Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[Debbi]

At 5 out of 7 marans; no other breeds. have died since the first day. 

If the chicks are not drinking enough, they are not getting the meds. So, I estimated how much water they should drink in a day and calculated the amount of Sulmet. I have liquid sulfa____ and insulin syringes, so dosed the sickest birds. Pray it works.

I do find it interesting that the marans are the hardest hit. Maybe they ate the most dirt. Or France doesn't have coccidia! LOL 

Man Ariele, that stinks! Maybe you should syringe them all just to be sure they all get a dose? I thought about the tube feeding method last night, and I don't think that would work, due to their crops! DUH! Only used that method with mammals. Are you even sure it's cocci you are dealing with? I know when I got hit with Parvo in a litter of Dobermans back in 1980, it was the largest and strongest pups that died. Out of 11, I lost all but 3 runts. The vet told me that is due to the bigger and stronger hearts of the bigger pups, so the virus got through them quicker? IDK..

 

[Arielle]

Arielle sorry about your birds. I have so far been very fortunate and not lossed any birds since I have gotten into chickens. I hope I never do. On a good note Im putting my eggs into Lockdown tomorrow. I hope by Tue I have some fluffy penguins! Mine always seem to start hatching a little early.

Yay!!! I have a few eggs in too. THey do look like penguins!! LOL

Quote: I was worried about over dosing the ones that are drinking. I figured I could give those a half dose; will have to wait until tomorrow morning as I didn't mark the ones dosed. Will handle dosing differently tomorrow. Put the ones done in a bucket next time.

I'm using an insulin syringe with the needle popped off. Very tiny and fits easily into their mouths.

 

[Blarneyeggs]

Arielle, you are a good chicky Momma.

I believe I need to start collecting the eggs from my remaining pullet to hatch. Maybe NEXT year I'll have Marans.

 

[Arielle]

Arielle, you are a good chicky Momma.

I believe I need to start collecting the eggs from my remaining pullet to hatch. Maybe NEXT year I'll have Marans.

I'll set some eggs right along with you.

I've been looking at my roosters, wanting to change roosters for the rest of the season. Tail set is not good on two but body color and width is great. ARGHHHH!

 

[Arielle]

Here is my question of the day.

Can I use a rooster with tail angle too high IF I use him on hen's whose brothers all show good correct tails?

 

[laughingclown]

Here is my question of the day.

Can I use a rooster with tail angle too high IF I use him on hen's whose brothers all show good correct tails?

I think what a lot of people were saying on here was take a roo that had a high tail set, and breed him with a female with a low tail set.

 

[Debbi]

Here is my question of the day.

Can I use a rooster with tail angle too high  IF I use him on hen's whose brothers all show good correct tails? 

Personally, I would not. Even if it shows as a nicer angle in the next batch of chicks, you are still passing on the tendency. Same with wry tail Then that also depends on how high is too high? If he is an otherwise exceptional bird, then I would test mate him with a couple of hens. I sure wouldn't breed the daughters back to him though! Got a pic??

 

[Arielle]

Quote: Guess I missed that discussion! LOL THe result is a number of happy mediums aka correct on the tails.

 

[desertmarcy]

Lots of sad news on this thread lately---coccidia, hot weather, car crashes and neck pain--so here is some good news

I got my first egg from this year's batch of Blue Copper Marans!
It looks pretty dark, but really only about a "4" on the egg chart, but weighs in at 1.5 ounces--not bad for a first egg:



I haven't posted pics of my Blue Copper pullets yet, I think it is time! I took these pics a full month ago, but got too involved in the Black Copper Marans cockerels to post these. The pullet who laid the eggs is either #27 or #29, I think. Here is #27:




Here is #29:





I like their shade of blue, lacing is decent, not as nice as Vicki's

, I need to get that copper color into their hackles. So Vicki, what is the best tactic for these two pullets, breed to a bright colored blue copper or to a bright colored black copper? My thinking is breed to a blue on these.

 

[gilavina]

Lots of sad news on this thread lately---coccidia, hot weather, car crashes and neck pain--so here is some good news

I got my first egg from this year's batch of Blue Copper Marans!
It looks pretty dark, but really only about a "4" on the egg chart, but weighs in at 1.5 ounces--not bad for a first egg:



I haven't posted pics of my Blue Copper pullets yet, I think it is time! I took these pics a full month ago, but got too involved in the Black Copper Marans cockerels to post these. The pullet who laid the eggs is either #27 or #29, I think. Here is #27:




Here is #29:





I like their shade of blue, lacing is decent, not as nice as Vicki's

, I need to get that copper color into their hackles. So Vicki, what is the best tactic for these two pullets, breed to a bright colored blue copper or to a bright colored black copper? My thinking is breed to a blue on these.

It just depends on the boys and their tone of copper. Do you have pics of potentials? If you do, I can take a peek and see what I can help you with. I've had fantastic luck with breeding BCMs over a either a solid blue girl or a blue copper girl that shows no color. But I have been very careful to pick the middle tone of copper. That is what translates best for me onto the hens.
This is Geronimo, Gigantor's 4 and a half month old son. His tone of copper is just what I like when trying to get color on the girls