Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[DMRippy]

Pinkchick these are your babies.... not the best pics but they will have to do. I don't have any of the slow feathering pullet. Sorry.

This girl is BLUE at least that is what she look like next to the black pullet in with her. VERY dark blue. She was blue at hatch. She has lightly feathered legs. I don't see any copper really yet.



I sold him and can probably get more pics as he grows up. Just let me know if you would like to see him in a few months and I will see what I can do.



He was such a nervous Nelly....... I was in chicken Jail.... he killed a pullet and nearly another.... tormented the new guys to death

I made some pen changes and he didn't like his new roommates..... His tail was normally that high and he had clean legs..... he could have stayed if he had feathered legs.... I could of had a blue flock quick with him

Just a general question anybody can answer.... My last splash roo may have been infertile.... I also read that splashes can be, anyone ever had that problem? I would love to have lots of splashes and blue, but I can live with just blues if that really is the case.

 

[DMRippy]

Quote: NO!!!! Sorry.... hers seem to be correct.... Did I send you the link to her site? I may just take the chance and buy them.... no big investment. Just wanted a second opinion!

 

[DMRippy]

The silver marans eggs I bought. Haha I'm really kinda glad that one really light egg didn't hatch. It was clear, several were in fact. It might be better just to order chicks from them, like vicki did. They could use color work but since the birds are so pretty and unusual I had to get some when I had the chance lol. To be fair, our postal service is terrible with eggs.

Those eggs look better than my Cuckoos.

 

[slick4591]

Slick - every once in a while I get a bantam cochin like that.

2-3 days of Poly-Vi-Sol (no Iron) twice a day fixes them right up!!

Thank you. Well, after messaging her most of the afternoon yesterday it turns out that the birds toes were curled. Wasn't until after she sent me a picture around 9:30 last night did I figure out she was saying things all wrong. She got them in splints and we'll see how it goes. Thanks again for the help.

 

[Chickhick]

Good morning, Everyone! I have a few questions.

Are Marans eggs shinier than other eggs due to their smaller pores? I am looking for a breed with a smooth, shiny shell, as opposed to the matte finish of most eggs.

Also, I have heard that Marans are not particularly prolific layers, and they tend to go broody and drop off production after the first year. Is this generally true across the board, or just in certain lines?

How many eggs per week does the average Marans hen give you?

Thanks!

 

[Debbi]

Hey Debbi...I'm sitting at 27 fuzzy faces so far. Although I can tell for sure a few are gonna head over to the sale barn right away. My uncle must have gotten some of the eggs mixed around (he had warned me it might have happened) and have a couple of wheatens and a few from a project pen. Might keep a couple of the project ones just to see what they do, but I'm only gonna keep the best lookin ones to grow out since I only wanted a few. There is a giant splash that I'm liking lots!

Very cool! Sounds like your hatch is going great!

I did the cull check yesterday, and I may just rid myself of all of the Partridge Silkies. I'm liking other colors better these days, and a good Partridge roo seems to be as hard to get as a good BCM roo.

All 5 of the pullets are lovely, but still have 2 setting on eggs. Then there are 4 cockerels, two pet only, one with coloring I don't care for, and one Blue w/autosomal gold leakage. He seems to be throwing most of the nice darker partridge girls. So, that would clean out one whole pen. The Blue Copper roo is outta here too, can't say I like him so much any more, type-wise. 2 BCM hens get to go too. Being just me here, I can afford to keep only the goodins now, and still have eggs to eat. Silkie pen 2 is looking great, and they all get to stay. I am really pleased with the babies I got from this last hatch, some very promising youngsters in there!

Today, I am going to tear apart and blow out and sanitize the good bator. Will probably add new water lines, and get it all ready for more Wheaten eggs from Randy!

 

[Debbi]

Good morning, Everyone! I have a few questions.

Are Marans eggs shinier than other eggs due to their smaller pores? I am looking for a breed with a smooth, shiny shell, as opposed to the matte finish of most eggs.

Also, I have heard that Marans are not particularly prolific layers, and they tend to go broody and drop off production after the first year. Is this generally true across the board, or just in certain lines?

How many eggs per week does the average Marans hen give you?

