Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[flgardengirl]

hark! what's this I hear? the silver sussex are developing?! Yay! How's the silver marans going?
I just candled the other night and have 72 marans eggs developing like mad...put in 36 BBS ameraucana eggs this a.m. my uncle surprised me with from his flock. I also have 3 coro sussex gone broody, two are massive ladies and really try to pack the eggs under them. Planning on work on the sussex next for hatching schedule and then onto the wyandottes I'd guess. Still workin on update pics....probably gonna have to do it inside since its so crazy windy!

Haha I only candled the one sussex egg that got knocked from the nest. The broody has the rest and I'm not losing my fingers lol. The silver Marans eggs look good overall, 2 look iffy so we will see. Ahhh shipped eggs grrrr.
Awesome on your Marans eggs. WOW you are putting that bator to good use!
I am gonna start hatching my Marans and project Marans after this batch of 'hatchess' get through the bators. Hopefully I will have that winobator up and running and can put some test eggs through as well. I need to get a few more egg turners for the winobator too. I found out they are building a new Tractor Supply a few miles from me The exterior of the building is up already!
P.S. No fair...I want Coronation Sussex!! Are you going to be hatching out any of those lavender silver sussex?
P.S.S...anyone hear from Debbie lately? Hope she is doing okay and no more storms..

 

[gilavina]

I like your planning.... One Breed at a TIME! I should do that.... would be much easier to keep up with them! I may try that later in the summer. I am going really going to QUIT hatching these big numbers. Most are for sale... but no one is buying. I will get rid of the roosters and raise the pullets and sell them in a few months. I have the room now that I cleared out one pen and I have another that could be empty pretty quickly. I am going to keep hatching my Lavender Ameraucanas and maybe some more leghorns, but I am really done I have my replacement flock. I will hatch some more in June so I can have eggs over the winter, but not too many.

I wondered how the sales were going. From what I'm hearing all around from various poultry friends is that sales are definitely down this year. I'll be taking a few to the first tuesday night sale in a couple weeks to test it out. We'll see. I do like hatching one breed a time. It makes it so much easier on me. Being able to cull for the same traits and etc across the board. It also helps the odd ball culls stick out just that much faster when you see them growing along side each other.
Sounds like you are getting there. Which breeds are you thinkin of thinning out again? I think I've fried my brain on computer work this week, so much so, that my stupid eye keeps twitching...always a sign that I'm stressed out haha
Numbers here are going to start dwindling asap. With these chicks growing out, I need the space and also don't want to feed something I'm not using either for breeding or laying. It looking like another 30 to 40 birds are going to go. I'll be ecstatic when they are gone. They're lovely, just don't need that big of a layer pen at the moment with all the other breeds laying like mad too. I'm pretty sure I've got a couple ladies giving me two eggs a day. I'm consistently getting one more than I should be from two pens were all the ladies are laying

 

[flgardengirl]

Some of those crossbred Marans that got hatched by the gold duckwing key west x blue marans are looking very peculiar. There are two little roos and a few pullets that have feathered shanks and mostly blue feathering but they have lighter gold/lemon coloring too so they look almost like a Lemon Blue coloring! They are actually really pretty. The little pullets are light blue and have that lemon coloring on thier hackles. I think one is feather shanked and the other isn't on the pullets. Thier bodies are large and Maranish but one has the longer tail of the key wests.
I might keep one pair and work with them for fun they are so neat looking.

 

[gilavina]

Haha I only candled the one sussex egg that got knocked from the nest. The broody has the rest and I'm not losing my fingers lol. The silver Marans eggs look good overall, 2 look iffy so we will see. Ahhh shipped eggs grrrr.
Awesome on your Marans eggs. WOW you are putting that bator to good use!
I am gonna start hatching my Marans and project Marans after this batch of 'hatchess' get through the bators. Hopefully I will have that winobator up and running and can put some test eggs through as well. I need to get a few more egg turners for the winobator too. I found out they are building a new Tractor Supply a few miles from me The exterior of the building is up already!
P.S. No fair...I want Coronation Sussex!! Are you going to be hatching out any of those lavender silver sussex?
P.S.S...anyone hear from Debbie lately? Hope she is doing okay and no more storms..

yeah...the incubator is getting a good workout so far. I am doing the bulk of my Marans hatches now, so later on I can select just certain matings of ones I'd like to get more chicks out of. first hatch was 33 chicks, this last week's hatch was 62 after the two I helped out in the end didn't make it. Then those 72 eggs and whatever they give me. That should give me a good start anyways. I'm sure I'll have plenty to cull....I usually always do. I will probably hatch more birchens than any of the other colors since they need the most work.
I am going to be hatching out of the lavenders. I know exactly which egg is hers and she's in with the lavender boy....and I also have two light sussex and two coro in with him. I wormed them and just got through with the withdrawl time and was waiting for them to clear anyways from being in with other boys, so probably will start collecting from them in the next week or so.
I have heard from Debbi. She's said she won't be around for a bit. hoping she will be around soon. I worry about her and miss talking with her!

