Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[DMRippy]

my maran chicks are so sweet! constantly begging for attention!

at what age can you sex a maran and how?

A better pic would help, but I think pullet....

 

[gilavina]

So I have been doing some MAJOR cleaning, moving and today I sold or gave away (little roos) 65+ birds

Tomorrow more are coming for some roos and maybe my Cuckoo Pullets that are clean legged. He just wants them for layers. SOOOO Excited. That is the biggest exodus of birds I have ever had! There would have been more but my roo guy is not feeling well and didn't want the little roos so the first of the week I have another guy coming to get about 30 little bitty roos and a few pullets

I still have a lot of birds

I didn't know really how many I had, still don't

. In a couple of weeks I can cull my 3-4 week old chicks and thin them down.

The lady is coming next week to get the blue cuckoos and a golden cuckoo roo so that is about 8-9 more birds and gives me a new pen to use

I found 3 little Cuckoo roos with feathered legs and I think 3 pullets with feathered legs too so maybe I can find something to work with. I am only keeping 1 reg cuckoo pullet, but she has clean legs so still have some work.

congrats lady! Isn't it such a great feelin? And makes it so much easier to see the best of what you have left when numbers start dwindling.

 

[DMRippy]

Quote: When I get the other 50 little roos gone then I can see what I have... they are fogging my vision right now. So I am thinking that was about 100 lbs of feed a month or more gone today. Next week if all goes well, I can finally see some empty pens even in my shop

IT FEELS GREAT!

 

[Arielle]

So it would be good to have either? Clean or Feathered ?

You will need to choose. I expect with the APA picking the feather legs, THAT will be what most people will want. My cuckoo are not top quality, and I'm ok with keeping them as layers with clean legs. If you want to show, or sell to people who want to have APA recognized birds, then you will want the FEATHERED marans. THose are the only ones, cuckoo and BC, that the APA has accepted.

If you are putting in many hours to learn your birds and the SOP, you are better off with the feathered marans and BC. If you love the clean legged birds, no matter what, then breed that.

 

[DMRippy]

Quote: Wheatens and BCM are the only ones accepted .... Cuckoos are coming in 2013 to be considered.

 

[Arielle]

Quote: Wheatens and BCM are the only ones accepted .... Cuckoos are coming in 2013 to be considered.
Thanks for the correction Donna, Must be wishful thinking! LOL

 

[ChickenExtreme]

Well.... I breed to the SOP and I don't breed unless they have feathered legs, but clean legs still show up. Maybe eventually I will breed that out of them IDK

I have customers that DON'T want feathered legs. They think they are messy on the eggs.

Cool, I don't think I'll ever be a big breeder

Only time will tell, lol. Appreciate all the info. If I would become a big breeder, I would definitely want satisfied costumers

 

[Cadeau]

So I have been doing some MAJOR cleaning, moving and today I sold or gave away (little roos) 65+ birds

Tomorrow more are coming for some roos and maybe my Cuckoo Pullets that are clean legged. He just wants them for layers. SOOOO Excited. That is the biggest exodus of birds I have ever had! There would have been more but my roo guy is not feeling well and didn't want the little roos so the first of the week I have another guy coming to get about 30 little bitty roos and a few pullets

I still have a lot of birds

I didn't know really how many I had, still don't

. In a couple of weeks I can cull my 3-4 week old chicks and thin them down.

The lady is coming next week to get the blue cuckoos and a golden cuckoo roo so that is about 8-9 more birds and gives me a new pen to use

I found 3 little Cuckoo roos with feathered legs and I think 3 pullets with feathered legs too so maybe I can find something to work with. I am only keeping 1 reg cuckoo pullet, but she has clean legs so still have some work.

wow! Congrats!!

 

[ChickenExtreme]

You will need to choose. I expect with the APA picking the feather legs, THAT will be what most people will want. My cuckoo are not top quality, and I'm ok with keeping them as layers with clean legs. If you want to show, or sell to people who want to have APA recognized birds, then you will want the FEATHERED marans. THose are the only ones, cuckoo and BC, that the APA has accepted.

If you are putting in many hours to learn your birds and the SOP, you are better off with the feathered marans and BC. If you love the clean legged birds, no matter what, then breed that.

Thanks for the info

 

[Cadeau]

So - was looking at my 2-3mth youngsters today:

I have some with light orange eyes....what are my chances of them turning out to be the correct color orange (bay)??

My first time with LIGHT eyes! I've dealt with dark eyes....but not light.

something new every time - sigh...