Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[OHmamma]

Nicol, sounds like great advice to get some experience and then a quad. I think I should just start with some chicks and general experience. You have a lot of roos?? lol...How do you separate your roosters,hens, and chicks?Do you have at least two pens?Yeah, the GNHs are really pretty.

Hi,
I have 23 breeding pens right now. A lot of them are for one on one matings so they are smaller pens but I also have a few pens that keep several hens and one rooster a couple with two roos.
They range in size from 3x5 for a pair of bantam marans to 10x20 for the larger cuckoo and a 20x20 for my black coppers. Some are kept in the barn but most are outside.

I also have my free range oddballs 18-20 or so hens and 6 or 8 roos. There are actually only a few of them that will just hard core fight when they are out as far as my Marans go. Those boys stay in the coops except on their dedicated day out. Then the 3 aggressive and 1 mean to people too roos that I am not using for breeding right now all stay together in one big pen. The "Scrap Yard" they have established some sort of hierarchy out there which I do not question. They still scuffle from time to time but never enough to draw blood.

I also keep Shamo and bantam Asil and they can NEVER be let out with other roosters, they will fight themselves if given a big enough mirror Oddly they are the most people friendly birds I have ever seen.

In the winter when the weather and the predators get bad I bring them all in the barn and the more aggressive roosters go in extra large dog cages with covered sides and the rest run loose between 3 adjoined 15 x 30 rooms.

Yeah it is all pretty crazy but I have fun

 

[OHmamma]

Hi everyone, I had posted a question somewhere else on this site and I am new here so please excuse me until I figure things out. I am going to post here since this is a Maran thread.

I have 4 day old chicks. I have 9 black copper marans, one black chick that looks like a black copper maran but has white detail on its face and white wing tips, and I also have a light colored chick that hatched from a very dark brown egg. The rooster is a sweet Black Copper Maran. The hens are buff orpington, (we didn't hatch any light colored eggs) black copper maran, and we have one wheaten hen and one lavender buff. I am thinking the light yellow chick is a wheaten since it hatched from a dark brown egg. The black chick with white detail I am thinking is a BCM/lavender cross? We were expecting all BCM since the eggs were so dark and we have a lot of BCM hens. Any help or pictures are appreciated.

BC chicks can have white detail or markings on the face and neck. I don't know what a lavender buff is but bc x wheaten should give you a black chick that will look bc when grown unless your roo is really a wheaten or recessive wheaten. You would have to put up some pictures

-Nicol

 

[OHmamma]

Hello from Ohio, I am getting ready to breed BCM and was wondering. I have a roo that I was skeptical about breeding to my girls. ? Should I breed him being that he barely has copper in his hackle and saddle feathers?

If you really like him otherwise and can not find a better colored roo that you like more then use him. I would not suggest going too crazy with the hatching but a few test matings wouldn't hurt. I have a couple that are lacking color in the saddle I keep them specifically for leveling out the hens with too much color in the breast. So it could adversely effect the hackle color in the females you hatch.


-Nicol

 

[OHmamma]

Yep she is just like the hen I posted. They are more of a copper blue splash for lack of a name. Those dark blue feathers sort of scatter on their body.
Another reason why I don't do blue to blue. I am not sure what causes that I suppose it has something to do with the distribution of the blue pigment.

 

[rmtrevizo1]

Im not even getting one egg I'm ****** lol. My marans r 7 months and free range all over but I can see them. I just don't get it. Water food treats every thing what the hell am I doin wrong

 

[Old Hens House]

For Mothers day I got my first Maran hen. Isn't she beautiful. Her name is Molly. I do have other breeds, Rhode Island Red, and Plymouth Rocks. Right now I only have six hens but love everyone of them. I just started raising hens in February this year. So far there isn't a better experience or entertainment for me. Just wanted to share my good fortune with BYC. Hope all the moms out there have a great Mothers Day.

 

[boydfarm]

I have Marans - and yes, they are hatchery birds. But they're wonderful ! Celebrate - Cooperate - Promote!!

My next chapter will be to buy some hatching eggs from established breeders - but you know what? They'll STILL be backyard chickens! : )

 

[bigshawn]

Congrats, and happy early mothers day.......

 

[boydfarm]

Happy Mothers Day !

Your new hen is lovely ! They are such nice girls, I'm sure you'll be pleased.

 

[Chickenman76]

If you really like him otherwise and can not find a better colored roo that you like more then use him. I would not suggest going too crazy with the hatching but a few test matings wouldn't hurt. I have a couple that are lacking color in the saddle I keep them specifically for leveling out the hens with too much color in the breast. So it could adversely effect the hackle color in the females you hatch.


-Nicol

Thank you, I have another roo with way more copper. Was just wondering if I should cull him, Iv'e got a few roosters to many, lol.