 

[gilavina]

Some of those crossbred Marans that got hatched by the gold duckwing key west x blue marans are looking very peculiar. There are two little roos and a few pullets that have feathered shanks and mostly blue feathering but they have lighter gold/lemon coloring too so they look almost like a Lemon Blue coloring! They are actually really pretty. The little pullets are light blue and have that lemon coloring on thier hackles. I think one is feather shanked and the other isn't on the pullets. Thier bodies are large and Maranish but one has the longer tail of the key wests.
I might keep one pair and work with them for fun they are so neat looking.

you know that means pics right?! yes yes!!

I forgot to tell you that those marans/wyandotte crosses are growing out really well....beautiful little ladies...and guess what the best part is?!

 

[DMRippy]

Quote:
Well.... d'Uccles are next. I need to put them on CL now. I have 3 pens of Lavender Ameraucanas, I need to get that down to 2. I also need to THIN a lot of pens. My Blue Barred Rocks are getting thinned and my Olive Egger pen too. I don't need 6-8 eggs a day from those pens

I am thinking 4 pullets in most pens so I can fill hatching egg orders if needed quickly, but we will see. I have 2-3 Easter Egger Sold and someone else wanted 2 layers and I am sure I can sell the rest easy since they are laying. I get emails all the time wanting layers. In a few months I will most of my last year last years layers and replace them with the birds that have the "look" I want. Some pens I will not thin, unless I get better birds to replace them. My NH MAY get replaced with these German NH I have growing up, but not sure, depends on how they lay. I like my birds to lay well.

 

[flgardengirl]

you know that means pics right?! yes yes!!

I forgot to tell you that those marans/wyandotte crosses are growing out really well....beautiful little ladies...and guess what the best part is?!

Yes will get some pics up tomorrow. I really like the lighter yellow gold with the blue even if they are little mutts lol. In general, I'm finding some of the Marans crosses to be better layers than the Marans, good broodies, and still very large brown eggs. I don't know what color egg a key west x marans would have. Probably light to med brown.
It is still drizzling rain here today. I really hate rain but I get stuff done I need to do indoors and I don't have to water the garden lol. I'd still rather be outside!

 

[gilavina]

alright...here's three of my oldest chicks...just picked some random ones to take pics of. First is my blue cuckoo boy.... only got this one shot taken before he escaped by flying over my head and me chasing him around for 10 minutes. They're all a little windblown, so you'll have to excuse the ploofy-ness haha
I don't think the color is coming in half bad on him. Have some more wee ones growing out here in the batch behind them that I'm hopeful for as well



next is a BCM boy out of Gigantor....he's a chunk weighing in over 2lbs at 7 weeks. I'm loving the deep copper coming in on him. He has a bit of overcoloring on the breast, but nothing compared to what Gigantor had when he was hatched.







last, a wee blue birchen girl. She's got lovely color coming in. One thing I definitely am working on with them is size. So far she is pretty far ahead of where the birchen chicks were at last year at her same age.

 

[DMRippy]

alright...here's three of my oldest chicks...just picked some random ones to take pics of. First is my blue cuckoo boy.... only got this one shot taken before he escaped by flying over my head and me chasing him around for 10 minutes. They're all a little windblown, so you'll have to excuse the ploofy-ness haha
I don't think the color is coming in half bad on him. Have some more wee ones growing out here in the batch behind them that I'm hopeful for as well



next is a BCM boy out of Gigantor....he's a chunk weighing in over 2lbs at 7 weeks. I'm loving the deep copper coming in on him. He has a bit of overcoloring on the breast, but nothing compared to what Gigantor had when he was hatched.







last, a wee blue birchen girl. She's got lovely color coming in. One thing I definitely am working on with them is size. So far she is pretty far ahead of where the birchen chicks were at last year at her same age.

That cuckoo is looking good! What color are your eggs. Mine are still light... I need to work on that the cuckooing and the leg feathering

 

[gilavina]

That cuckoo is looking good! What color are your eggs. Mine are still light... I need to work on that the cuckooing and the leg feathering

Thanks! on the eggs...it depends on the girl. Some of the ones that have the better barring from the F1s are ok, and occasionally I will get some nice colored ones from the girls that don't have as much barring. His momma is one of the more solid girls, so I wasn't expecting the decent coloring he has. I'm hopeful he'll have darker egg genes with him. Mostly the blue cuckoos are just eggs I toss in from time to time as I have space, so I don't have too many. Last fall I kept 4 pullets to try out....so we'll see how much progress I make