Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[Cadeau]

I do not hatch in egg cartons - I had several die from smothering and/or pipping the wrong end.

People that DO hatch in egg cartons tend to cut the egg carton wayyyyy down - only leaving enough so that the eggs still stay upright.
They also open up the bottom.

I don't seem to have any problems at all with the chicks bumping around the other eggs.
They hatch, if they're going to!

 

[Cadeau]

Bummer on losing your chicks, Donna.

My wheaten chicks are all yellow chicks - I can tell gender when they start to feather in at their necks!
(girls wheaten, boys colored = black, blue) For the splash, I have to wait until they get back feathers to see the splash b/c they look wheaten - at least so far!!

We'll see what happens with the juvie molt!
Loving them - they are SO sweet!!



To make this (even a little) Marans related - my first second generation OEs hatched this weekend!
a blue and a black!!
Can't wait to see them grow up!!

 

[laughingclown]

Here are a couple of my Blue girls!

 

[gilavina]

Vicki - I'm going to work on a picture day this weekend again.

I was looking at my 2-3mth olds and I want to see if the ones I'm thinking are good, really are!!

I also have to get new pics of my cockerels and potential roos!



Can anyone point me to a good Americauna thread? (Donna?)

My B/B/S Wheaten Americauna are now 3-4mths and it's time to do the first culling on cockerels!
I have 3 black wheaten, 1 blue wheaten, and 1 splash wheaten 4mth olds
2 blue and 1 splash wheaten 10wk olds

Even if I could get down to 2 four month olds and let the 10 wk olds grow, that would still get rid of 3!!


Good news!!
We have an appt for a bird sale 2 Saturdays from now!!
We have cages reserved - yipee!!

Hoping to go through all my youngsters and really thin a bunch out!!

ok, sounds good. Just don't ask me in the morning haha....I'm a zombie right about now. Hope you are able to thin down some more. I can't wait to get my list adjusted of what I have and see who still needs to go. It shouldn't go to bad, mostly its finding time right now to do processing with everything going on. I'm determined to have all the adult birds, including my dad's thinned over the next week or so.
On a similar note, For my first two hatches of the year I had about 120 chicks, and am now down to 38. I am well pleased.

 

[Cadeau]

Wow! I'd be pleased, too!
120 down to 38 is amazing!!

I have to majorly cull down my MF bantam cochins - chicks to adults and cull down my Marans, Americauna, and the new BLRW.
THEN I'll have some breathing room!!


Whenever (and if) you have time to help is fine with me!!
I'm curious to see if I'm picking the good ones - trying to hone my skills!

I'm done hatching, other than single mating, for the summer!! yahoo!

 

[gilavina]

Wow! I'd be pleased, too!
120 down to 38 is amazing!!

I have to majorly cull down my MF bantam cochins - chicks to adults and cull down my Marans, Americauna, and the new BLRW.
THEN I'll have some breathing room!!


Whenever (and if) you have time to help is fine with me!!
I'm curious to see if I'm picking the good ones - trying to hone my skills!

I'm done hatching, other than single mating, for the summer!! yahoo!

Sounds like you will be making even more progress before long. I'm also done with my main hatches for the year, minus a couple of single matings here and there. Its feels very good. Its going to be awesome to finally be culled all the way down to the birds we'll hold over winter eh?

 

[Debbi]

Here’s a pic of René, my French Cookoo at 3 weeks! Already has an attitude.

Hmm, if that chick is 3 weeks old, he has problems. Do you mean 3 DAYS? Also, the term "French" denotes that they have feathered shanks/toes, yours is clean legged.

 

[Debbi]

Morning all

Two more Silkies hatched yesterday, another Partridge, and a Blue? The blue has some interesting silver going on on the top of it's head and down the back. ?? Luckily for me, I stuck them both in with the captured broody chicks, and the bigger kids accepted them with no problems! PHEW! I was worried about that. Got a small pen set up for the baby killer inside the other Silkie pen, so all is peaceful now. These are some very nice chicks this hatch, I am very pleased!

Speaking of hatch, the Wheatens go into lockdown today! Please cross your fingers and toes for me, I sure hope I get at least 2 or 3. Randy's old roo is having fertility problems, but he had a younger roo in with the girls for a bit, so hopefully some good soldiers got through! No, I'm not outting Randy, he had already posted this info on the Wheaten thread, so it was not a secret.

Vicki, I know there's a turkey on your place somewhere! Those boys look great!!

 

[gilavina]

Morning all

Two more Silkies hatched yesterday, another Partridge, and a Blue? The blue has some interesting silver going on on the top of it's head and down the back. ?? Luckily for me, I stuck them both in with the captured broody chicks, and the bigger kids accepted them with no problems! PHEW! I was worried about that. Got a small pen set up for the baby killer inside the other Silkie pen, so all is peaceful now. These are some very nice chicks this hatch, I am very pleased!

Speaking of hatch, the Wheatens go into lockdown today! Please cross your fingers and toes for me, I sure hope I get at least 2 or 3. Randy's old roo is having fertility problems, but he had a younger roo in with the girls for a bit, so hopefully some good soldiers got through! No, I'm not outting Randy, he had already posted this info on the Wheaten thread, so it was not a secret.

Vicki, I know there's a turkey on your place somewhere! Those boys look great!!

Lots of good luck coming your way for those wheatie eggs!
Thanks about my boys. I culled alot of birds yesterday....and honestly, some of them might be alright, but its nice to be able to cull for the littler things instead of always the big no no's. I did hold onto two that I'm sure I won't keep, but will be using them as learning tools since they have things I'm curious about. The one is just gorgeous, but I'm sure I see a bump of the beginning of a sprig on the side of his comb, but want to watch how it changes and etc, so I can see for sure. The other has one of the points of his comb that is kind of lazy and points to the side rather than straight up like the others,so I'm doing to watch to see if he starts showing signs of having a floppy comb. Just like knowing what I can be watching for in future hatches.

Those birchen boys are beastly...I wish I could have gotten pics of their natural stances, but with as much moving as I did with them, its no wonder they were flustered. The black boy by far is the beefiest in body type, but that blue boy has those telephone pole thick legs, so I'm wondering if he might not end up being a big ol' boy too! I sure hope so. Now, here's to praying that they are nice silver colored boys with very little or no gold leakage

 

[pinkchick]

Vicki = I love those boys, especially the light blue guy!
(sure you can't stuff a bird or two into your luggage if/when you visit your friend-??-)

Whatever happened with that birchen boy, too??


Pink - thanks for posting the definitions!!
I'm sorry - I'm still not understanding the difference between Enamel White and Positive Enamel White
The definitions seem to be explaining the same thing - "satin-like white"

This is just a tinge of white in a crease on the ear lobe....
I'm sorry if I'm not explaining it well...

I can try for a pic! Maybe that will help!!

Your Welcome. I think I have photos or I can find photos for you. Will take a minute or 2. I do know that I had some girls that had some whitish tinge to the earlobe for a while just as they began to lay and then within a couple weeks it was gone. I'm thinking that it is something that you should not worry about, but photos would definitely help. If it were permanant white you would know it from the get go.
They have not been this way since the beginning, they just turned this white-ish color correct?