Thanks!

Hi! I have some eggs that are always a glossy, ruby red color. Then there are some that are more of a matte finish and speckled. Then there is one hen in there that lays what some refer to as a "bloomy" egg, where there is sort of a powdery, purpleish haze on top of the coloring. Funny, with these eggs, if you wet them, you will see the nice shiny brown/red underneath. When they dry, they go back to the bloomy color. It all depends on who lays what, so when buying some birds, best to buy from a breeder who can show you what their birds lay. I am getting around 4-5 eggs per week now from each of my hens and pullets. They tend to slack off when it gets hot, and of course when in molt. They aren't Leghorns, but I think the pretty eggs make up for the lack of laying. My first girls starting laying in November and laid all the way up until August the first year. Also, the color will drop off slightly as they get further into the laying cycle, and as they get older. Only one of my older hens has really shown a distinct color drop, the rest are still doing pretty good. Hope this helps some.

 

[gilavina]

Very cool! Sounds like your hatch is going great!

I did the cull check yesterday, and I may just rid myself of all of the Partridge Silkies. I'm liking other colors better these days, and a good Partridge roo seems to be as hard to get as a good BCM roo.

All 5 of the pullets are lovely, but still have 2 setting on eggs. Then there are 4 cockerels, two pet only, one with coloring I don't care for, and one Blue w/autosomal gold leakage. He seems to be throwing most of the nice darker partridge girls. So, that would clean out one whole pen. The Blue Copper roo is outta here too, can't say I like him so much any more, type-wise. 2 BCM hens get to go too. Being just me here, I can afford to keep only the goodins now, and still have eggs to eat. Silkie pen 2 is looking great, and they all get to stay. I am really pleased with the babies I got from this last hatch, some very promising youngsters in there!

Today, I am going to tear apart and blow out and sanitize the good bator. Will probably add new water lines, and get it all ready for more Wheaten eggs from Randy!

Awesome! I love how it feels when you can objectively look at your birds and see what realistically needs to go. I worked on the same yesterday and its lookin like about 40 to 50 are gonna go again to the sale tomorrow. Granted, lots of those are chicks of various ages (which sell REALLY well right now) and some odds and ends birds of my dad's and some doves to keep the population down in the dove run. Yes, I have doves too. Almost had a pair of Modena pigeons again from the exotic sale Saturday but got big out around 24 bucks each. They were worth every penny tho. Haven't seen ones that nice since I was a kid.

I left the 5 ameraucana eggs left in the incubator, but have a feeling the hatch is over. I'll be shutting the incubator off after they come out. Need to get these numbers down before I think of hatching anything else.

Alright...I'm off to work for the day! later lady!

 

[Debbi]

Then there are the different shapes. Here are a couple of mine from the other day. The "torpedo egg", and the much nicer, rounder shaped ruby egg. Finding these eggs is like the saying from Forrest Gump, "life is like a box of chocolates, ya never know what you're gonna get".

Of course, if you stick to one line of birds, you may find it way easier to determine, and to maintain a more consistent color and shape of egg. I am still in the culling process here after 2+ years, so....

 

[DMRippy]

Good morning, Everyone! I have a few questions.

Are Marans eggs shinier than other eggs due to their smaller pores? I am looking for a breed with a smooth, shiny shell, as opposed to the matte finish of most eggs.

Also, I have heard that Marans are not particularly prolific layers, and they tend to go broody and drop off production after the first year. Is this generally true across the board, or just in certain lines?

How many eggs per week does the average Marans hen give you?

Thanks!

Mine are not glossy..... my girls are good layers when they are laying and seem to go in cycles. They started laying in November and by the end of Dec- or first of jan. they really slacked off. Then picked back up and have slacked off again. They don't quit.... just slow way down. If you need to depend on them for eggs, I would not pick them for layers. They do have pretty eggs, but only OK layers. Mine are under a year old and out of 6 1 is broody SO FAR. They do go broody often. On average, I get about 3 eggs a week from each.

Now that is my BCM, my cuckoos are PROLIFIC Layers of VERY LARGE Eggs, but the need to have better color. I have 5 pullets/hens and I get 3-5 a day! They have not slacked off yet or gone broody....