Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[taterdee]

Great info, thank you! I have seen a huge owl around here. My husband wanted to wait in camo with his shotgun for whatever it was to come back (it only ate the head and one side of breast) but we simply didn't have time. It was interesting while we were out there after finding it, one rooster started yelling and almost all the chickens ran to the coop. The rooster and one hen stayed looking in to the woods for quite a while but we never could see anything! I'm hoping it gets easier when they are bigger so I don't have to lose so many to predators! Between them and my heeler, it's been hard!

 

[jaybobrenn]

Great info, thank you! I have seen a huge owl around here. My husband wanted to wait in camo with his shotgun for whatever it was to come back (it only ate the head and one side of breast) but we simply didn't have time. It was interesting while we were out there after finding it, one rooster started yelling and almost all the chickens ran to the coop. The rooster and one hen stayed looking in to the woods for quite a while but we never could see anything! I'm hoping it gets easier when they are bigger so I don't have to lose so many to predators! Between them and my heeler, it's been hard!

what ever it was it must have been the same kinda critter that got my young olive egger lastnight because i found it just like yours with the head and one side of the breast gone. weird

 

[KsKingBee]

Limpy, one our young ducks that had survived an attack three weeks ago was found headless today too. I thought it was probably a coon but your explanation seems more plausible. Limpy was in the jon boat and there were no animal tracks in the boat, Limpy could not have gotten into the boat on his own. In the last four weeks I have killed one coyote, one skunk, one opossum, and two coons by either trapping or shooting. Hopefully I will thin out the predators some more before winter.

 

[Runawaylobster]

our Maran eggs!


I don't know why, but this maran's comb is bigger than her two sisters who are the same age!

that is a BIG egg for a marans.. mine have combs all different sizes...

 

[KsKingBee]

The different size combs sure make it hard to determine which are pullets and which are not. There is a lot of wishful hoping on my part, but so far when the color pops on their back I give up hope.

 

[KsKingBee]

that is a BIG egg for a marans.. mine have combs all different sizes...

The fellow I got my Marans hatching eggs from had huge eggs too. He kept out the double yokes but I thought some of mine would have doubles but they weren't. So far I am disappointed with all the variation in color, size, etc of the birds but the eggs that they came from were the darkest chocolate brown I've seen yet.

 

[MandyFitch]

Can anyone tell me about the quality of these 8 week old birds? I bought them as day olds from a BYC-er who says they are Greenfire lines by way of The Garry Farm. I have to rehome the roos so it would be nice if I could have good things to say about them as potential breeding stock (as opposed to potential dinner.) Thanks for your thoughts / advice.
















This is my girl, based on the lack of comb and waddles. Plus, she doesn't ruffle her neck and bump chests the way the other two do. Will the white on her neck go away after she molts?

 

[Broad St Farm]

Can anyone tell me about the quality of these 8 week old birds? I bought them as day olds from a BYC-er who says they are Greenfire lines by way of The Garry Farm. I have to rehome the roos so it would be nice if I could have good things to say about them as potential breeding stock (as opposed to potential dinner.) Thanks for your thoughts / advice. This is my girl, based on the lack of comb and waddles. Plus, she doesn't ruffle her neck and bump chests the way the other two do. Will the white on her neck go away after she molts?

In all honesty it's still really early to give advice on quality. They are still very young and a lot happens with them as they mature. I wouldn't even worry until they get older unless they develop major issues. One thing that concerns me is the yellow tinge to the beaks and faces. They shouldn't have that. Do any of them have yellow in the legs?

 

[MandyFitch]

Thanks for your reply. No yellow in the legs at all. They do have quite thick feathered legs, though. I'll see if I can take a photo.

How long until they start crowing? They need to move on before then.

 

[TulsaChick]

The Marans Chicken Club USA National Meet will be in Shawnee, OK December 14th. and I know there will be birds for sale there.

Neat! Nice and close to home! I'm so excited. Thanks for the post. Anyone else here going?
Where in Shawnee?