Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[flgardengirl]

OOO she does have tufts how cute!!

cackleberry, Thank you. No I wasn't planning on breeding Guinea girl she has been in the layer pen since she was old enough to start laying. She is a real sweetie pie so we decided to keep her. Her comb is normal, not pea. It just looks small in the photo when she was a pullet, she is older now so it is larger.

Thanks pinkchick and Debbie: My blues definitely need lots of work still. I am not gonna sell any eggs or anything until I get thier faults worked out. Coco has a few feathers on her middle toes. Her babies don't so far but I want to make sure they stay that way lol. They also could all be a lot bigger. Bella is really small for a marans hen. etc etc LOL!! They are a joy to work with though because they have such nice personalities in general.

ETA: cackleberry: guinea's eggs are not super dark, they are more like a 5. They are very speckled.

 

[Harris5]

BBS Marans!?

It makes the thread much more fun to see the wonderful different colors of Marans out there!

 

[pinkchick]

Morning Harris!

I think I need that Blue Copper pullet in the last photo.

Lock her up tight when you sleep!

 

[Harris5]

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Morning Pinkchick! She sleeps in coop about 75 feet outside my bedroom window to protect her from all of the mountain critters....beware, I'm a light sleeper!

 

[Ivywoods]

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I also have some in the 'bator that I can't remember how old they are (OR, what worries me more is that I can't remember how long it was between roos when I collected them, OOPS!)
and some that have been refrigerated
So far ALL of them have developed (we're on day 10) and I've only tossed ONE out that I thought smelled a little - it was dirty, probably got bacteria in it rather than being too old or too cold.

Good luck with your hatch!!!!!!!!!!!!

Good luck with your hatch, too. Sounds like you are off to a good start.

I intend to candle these in a few days to see if any of them are developing. If none are, I will toss the bunch, replace that rooster and then wait a couple weeks to start saving eggs. I wonder, however, if they might be dropping off on their egg laying. It might be tough to collect an inubator load. I'm committed to only hatching the very darkest ones.

If I don't get enough to justify a hatch I will have to wait till spring.

Has anyone candled these dark eggs? What day is the best? I have some pretty high-power flashlights. I'm hoping that they will do the trick.

 

[BeccaOH]

This guy came from a Blue Birchen hatch out of Gabbard Farm hatched eggs in early September if I remember right. What do you think of him? He is clean legged.

I'm new to Marans. I'm definitely keeping the Wheatens I started this year, but I'm still debating about the BBS and birchens.

 

[sewandgrow]

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Very pretty flock Kristin,
I am trying very hard to NOT get distracted into the blues. I have my hands full trying to do straight BCM................LOL
Karen in Turlock

 

[Harris5]

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Very pretty flock Kristin,
I am trying very hard to NOT get distracted into the blues. I have my hands full trying to do straight BCM................LOL
Karen in Turlock

Karen, one of the great things about blue is that you can keep them with your BCM!

 

[Wynette]

Hi, friends...been missin' all of you! I've had priorities pulling me away from the computer lately, but I think of you guys and your birds every day!

 

[Happy Chooks]

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Been wonderin where you were. Hope you get things settled and can make it back here soon!