty egg basket!

AND I'm getting some EE hatching eggs from Donna, so will have MORE BLUE eggies by autumn, if all goes well!!

Olive Eggers I could have done Olive Eggers too? Sorry I didn't know you had them, should of huh....

 

[DMRippy]

I already know I am culling all without feathered legs... The new pullets have lightly feathered legs and these chicks that are hatching are from Becky's roos (kinda cheating huh?

) I will keep all those that have feathered legs. She has nice birds so might as well use them right? Probably will not keep any with middle toe feathering either If I cull hard for that now I might be in good shape for the fall breeding. I may make a blue pen and a black pen in the fall. Right now I didn't have the pullets to do that this year. People really want just the black's IDK... they just have not seen how pretty the blue's are.

One thing I am think of working on too is egg color. My black copper roo's sisters lay a nice dark egg and I am going to breed him to his nieces to help keep the egg color up

Would love to have nice birds with those dark eggs too. We will see.......

 

[gilavina]

I already know I am culling all without feathered legs... The new pullets have lightly feathered legs and these chicks that are hatching are from Becky's roos (kinda cheating huh?

) I will keep all those that have feathered legs. She has nice birds so might as well use them right? Probably will not keep any with middle toe feathering either If I cull hard for that now I might be in good shape for the fall breeding. I may make a blue pen and a black pen in the fall. Right now I didn't have the pullets to do that this year. People really want just the black's IDK... they just have not seen how pretty the blue's are.

One thing I am think of working on too is egg color. My black copper roo's sisters lay a nice dark egg and I am going to breed him to his nieces to help keep the egg color up

Would love to have nice birds with those dark eggs too. We will see.......

isn't it strange how people all seem to want one kind over another? The cuckoos aren't that popular here, but I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that there really aren't any good looking non-hatchery stock here. Planning on changing that tho! Once the blue cuckoos are well on the way, I think that there will be interest in them alright!

 

[DMRippy]

isn't it strange how people all seem to want one kind over another? The cuckoos aren't that popular here, but I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that there really aren't any good looking non-hatchery stock here. Planning on changing that tho! Once the blue cuckoos are well on the way, I think that there will be interest in them alright!

I hope you are right. There is an Exotic Auction a few hours away and EVERYTHING apparently sells for a good price there. I think a trip will be in order to see what that is all about.

 

[Cadeau]

Phew-thought I was missing something!
I do have some huge ones but I want to be sure of gender for sure before I cull the little ones!
One of my biggest seems to be a pullet!!

Donna-I have 3 daughters from my one EE girl! (BCM roo of course!!)
I really wanted more blue eggs, though, so what you sent will be great!!

 

[gilavina]

I hope you are right. There is an Exotic Auction a few hours away and EVERYTHING apparently sells for a good price there. I think a trip will be in order to see what that is all about.

That's what I'm doing saturday! Well...I'm going to one in KS that is. My 5th time. I enjoy it and even tho I don't always get things, well, I take it back, I always pick up my supplies from Smith Poultry supply while I'm there, it really is a great fun! its in my blood tho I think. I used to go to swaps, auctions, farm sales, livestock barns and pretty much any other sale like that often.

 

[gilavina]

Phew-thought I was missing something!
I do have some huge ones but I want to be sure of gender for sure before I cull the little ones!
One of my biggest seems to be a pullet!!
Donna-I have 3 daughters from my one EE girl! (BCM roo of course!!)
I really wanted more blue eggs, though, so what you sent will be great!!

haha...too funny. I have a couple of really huge girls too in this batch. Its kind of funny, but they are the ringleaders and instigators of everything. Silly turds!