Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[pinkchick]

Wish we could get planting here but I don't think that we are out of the frost danger yet. The other night it got sooooo cold that it caused damage to most of my plants in the greenhouse. Hoping that the damage was only to the first leaves and that the rest of the plants are okay. I would hate to start everything over again.

 

[Debbi]

Morning!

Thanks Vicki! Lil Bill is one of my favorites.....now we wait to see if the stupid white feather in the hackle comes back.


Thanks Raven! I am sorry that your Birchens did not turn out the way you had hoped. I also have a gold girl in there...she will go to the layer flock and be buddies with Bill Sr. I hope this one girl that I have that is silver lays a better egg than she came out of. We should be seeing the eggs very soon.
What I can't wait for...........the Silver Black Birchen chicks that are coming from Tom Culpepper.



Crumly~ Those chicks are ADORABLE!!!!!!!! To me and only by looking at the wing, they all look to be pullets except the one in the last wing photo.....and I will be happy as a clam if you got a Splash girlie!
Can you put a side view photo of each one of them up again in a couple days.....I need to see them around 3-5 days.


Debbi~ You got showgirls?????? Where did I miss that announcement??? Geesh! I've been missing alot around here lately. I hope your broody Silkie girl does the job for you.

I just bought some SG eggs yesterday, don't have them yet. As of this morning, I now have TWO BROODY SILKIES!!! The Black girl has plucked her chest bare! I have no clue how many eggs they are sitting on, but I know they stole this morning's eggs, there were none to be had! They are both sitting together, so maybe between the two of them, some may hatch? This should be fun to watch!

 

[flgardengirl]

Oh my, how ironic you use TYSON uncooked chicken boxes???

They want to make sure they stay non-cooked chickens, and are humoring you!

Love the goslings, the boy looks like he's smiling!

I just bought some White Showgirl eggs!! I have totally lost my mind!!!

Haha if you go to Sam's Club on the weekend there are tons of empty chicken boxes. Chicken wings, chicken nuggets, chicken breasts...its a Southern thing lol.
Congrats on your showgirl eggs, I know how much you've been wanting some! I bought some silkie eggs too: Lavenders and Paints. Just couldn't resist They should be here in a few days. We can be hatch buddies
I think I'm putting those in my bator since the broodys have been broody for a while now unless I get any more newer broodies. I love the broodies to raise the chicks. I don't mind incubating at all but don't care to fool around with changing the brooder bedding constantly, messing with lights etc etc all the time when the hens like taking care of them haha.

 

[Debbi]

Wish we had a Sam's Club or Cosco out here, we are so deprived! My second Silkie broody started this morning...and so it begins!

 

[flgardengirl]

I love that! I will have to pick them up every time I go to Sams or Costco. I am pretty sure my girl is going to stick it out... I picked her up off the nest and moved her and she just sat there while the others walked all over her... I got the eggs and moved her back... She is all puffy and growling but not bad. I think I will move her in the shop now that all my grow out pens are free of roos (sold 3 roos today, well 2 and I BEGGED her to take the other one) so they are all gone

I may have another brooder, can I put them in the same pen but different boxes?

I had a HUGE hatch must have been near 90%. They were still hatching when I left so we will see. I put over 160 eggs in the hatcher, I have a batch of 180 due in a week and a half. Hoping to sell most of them at the trade day next saturday.

I have had two broodies hatch right next to each other but they were hens that were raised together so pretty much got along. I also had two dumb dumbs who sat together in the same nestbox and raised all the chicks together. They were also raised together so while they bickered a little bit they were very good mommas to the chicks. It might be better if the mommas brood in boxes next to each other rather than across from each other since they usually like privacy and to feel like they have a safe place for their babies.

Here's the two KW hens that brooded together. I think some of the chicks might have ended up switching back and forth between the mommas a few times too lol.

Here are the two silly girls who just had to share the same nest box and chicks. I moved them to a broody pen once all the chicks hatched and they had a little wooden house and they still stayed together and shared the chicks.

Here's 3 girls who went broody together a few years ago

 

[gilavina]

Morning!

