Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[prettychicks]

Quote: She's got that "Don't even think about it" look on her face!

 

[gilavina]

Vicki - that sale is next Sun!
We're taking the birds over Sat afternoon, so they can settle into the cages.

Soooo - tell me more about FEELING them.

I'm always worried that, if I pick all the beefy kids, they will all be BOYS!!

Sooo - feel their rib cage under the wings and across the front - ?? -

How to hold them!! I'll go out and try right away!!

The best way is to catch up the bird, and like I think I've explained before, to put one hand under the breast where usually three middle fingers cradle the bird and the thumb and pinky close in around the legs to hold them. You can get a good feel for heft and size by holding them that way and run your other hand down over the back and you can tell right away the differences in body type. Holding them this way also allows you to examine them very carefully for most everything. I would recommend splitting cockerels from pullets before you start. You will notice right away when looking by gender when there are some that don't stack up against the others. Some of my going by feel is because I was taught by my dad who is blind. I know there is a poultry guy out there I've heard about that goes out to the coop when its dark and selects his birds to keep only by how they feel and will cull the others no matter how nice they might look in other aspects like color. I'm not that extreme, but body type is definitely top priority for me. If a bird doesn't have it, it will never magically give it to you at some other point.

 

[BarnGoddess01]

ok, I'm a newbee. So, all you people who hatch eggs...what do you do with all of the chicks??? I'm fascinated with all the cute chicks and want to hatch some, but what do you do with them all?? And when I read about you culling them, does that mean you sell them, give them away or kill them? Do you eat all these birds? I have 9 pullets (one iffy) and I would love to have more. I think it would be fun to hatch some chicks, but don't want too many. Where do you take them? I don't want a roo so are there people out there who will take baby roos? I think I have gone crazy staying awake at night thinking about more chickens! Everytime I go by an open area of grass, I think how much my chickens would love to play there. Every time I see an old little shack, I think about how I could make that into a cute coop! My husband now thinks I love my chickens more than him just because my girls got some nice warm oatmeal the other morning and he got a freezer waffle! hahaha. Are you all like this too? Anyway, let me know what you do with all the chicks you hatch! Thanks!

If you are going to hatch eggs you either have to be prepared to keep them all (which likely isn't realistic) or cull (kill) them. Buyers may not be around when you need them and there isn't a huge market for surplus boys except for eating. I cull the young birds with obvious issues and allow young males to reach 12 to 16 weeks before butchering, depending on size. I eat them. Surplus females populate my layer coop. There is also more of a market for females. Lots of folks looking for girls that lay pretty eggs.

I bake bread for my birds (whole grain, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds), hard-boil eggs for all the youngsters, and lots of raisins. Fresh fruit in season. My birds free-range for the most part. The boys take turns.

 

[Jenn1399]

BarnGoddess, I am trying to find someone to take my baby roosters. If I don't... I don't think I could cull them myself (just not ready for it & not ready to introduce my 4&5 y/o kids to it) Do you think my local butcher would do that? or, is there a way to find someone who would? Or, is it cost prohibitive to pay someone to do it?
Thanks!

 

[BarnGoddess01]

BarnGoddess, I am trying to find someone to take my baby roosters. If I don't... I don't think I could cull them myself (just not ready for it & not ready to introduce my 4&5 y/o kids to it) Do you think my local butcher would do that? or, is there a way to find someone who would? Or, is it cost prohibitive to pay someone to do it?
Thanks!

I kept asking around until I found an Amish couple that would do it for me. I pay a whopping $2 a bird, freezer ready. Asking your local butcher is a good place to start!

 

[Debbi]

Lotsa ~ Love that Splash boy! Awesome color!!

 

[Debbi]

One more of my eggs has pipped, and there may be another Wheaten tiny pip. I'll just hold my breath and see what happens...

 

[Lotsapaints]

Lotsa ~ Love that Splash boy! Awesome color!!

we"ll see how he grows out he's all my decisions from my birds. I really think ole Culler knew what he was talking about (Don) the main fault they have is a little too much color on the males but my girls have nice necklaces. I mostly have blues out of my hatches and I hope a few are black coppers so I can see how they color out. Slow work getting the SOP and the egg color but I'm happy with my results so far. I really like my splashes and I'm working on getting a nice pen of those for crossing with black coppers I just love the blues

 

[Debbi]

we"ll see how he grows out he's all my decisions from my birds. I really think ole Culler knew what he was talking about (Don) the main fault they have is a little too much color on the males but my girls have nice necklaces. I mostly have blues out of my hatches and I hope a few are black coppers so I can see how they color out. Slow work getting the SOP and the egg color but I'm happy with my results so far. I really like my splashes and I'm working on getting a nice pen of those for crossing with black coppers I just love the blues

Oh yeah, Don knows what he is talking about. Wish he'd get back here. I suppose I like to see more color because so much of it is lacking here! Just culled out a bunch more today. Got 3 more hens to go, and at least one more roo. That's Marans, the Silkie pens are also being culled down!

 

[Debbi]

Here's my two so far. One Wheaten, one Blue. I have a feeling they are both roos! Look at the nostrils on both of them! Never noticed this before, but this looks like it may be an indicator to me.