Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[gilavina]

Thank you! Do you know what age they start to fill out and crow? I've been seeing some of what I think are his feathers around so hopefully he's not fighting with the girls. Waiting for him to crow is almost as exciting as waiting for an egg.

Crowing is not something that can be determined definitely. Several factors affect how soon they will crow, from depending on whether they are a dominate bird in the pen or not, or even if they are housed close to other dominate males can affect them. Having said that, I have had Marans chicks start trying to crow as soon as a couple of weeks old. Granted, they sounded like they were dying, but that's definitely what they were doing.

 

[OleMissChic]

Crowing is not something that can be determined definitely. Several factors affect how soon they will crow, from depending on whether they are a dominate bird in the pen or not, or even if they are housed close to other dominate males can affect them. Having said that, I have had Marans chicks start trying to crow as soon as a couple of weeks old. Granted, they sounded like they were dying, but that's definitely what they were doing.

That's why I'm surprised he isn't crowing. It seems many people hear them at least attempt to crow very early. He's the only male with 4 females in a nice sized pen/coop but there is one girl that seems a little more dominant than he is. I'm looking forward to seeing how he looks as his feathers grow in, thank you for you input!

 

[Wynette]

That's why I'm surprised he isn't crowing. It seems many people hear them at least attempt to crow very early. He's the only male with 4 females in a nice sized pen/coop but there is one girl that seems a little more dominant than he is. I'm looking forward to seeing how he looks as his feathers grow in, thank you for you input!

Did you mention how old he is and I missed it?

The fact that you are anxious for the crow is a true sign that you are addicted to chickens - welcome!

 

[math ace]

Who really quit besides you?????

I did.... However, I went out and bought a 3 rd incubator so that I could make up for lost time once I started hatching again!

Just incase anyone wants to know.... The NEW model hovabators with the digital temp and humidty readings on the door are great! The readings are off, so you still need to calibrate, but that is Soooooo Easy now. The temps are controlled by buttons on the lid top as opposed to toggle switches on the underside of the lid.

If anyone is thininking about saving a few bucks and purchasing the hovabator with the wafers and knob you turn for adjusting the temps - DON'T.... I have replaced parts, had Dh tighten everything, contacted manufacturer.... EVERYTHING that could be done has been done and still if I lift the lid, the temps go wacky and I spend a couple of days dailing them back in....

 

[math ace]

And this pol pullet is "the green one". She has yet to show any copper........ and please excuse her bum- as the fluff seems to catch it all lol

So, I am going to go ahead and throw my 2 cents in here for what it is worth....

1st The comb does have two many points and the wave in the front is called a Twist.
The blade ( the back part of the comb) is not long enough and ends to low on the head.
( Fault Issue)

2nd The fluff is too much for me too. The fluff makes it appear as if her underline is on a downward slope instead of a curved bowl.
The fluff concerns me on another aspect... WEIGHT.... a FLUFFY bird get look much bigger than it actually is.
I do recommend weighing her and making sure her weight reflects her appearance.

3rd Something about the wing set bothers me... Wynette liked it and Don said nothing about it.... so IDK what I am thinking...
Maybe it is just all the fluff under the wing that is messing with my eye.

4th Copper... She is missing the Copper in the hackle area...


Now that the negatives are over... I will go over some of the positives that I see...
1st Tail - Very nice open tail. Perfect teepee!

2nd Topline - smooth and pleasing curve to topline. (Would love to see her with a slightly longer back, but what she has isn't bad)

3rd Head / neck balance - Very good head to neck balance... Nothing crowish in her appearance.

4th Legs - nice med slate color with nice amount of leg feathering. (I can not see if it goes all the way down to the toes, you will want to check on that and see if there are any feathers, ittsy bittsy feathers, between the toes. It is a fault if there is feathering in between the toes or on the middle toe.)

5th Fluff- - Although there is a LOT of fluff... the fluff is a very nice black. No Brown tinges in slight. So the color on the fluff is appropriate.

 

[FromChictoChick]

Is she close to laying?

 

[snowbird]

Lisa, The only thing I would question at all on this female is the Comb. I would test mate as I think there is something hiding . I would rather have the rear fluff than have the Gamey look. The rear fluff does not bother me unless it comes up the side by the shanks. The only thing I would check on the wing would be if it was short in length.

 

[snowbird]

Is she close to laying?

Not to say anything against your pullet but she looks very unthrifty to me.

 

[FromChictoChick]

What does that mean? I'm a newbie, so I'm not sure what you're saying. I got her from another Backyard Chicken user "Arielle"

 

[FromChictoChick]

Not to say anything against your pullet but she looks very unthrifty to me.

???