Thanks Vicki! Lil Bill is one of my favorites.....now we wait to see if the stupid white feather in the hackle comes back.


Thanks Raven! I am sorry that your Birchens did not turn out the way you had hoped. I also have a gold girl in there...she will go to the layer flock and be buddies with Bill Sr. I hope this one girl that I have that is silver lays a better egg than she came out of. We should be seeing the eggs very soon.
What I can't wait for...........the Silver Black Birchen chicks that are coming from Tom Culpepper.



Crumly~ Those chicks are ADORABLE!!!!!!!! To me and only by looking at the wing, they all look to be pullets except the one in the last wing photo.....and I will be happy as a clam if you got a Splash girlie!
Can you put a side view photo of each one of them up again in a couple days.....I need to see them around 3-5 days.


Debbi~ You got showgirls?????? Where did I miss that announcement??? Geesh! I've been missing alot around here lately. I hope your broody Silkie girl does the job for you.

I should check in with Tom again to see estimated dates for us....I was thinking about doing that yesterday at work.

 

[gilavina]

Wish we could get planting here but I don't think that we are out of the frost danger yet. The other night it got sooooo cold that it caused damage to most of my plants in the greenhouse. Hoping that the damage was only to the first leaves and that the rest of the plants are okay. I would hate to start everything over again.

I hear ya on that! Do you have any dark containers that can hold water and have lids...like 5 gallon buckets or the like? If you do, put some rock or gravel in them and fill them with water and put them in the greenhouse where they will get nice direct light and put the lids on. They will absorb alot of heat from the sun during the day and keep the temps in the greenhouse up just enough to keep the seedlings warm. I've used the 5 gallons for the last couple years, but think I am going to look for some larger ones and then put a planting table over the top so they are still functional

 

[flgardengirl]

I hear ya on that! Do you have any dark containers that can hold water and have lids...like 5 gallon buckets or the like? If you do, put some rock or gravel in them and fill them with water and put them in the greenhouse where they will get nice direct light and put the lids on. They will absorb alot of heat from the sun during the day and keep the temps in the greenhouse up just enough to keep the seedlings warm. I've used the 5 gallons for the last couple years, but think I am going to look for some larger ones and then put a planting table over the top so they are still functional

I used to do that with the cheap black trash cans from Walmart. I think they are around 7-8 bucks and have a lid that comes with it. After I was done with them I grew tropical water lilies in them lol. I eventually got a Little Buddy propane heater for cold nights.

 

[gilavina]

I used to do that with the cheap black trash cans from Walmart. I think they are around 7-8 bucks and have a lid that comes with it. After I was done with them I grew tropical water lilies in them lol. I eventually got a Little Buddy propane heater for cold nights.

yeah...I've looked at some of the trash cans, but haven't taken the plunge in buying yet. I need to measure out my space and see what might fit best for me. Do you have a link to one of those heaters? Do they work pretty well for holding steady temps and etc? I've never used a propane heater or anything for the greenhouse...so I'm clueless!

 

[flgardengirl]

It is this one (the portable one) they come in little, portable, and big buddys. I was thinking I had the little one but mine doesn't screw on top of the propane bottle though.
The portable one can use a small bottle of propane or you can get an extension hose and hook it up to a larger propane bottle. I have the extension hose and use a 20# propane bottle and just refill it when I need to. We don't have that many cold nights here. I have 2 - 10x20 greenhouses and I put one in the middle of each one and it does pretty good heating the whole thing up. It doesn't often go below 20F here and only really gets down to freezing an avg of 12 days or so but enough to kill my tropicals lol. You will need to figure out what kind of heater you need based on greenhouse size and the temperatures outside in order to make really sure you get what you need.
Here is a greenhouse heater calculator. This also has a fuel cost calculator as well.
http://www.littlegreenhouse.com/heat-calc.shtml

This is the one similar to mine. I think mine must be older models though. The larger ones like this have a dual burner so might be better for your needs in a colder climate.
http://beprepared.com/product.asp?pn=CK H800&sid=AMAZONADS