Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[chickenfinch]

Thank you! They seem like very good birds! I live in Northern Mn so we have pretty cold winters, but our Barred rocks have survived their first winter.

 

[gilavina]

Kim, I'm in trouble, I need some serious help STAT.

I'm starting some new projects.

Two Wyandotte and one Marans, besides the projects I've already got going, I'm not well.

I do, however, believe I will get your seal of approval

Don seems to think they will work with some effort and careful culling. This however means the Ameraucanas have to go, as well as selling off the birds that are good, but not amazing to make room for the chicks I'm gonna be hatching all over the place probably

 

[gilavina]

Vicki~

I get to borrow that other Blue Copper gal from my bestfriend pretty soon.

nice!

 

[pinkchick]

Donna~ Got your PM and thank you!

Waiting for a response back from that gentleman and will email you later with specifics on both subjects.

 

[pinkchick]

Kim, I'm in trouble, I need some serious help STAT. 





I'm starting some new projects.   Two Wyandotte and one Marans, besides the projects I've already got going, I'm not well. 

I do, however, believe I will get your seal of approval    Don seems to think they will work with some effort and careful culling. This however means the Ameraucanas have to go, as well as selling off the birds that are good, but not amazing to make room for the chicks I'm gonna be hatching all over the place probably

Hit me with it!

 

[gilavina]

Hit me with it!

sent ya a pm lady!

 

[desertmarcy]

So I am officially out of my league here. I was just wondering today how many birds a person keeps and what some of the bycers keep or hatch that I do... but the numbers quell me. I am certain that even if I manage to hatch any chicks this year I certainly won't get to so many as you all. I wonder if this is the litmus test that says I am not going to be a good chicken keeper. It does hearten me to see that 'serious' keepers keep more than one breed at a time. I have been feeling like I should find a way to limit what I have (Favorelles, BC Marans, Ameraucanas, Orloffs) and I feel as if I should make apologies for not being more... focused. Its difficult to be certain I am doing as much as I can for each with this many. I really like them, but then, I like birds and would probably have a few more types and colors if I could. When it comes to keeping separate pens for cocks and hens for each breed.... oh boy.

I did get my first solid and even big Marans egg. Small joys.

Hi Ashandvine, I am with you. I keep multiple breeds, I guess you could say I don't like monoculture! I find hatching out tons of chicks very difficult on the pocketbook to say the least. I do not feed GMO (genetically modified) feed, which is most of what is out there. Feeding all organic in a climate where it is prohibitive to grow much of my own for the birds is becoming a serious burden. In my last order, just received a week ago, of certified organic feed from Modesto Milling in CA, a 50 lb bag of 22% chick starter was $29.47 plus another $2.60 per bag for shipping. And as all of you who raise chicks know, a 50 lb bag does not last long with growing chicks! So here I have lofty goals of growing out at least 10 chicks from each of the 6 Black Copper Marans pullets from last year and then do that again with the second male....well I've just started and already can rule out one girl because she keeps throwing clean to very lightly feathered legged chicks. Plus she has dark eyes, so two strikes against her, and she went into the layer pen. Now, I'm also hatching and growing out Good Shepard Barred Rocks, German New Hampshires, and Mohawk Rhode Island Reds, since these are birds from a starter group purchased last spring, so I want to work on those, too. And, of course, my beloved Orloffs. I'm hatching from two of my best original hens back to a son and want to hatch from last year's females back to my best original male, but am seeing all infertile eggs from that group, so have to figure out what is going on. I suspect the male is not breeding, all the hens have pristine feathers on their backs and he has been in with them for over a month. So right now, I have about 90 adult chickens, that includes quite a few that are just for layers and currently I think I have 12 roosters. And 18 adult turkeys of 5 different breeds (I don't like monoculture there, either

) To house all these birds, I have 7 different pens for turkeys, 12 for chickens, plus my chicken condo which has 14 4'x4' individual pens plus one 4'x8' pen (two 4x4s I took the divider out). Each pen has its own automatic water, feeder, and roost. I just can't imagine doing this again, but it has all gone together over considerable time. But when I looked at the photos of Don's row of barrels for single pair mating---I thought, WOW, but no way would that work in this climate, those barrels would be little individual chicken roasters out here.

I wonder what predators are around the property of people who are hatching hundreds of chicks? Can they just turn the birds out once past the brooder stage, or do they, like me, have to keep them all contained? I have bobcats around here and the cats are out during the day. And numerous hawks and coyotes. I've been working on a new pen area, it will be a nice sized pen, about 30' X 20' with a little 10' X10' section off to one side. It was going to be another mixed layer pen, but after much consideration, I decided I will need it to be a grow-out area. But putting all the chain link and welded wire up plus a solid roof area for rain and must importantly out here--sun--protection, is very time consuming and costly. A 100' role of 1"x2" x6 foot welded wire is about $300----I have some left over from previous pens, but I fear it will not be enough to cover the top. Heck, I started this pen last fall, that is about my time frame for getting something this size done!

