Oh gads I will never be able to pick out the black one again to be sure, but the one next to it is one of the solid blues. So maybe silver coming in? I just thought it was left over chick down.
Well what ever happens I am excited about this bunch..more excited than before if that is possible? lol
I will take pics in another month and see how they are turning out. It is amazing how a little time clears everything up.
Off to bed, before I continue to ramble on in this stream of chicken consciousness.....
I am seriously in need of help in determining which birds of my black copper Marans to cull. I hatched out a lot--I have about 125 black and 30 blue copper chicks on the ground!! OMG what was I thinking. Well, I know what I was thinking--that the birds I have need improvement, so I thought I'd hatch a lot so I'd have a lot to choose from. 4 out of 5 of my hens are solid black, improvement #1 needed. The 5th has only a little copper on hackles. The egg color needs improvement, big #2. Cock is pretty nice--I'd like to see his tail set lower and he has a thumbprint comb. And I'd like to see his hackle feathers more mahogany, not so brassy. So these are the things I wanted to work on, but really! I do not have the money to feed all these birds to the age where I can see what is what and the space for them--can't free range here, too many bobcats and hawks. Right now I have the ones that look male in one pen, females in another pen, and an outside brooder that has the younger ones, but it is too crowded and I am getting a lot of picking. So--here are a few questions, please experts out there, I need to thin numbers down soon.
1. Other than culling at hatch for obvious problems, how old (ideally and realistically) should I raise the birds before deciding? I understand they change quite a bit.
2. I have some mossy pullets. Are these a definite cull or sell as dark egg layer now, or will this go away/change?
3. Several of the pullets have white tipped feathers, especially on their breast. Cull or sell as above, or will this go away/change?
4. How long to wait to see if their foot color changes to gray/slate? Most of my chicks were hatching with yellow/pale feet/legs, but I see that most change to what they should be. (I see one of the mossy pullets in the first pic does not have solid slate feet).
5. How long before I know the pullets will stay solid black? How long does it take for the copper color to come in if it is going to? It seems like the ones that have some copper are also mossy.
6. What about those feathers on the middle toe? A lot of my chicks had this, and I didn't cull since I had what I thought were more important issues to deal with. If I culled for that alone, I'd be able to cut down numbers very fast. Some of them have just a few, others more.
7. And what about the color on this blue copper (don't know if it is a pullet or cockerel yet):
8. And lastly, is it usual to have so many culls with this breed? I know they are a work in progress, but I didn't expect quite this much of a job. Frankly, it is very discouraging, plus they naturally are much more flighty and "don't touch me" attitude than other breeds I have, which I don't like. Plus I didn't have any problems with picking with my other chicks until the Marans went out there (to the outside brooder). Insight on this? Please, give it to me straight what to do and what to look for, I am sure I am missing some things that I should be on the lookout for.
I was hoping to raise the extra cockerels to good size for butcher since we did that last year and they were very good. I think I butchered at 5 months, but not sure now. What age do you all recommend? I am sorry this is so long, but I have some issues here that need worked out yesterday.
Well......lots and lots of chicks are in the hatching tray of my Sportsman, including some of the cutest Olive Eggers I have ever hatched out. All but one of the Marans eggs that Mel gave me hatched and all but 3 of the Olive eggers he gave me hatched.
The Olive eggs from my birds did not do anything. :-( Also, 3 Marans eggs from my birds didn't do anything.
All of the Barnies that made it to lockdown hatched. YaY!!!!!!! So did all of my first Blue Laced Red Wy's. 2 splash and 1 blue.
Will do a final count and post some photos of them.
DEBBI~ PRAYERS COMING TO YOU and YOUR FAMILY!!!!!!!!
