Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[Debbi]

I buy the xxs doggie clothes in Walmart. Fit like a charm!

Ha! I will pass that info onto her! Frankie, or as I called him, Fat Frankie, is a round, rotund little basketball! I'm sure he would fit into a small dog shirt!

 

[Christie Rhae]

awww those little babies look so small outside! Too cute! I'll have to put mine out in a few weeks too- they'll be about that same age. But more BCM chicks are due to hatch this week and then my 3 goslings are due next weekend. Not enough indoor brooder space for them all once they get very big...What do you have them on? (What's on the ground?) I'm wondering if wire floor with hay and pine shavings will be ok for their feet once I move them outside (and they'll have a heat lamp there too if they need it.)

Yes they are on the ground. I have very rocky ground so there are lots of small stones. I throw straw on that and after awhile of the chickens working the ground it turns into dirt. lol

Here is a pic of my pens when we had just completed it. There are 5 pens and I have the babies in pen 3 with small plastic coated chicken wire over the 2x3 to keep the little stinkers in.

They are all doing great this morning!

 

[rirbrahma]

Here are my group of shipped chicks.  They are three weeks old today and got booted out of the brooder.  It is crazy how huge they seem in the brooder and then how tiny they seem outside. lol   
Some of these guys are pretty big.  As I took them out of the brooder and placed them into a box one by one I checked them out thoroughly and made notes.  None have middle toe feathers.  2 have clean legs. Some have light leg feathering, some a little more heavy.  A couple with the short toe thing.  
By my best guess at 3 weeks I would say I have 5 pullets and....13 cockerels!! 
Lol!  Can you believe that? Oh brother!  I guess my husband and I are going to have to learn to process chicken...
I am pretty happy with them over all.  I am drawing the line here.  With the one 6 month old BCM pullet, six 2 month old chicks and these 18 babies...I am going to have to make this my start.  I will keep the best of these and begin from here with my marans adventure. 

They have a wooden box they can run under with a 60 watt bulb in case they get chilly.  The low temp tonight is 50+..  I went out and checked on them and their little bodies feel toasty warm.

OMG!!!!! So cute!!!!

 

[GA_in_GA]

Here are my group of shipped chicks.  They are three weeks old today and got booted out of the brooder.  It is crazy how huge they seem in the brooder and then how tiny they seem outside. lol   
Some of these guys are pretty big.  As I took them out of the brooder and placed them into a box one by one I checked them out thoroughly and made notes.  None have middle toe feathers.  2 have clean legs. Some have light leg feathering, some a little more heavy.  A couple with the short toe thing.  
By my best guess at 3 weeks I would say I have 5 pullets and....13 cockerels!! 
Lol!  Can you believe that? Oh brother!  I guess my husband and I are going to have to learn to process chicken...
I am pretty happy with them over all.  I am drawing the line here.  With the one 6 month old BCM pullet, six 2 month old chicks and these 18 babies...I am going to have to make this my start.  I will keep the best of these and begin from here with my marans adventure. 

They have a wooden box they can run under with a 60 watt bulb in case they get chilly.  The low temp tonight is 50+..  I went out and checked on them and their little bodies feel toasty warm.

I've decided to just go ahead and say at each hatch, they are all cockerels. That way I can be happily surprised when 1 or 2 out of 15 turn out to be pullets!

 

[Christie Rhae]

Babies this morning... happy lil chicks cruising around their new digs....

 

[rirbrahma]

Babies this morning... happy lil chicks cruising around their new digs....

SOOOO cute!!! I see a little splash with some street sweepers!

 

[flgardengirl]

Cute chicks!!

 

[Debbi]

Cute babies Christie!! They look happy to me, and I love your runs. Sure wish I could get away with your coop set up here! Wow, would that be way easier...and cheaper!

 

[Christie Rhae]

Cute babies Christie!! They look happy to me, and I love your runs. Sure wish I could get away with your coop set up here! Wow, would that be way easier...and cheaper!

Thanks! Believe me I know how lucky I am...chicken pens are so simple. My only real predator are neighbor dogs. I think Hawaii must be like perfect chicken weather. Perfect jungle fowl weather. lol. If you can just get them here! lol
And just when rirbrahma and I think we are all alone over here with marans look what's on craigslist..
http://honolulu.craigslist.org/mau/grd/2908899217.html
This is a different island than me but what do you guys think about this ad? I mean the last thing I need is ANOTHER cockerel...especially for 100 bucks but I wonder how these birds stack up?

 

[pinkchick]

Christie the runs and the chicks look great! I, like Debbi, am very jealous of your ability to have them outside full time at this young age. Heck we woke up to snow this morning. LOL, isn't tomorrow suppose to be the first day of spring????