So all this to try to produce some good SOP birds--but what money is left over to go to shows, anyway? And anything out of town is pretty much out of the question since who takes care of them all if I am not here? It is just me and DH, who helps when I need another hand, but really has no interest in the birds other than to eat them and their eggs.

Sorry for what is sounding like a rant, it just feels so overwhelming sometimes, but it is nice to have a BYC "family" who understands! Oh, and a jury duty notice showed up the other day. I'm sure running a farm is not a good enough excuse to get out of that, but yes---it is a hardship to get away from here for "even ONE DAY" (Their words and bold on the summons).

 

[pinkchick]

sent ya a pm lady!

 

[pinkchick]

Hi Ashandvine, I am with you. I keep multiple breeds, I guess you could say I don't like monoculture! I find hatching out tons of chicks very difficult on the pocketbook to say the least. I do not feed GMO (genetically modified) feed, which is most of what is out there. Feeding all organic in a climate where it is prohibitive to grow much of my own for the birds is becoming a serious burden. In my last order, just received a week ago, of certified organic feed from Modesto Milling in CA, a 50 lb bag of 22% chick starter was $29.47 plus another $2.60 per bag for shipping. And as all of you who raise chicks know, a 50 lb bag does not last long with growing chicks! So here I have lofty goals of growing out at least 10 chicks from each of the 6 Black Copper Marans pullets from last year and then do that again with the second male....well I've just started and already can rule out one girl because she keeps throwing clean to very lightly feathered legged chicks. Plus she has dark eyes, so two strikes against her, and she went into the layer pen. Now, I'm also hatching and growing out Good Shepard Barred Rocks, German New Hampshires, and Mohawk Rhode Island Reds, since these are birds from a starter group purchased last spring, so I want to work on those, too. And, of course, my beloved Orloffs. I'm hatching from two of my best original hens back to a son and want to hatch from last year's females back to my best original male, but am seeing all infertile eggs from that group, so have to figure out what is going on. I suspect the male is not breeding, all the hens have pristine feathers on their backs and he has been in with them for over a month. So right now, I have about 90 adult chickens, that includes quite a few that are just for layers and currently I think I have 12 roosters. And 18 adult turkeys of 5 different breeds (I don't like monoculture there, either ) To house all these birds, I have 7 different pens for turkeys, 12 for chickens, plus my chicken condo which has 14 4'x4' individual pens plus one 4'x8' pen (two 4x4s I took the divider out). Each pen has its own automatic water, feeder, and roost. I just can't imagine doing this again, but it has all gone together over considerable time. But when I looked at the photos of Don's row of barrels for single pair mating---I thought, WOW, but no way would that work in this climate, those barrels would be little individual chicken roasters out here.

I wonder what predators are around the property of people who are hatching hundreds of chicks? Can they just turn the birds out once past the brooder stage, or do they, like me, have to keep them all contained? I have bobcats around here and the cats are out during the day. And numerous hawks and coyotes. I've been working on a new pen area, it will be a nice sized pen, about 30' X 20' with a little 10' X10' section off to one side. It was going to be another mixed layer pen, but after much consideration, I decided I will need it to be a grow-out area. But putting all the chain link and welded wire up plus a solid roof area for rain and must importantly out here--sun--protection, is very time consuming and costly. A 100' role of 1"x2" x6 foot welded wire is about $300----I have some left over from previous pens, but I fear it will not be enough to cover the top. Heck, I started this pen last fall, that is about my time frame for getting something this size done!

So all this to try to produce some good SOP birds--but what money is left over to go to shows, anyway? And anything out of town is pretty much out of the question since who takes care of them all if I am not here? It is just me and DH, who helps when I need another hand, but really has no interest in the birds other than to eat them and their eggs.

Sorry for what is sounding like a rant, it just feels so overwhelming sometimes, but it is nice to have a BYC "family" who understands! Oh, and a jury duty notice showed up the other day. I'm sure running a farm is not a good enough excuse to get out of that, but yes---it is a hardship to get away from here for "even ONE DAY" (Their words and bold on the summons).

Hi Marcy!

I keep my young birds under lock and key in completely enclosed runs and coops until they are approx. 3.5- 4 months old. Then I feel confident to let them out to free range in the commons area that is fully fenced, but overhead predators have full access as it would not be feasible for me to make my entire back yard flying predator proof. I figure if the eagles and hawks are going to get a meal then that is the way it is as I can't keep them locked up 24/7.......and trust me, the eagles ate very well last summer after they took my beloved Bill and another Blue Copper rooster in the same day.
I had a bobcat come through last summer as well and took 5 of my full grown female geese, but since that bobcat is nicely mounted on my neighbors mantle, I haven't had any more issues.

Edited to add: The only young that I do not keep locked up are chicks that are being raised by their mothers. I have lost a few chicks this way because I believe they have wandered off too far from mamma into the blackberry jungle and hard telling what predators are lurking in there.

 

[snowbird]

These are some of what I have in the incubator.