Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

Phew, that took less than I thought! Ok here are the 3 Marans, that do NOT like their pics being taken, from that noisy bad camera! I still need to fine tune this thing some more!

First and only pic of "Gabby", 8 week old Blue Copper with no copper yet. This chick is always talking, never shuts up! I'd say pullet. Her neck is not short, she has it drawn in due to the camera.



Next is the Wheaten pullet, "Wheatie-Pie". She is going to be a biiig girl! Very stout for a pullet of this age, again 8 weeks old.



And now, the mystery chick. This is "Kiwi", as in almost no danged tail! Don, I know you called this one a roo back a few weeks ago, and you still maybe right. In the pics, it does look roo-ish, but behavior, and other things that so much resemble it's mother (Olivia) still make me question this. There are no pointy hackle feathers, the personality is very calm and quiet. It has a very soft feeling feather, almost like the feel of a Cockatoo, with a powdery feel to it, just like it's mom. On the other hand, when I went to take the first pic, Kiwi immediately took a pose almost exactly like his dad Clyde! I'll have to dig up that pic to show you the comparison. No doubt who the daddy is here! This one also has the mottled coloring on the comb that Olivia had up until POL. She also had somewhat larger wattles than all of my other hens, still does, but they are very neat and round shaped. So, the jury is still out on this one for me. Boys usually start to crow here at 8 weeks, so maybe this week I will know for sure? The other thing too is the tail. Now granted, he/she is clamping it down to it's butt in the pics, which didn't help matters, but it is still very short for this age. I do remember 2 pullets from my very first clutch of Marans having the same thing, but have never seen it in a roo here.
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Here is a pic of Clyde at 4-6 weeks. Sorry for the tiny pic, the pic was used as my avatar, and I can't seem to bring it back to original size. You can still see the similarities.
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Folks,

I keep seeing reference to multiple coops/runs/pens to isolate folks. My plan for this winter involved a 6'x8' coope with a 19'x16' run around it...no isolation places, no place to seperate, but full intentions of having more than a single hatching this winter.

So, should I build multiple coops? How do I take an intial set of, say, 12 in the next month, and then more in another month, if I only have a single coop/run?

Cheers,
Russ
 
Folks,

I keep seeing reference to multiple coops/runs/pens to isolate folks. My plan for this winter involved a 6'x8' coope with a 19'x16' run around it...no isolation places, no place to seperate, but full intentions of having more than a single hatching this winter.

So, should I build multiple coops? How do I take an intial set of, say, 12 in the next month, and then more in another month, if I only have a single coop/run?

Cheers,
Russ
All I can tell you is I wish I had found this forum before I had my coop/run built! I would've done it much differently. Separate pens and coops are a great help when you have, chicks to grow out, layer only hens (ones you don't want for breeding), rooster pens, quarantine pens (for new stock and show birds), brooder pens, different breed pens, single mating pens, etc.! It gets worse when Chicken Math hits the equation too!
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You can never build too many coops or runs...unless you have Superman-like control!
 
Folks,

I keep seeing reference to multiple coops/runs/pens to isolate folks. My plan for this winter involved a 6'x8' coope with a 19'x16' run around it...no isolation places, no place to seperate, but full intentions of having more than a single hatching this winter.

So, should I build multiple coops? How do I take an intial set of, say, 12 in the next month, and then more in another month, if I only have a single coop/run?

Cheers,
Russ

It depends -- on the boys. You'll be fine as long as they all get along. If the boys decide they don't like each other, you'll need options. But in my experience, it won't really be an problem until they are about 6 months old. Earliest I've ever had a problem is about 6 months.
 
Hey everyone help a chicken lover save her hens! I copied this from her thread. they have 10 signatures and need fifty.
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So I guess we didn't read the ordinances thoroughly enough, or we didn't consider 3 hens "farm animals," but apparently, the City of Joliet does .... and they've informed us that we have to get rid of our girls or be fined.

I'd rather fight than roll over and give up, so I started a signon.org petition, and was hoping some of you (especially those of you in Illinois) would sign your name to it.

You can find the petition here: Allow Backyard Chickens in Joliet, IL.

Thanks for your help and let's keep up the good fight!
Check the stats and see if they allow rare or exotic animals. Did i read somewhere that rare poultry can be defined as exotics and thus not barnyard fowl? ( need to be on an official preservation society list?) Hum.. something to check into.
Best,
karen
 
So I went out to the coop this evening and looky what I found. I dont know which of my girls laid it but Im excited to finally get an egg. When I got rid of my 6 Barred Rocks my eggs where gone with them. Im interested to see who laid it. One of the Blues or the Blacks. Im it will be fun to watch them darken up. Totally caught me with my pants down. I thought I had another 3-4 weeks.
 
Nice egg! It's always fun to get the 1st eggs they start laying.

Thought I'd share a picture, these are the last 6 Cuckoo Marans that we hatched out on June 25, 2012- looks like there are 2 girls and 4 boys(1 splash and 3 blues), the babysitter you see with them is the 1 chick that made it through our cocci exposure earlier this year. He was so depressed when his hatch mate didn't make it and DH and I didn't have the heart to cull him- so we gave him the job of watching his younger siblings
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He lost them the 1 st night he was on duty- they were afraid of him and he was so happy to have buddies so we made the pen more baby proof and now tonight moved them to the bigger area. He has been great with them and very gentle.

 
Just checked the weather and it looks like we have a really good chance of getting rain from 9 to 11 tonight with about a 60-85% chance and then 30% chance through the rest of the night to mid morning tomorrow. I'm soo praying we get some, its getting pretty bad here since we haven't had any measurable rain in weeks.
The birds sure are running and jumping about and feeling a bit crazy cause of the change in the atmosphere, so that's a good sign.
 
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Sure hope you get some! We have a few smaller chances coming up too. I fear the grass is gone for this year...
 

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