Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[OneMountainAcres]

So I took my extra blue copper roo to the TSC swap yesterday to try to find him a new home and I had a guy come up to me willing to trade two of his young BCM pullets for him. I was ecstatic! Until I got to his truck and saw them. Not only were they shaggy looking with almost no leg feathering, both of them had very very prominent combs and wattles (like at least a half inch and bright red). The guy said they were hatched in April and they were told by several people they were hens. I asked to hold them and showed them the hackles and salddle feathers that were starting to come in on them. They said they were pheasant people and new to chickens (but who knows how true that was). I'm so thankful to you all guiding me through with my chicks and helping me learn how to figure out sex (and all of BYC for that matter) or i would've been in trouble there. So I ended up bringing Lou back home with me plus a free bunny that the guy next to us gave the kids *rolls eyes*. Isn't it crazy how you go to a swap to unload and end up coming back with more?

 

[ladycat]

I went through a pen of 3-4 month old BCM today to cull for obvious faults. 2 cockerels got culled for an odd reason- they had feathers on the insides of their legs instead of the outside. I don't think I've ever seen that before. Too bad, though, because one of them has a beautiful type. But I don't want to get started with birds that have strange leg feathering, so he's definitely a no-go.

Now I'm about to go through 2 pens of whites.

 

[Junibutt]

Hi, I am new to this thread so please excuse my ignorance to the BCMs. I just received 3 BCM chicks from a very reputable breeder out of Ohio. They are 2 weeks old. Is it possible to sex them at this age?. Also 2 of them are around 90 g but the third one is only 68. Its smaller over-all so there is no abnormal shape involved. Shall I just get rid of it now or give it a couple of weeks to see if it catches up.
My object is not to breed them, I just want some chocolate eggs, however will be fun if I were to cross my Crested Cream Legbar rooster with them and see what comes out. At least some Olive Eggers I would think.

 

[ladycat]

2 of them are around 90 g but the third one is only 68. Its smaller over-all so there is no abnormal shape involved. Shall I just get rid of it now or give it a couple of weeks to see if it catches up.

I would wait. Often those small ones catch up and become fine birds.

 

[forgetful]

I took some photos of my chicks today. Some aren't the best, but offer a few different views of them, so I decided to include them. I have three definite cockerels, but I want to point out a few I am unsure of and hope someone could offer their perspective. If anyone sees any I haven't mentioned and suspect are male, please let me know! There are three with very large pink combs that I didn't comment on. I think we all know what those are.

^ First chick on left

^ From left to right: The second and last chicks.



^ Chick on right

^ First chick on left, closest to viewer

^ Same bird as above photo




^ This one





Thanks!

Edited to add: They are two and a half weeks old today.

 

[French Hen]

@forgetful
I just want to snuggle the whole lot of them! Is that weird? It probably is, isn't it. But look at that cute fuzz! They're so sweet!

I have to ask (& I apologize in advance for my ignorance) what is up with this one's belly?

 

[bamadude]

@forgetful
I just want to snuggle the whole lot of them! Is that weird? It probably is, isn't it. But look at that cute fuzz! They're so sweet!

I have to ask (& I apologize in advance for my ignorance) what is up with this one's belly?

ive got 1 the same exact way

 

[French Hen]

ive got 1 the same exact way

I had a Marans chick that looked that way too but he appears to have grown out of it. Still his belly/butt area is pretty round and big like that. Just makes me wonder

 

[bamadude]

I had a Marans chick that looked that way too but he appears to have grown out of it. Still his belly/butt area is pretty round and big like that. Just makes me wonder

the 1 i have was an assisted hatch on day 22. His yolk sack wasnt all the way absorbed and has had pasty butt.

 

[French Hen]

the 1 i have was an assisted hatch on day 22. His yolk sack wasnt all the way absorbed and has had pasty butt.

that probably has a lot to do with it then. My chick was shipped to me so no knowledge of the hatch but he was small and had pasty butt for a week on arrival. He took a bit if tlc but came along pretty well. Still the belly is kinda large. Wonder if it means things aren't right with the organ structure? I certainly won't be using him to breed.