Yay! I haven't seen you in quite a while, but think of you often lady! I hope you are all doing well down your way!Hello Marans folks from the long-lost Ivywoods. It's been forever since I've visited the thread.... um... like 35,000 posts! Wow, you guys are a chatty bunch! I never left BYC, I just spend WAY too much time on some of the other threads, like the Kansas thread.
I still have my marans. I used two different roosters over the past year, and I have some chicks growing out right now. The pullets I got last year seem pretty nice, and overall, I think my birds are pretty good. I DON'T think I made any progress in the egg department, though. Gosh, I hardly EVER get an 8 and I'm not sure I've ever had a 9.
Just yesterday I took the rooster out of the pen. I had re-aquired him from someone I sold him to. He was beautiful in my opinion, but he became downright mean to the lady. I told her I would take him back. He was a perfect gentleman around me, and I loved his build and feathering. Well, after about 6 months "Rambo" as she named him, has become a nasty booger. He will be visiting freezer camp sometime soon.
As a result of this, I just put my black ameraucana rooster and one black hen in with my BCM hens. Any marans eggs I get out of there will be olive eggers, of course, and any blue eggs will of course be pure ameraucana.
I have one rooster that I have kept from my very fist batch of marans. He free ranges with my layers. I've never raised any chicks out of him. Fuzzy is such a sweetheart, good to his girls, and takes care of them. Unfortunately he has WAY too much copper in his chest and a funky tail that spreads out like he's always got a 35 mph tailwind.
I've thought about getting another rooster from someone that has SUPER dark eggs, but so far just haven't done it.
Hope all are well... BYC folks and all your feathered dependents!
