Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[berkeleysprings]

it helps to have 6 or so per roo but he will still pick some favorites , i do think its not the spir end of the rooster that tears the hens up its the other toes doing ther dammage . i do like haveing a batchlor pad for roosters leaveing one with the hens at all time.and i should say i never used a different roo in my breeding program but i have a very nice looking one to use very soon and i do like haveing concrete floor in part of the coop floor to grind there toe nails naturaly and helps hens backs
Quote:
Mornin' Lisa! I would think it would depend on the situation in question. How many girls he has, how much room he has, does he have favorites, does he have competition, etc. ? My Fuglee has 3 girls, he definately has a favorite, I don't recall ever seeing him breed one of them. With 5 cockerels in there, he is off and chasing the girls right out of the box in the morning! Seems like he is only interested in breeding in the morning too.

Agreed Debbi! I notice more bald spots on the girls heads in the pens where I keep very small numbers of birds. The pens that have between 5-7 girls and one roo show more rooster wear than in the big pens where I have more females than the boys need. I have recently added a few girls from the laying flock to the smaller pens to divert some of the boys' attention, seems to be helping as I have seen less dirty foot prints on some of the girls backs.

 

[Keara]

Finally new photos. Since my new arrivals are feeling better I subjected them and my DH to a photo-shoot. So here they are.....

The larger hen who was the sickest.

The smaller hen, with little copper.

The smaller roo

The larger roo, yes he is crowing in this picture.

As far as I can see they all have a few partially white feathers on the wing tips. All have very nice feathered feet, lightly to the end of each outside toe. I will only be keeping one roo, and am tempted to keep the larger one as size is important to me.

 

[math ace]

The smaller one looks like it is missing tail feathers. Odds are - - - where ever they were being held there was a few roosters there and your smaller one got picked on and kept away from food.

I would WAIT and give him some time to CHOW without restriction from the bigger one BEFORE making that crucial decision. . .
That is UNLESS you see some other desirable traits (other than size) that make you choose the bigger one . . . .

 

[flgardengirl]

Quote:
x2 You never know how they are gonna fill out and what all kind of coppering they get etc. I would wait as long as you can before culling.

 

[geebs]

Best advice ever given.... (carry a spare roo... preferrably a brother) Think long and hard about where he will go and how you can get him back in case of a catastophe....It is next to impossible to replace a good roo if you are having foundation stock... They are the cornerstone of the breeding program... Then hens aren't as important... Most ppl think about the aquisition of the hens, however the selection and care of the roo is the super important factor... The little one has a good understanding...I like his thick legs and husky appearance...It would be next to impossible to make a cull choice this early... the first hen was sure worth the trouble.. The second hen has a nice long neck... Will likely cross well with the little rooster if he is going to get as husky as he look like he will... Hen one may cross well with either...It is a little early yet... Good job on your chickie mamma-ing. Glad to see they were healthy enough for a photo shoot...

Keep us posted.

 

[Keara]

Quote:
I plan on waiting till they are about 15 weeks to decide, though if I find no clear "winner" I may wait longer. I think I have a home for the unwanted roo, with a mixed flock of his own, we'll see.

The smaller roo is standing facing the camera, tail pointed away, he has a normal tail for a 7-8wk old bird. Right now the only clear difference between the 2 roos is body size and # of comb points.

They are all doing much better, after being on the gallimycin for several days. I do think I will be needing a second cage to keep them in quarantine for the next 4wks. They are going to be too big in a few weeks for the one they are in now.

 

[bikechick]

Quote:
Don't beat yourself self up about it...for future, when removing chicks you can simply put a steaming sponge in and it raises the humidity right up.

cherylcohen Thanx for the sponge tip. The two I rescued are up, moving around and piping loudly. Now, a new delimma should i save the other two that have zipped? They are not as advanced as these two were. I'll wait till tomorrow. I hate listening to pipping and seeing them moving in the hole. This is day 24.

 

[HenThymes]

Hi, can someone tell me on BCM is there a difference in them (cockerel/pullet) as chicks or do you have to wait till they are old enough to start showing red combs and or wattles to determine who is who?

Are they born black and then they start to get color slowly on the tops of their heads as they feather in?

Also do cuckoo pullets tend to feather sooner than cockerels?

Sorry for the questions, this group is "all about learning" for me.

 

[pinkchick]

Quote:
I plan on waiting till they are about 15 weeks to decide, though if I find no clear "winner" I may wait longer. I think I have a home for the unwanted roo, with a mixed flock of his own, we'll see.

The smaller roo is standing facing the camera, tail pointed away, he has a normal tail for a 7-8wk old bird. Right now the only clear difference between the 2 roos is body size and # of comb points.

They are all doing much better, after being on the gallimycin for several days. I do think I will be needing a second cage to keep them in quarantine for the next 4wks. They are going to be too big in a few weeks for the one they are in now.

Nice pictures Keara! Thank you for sharing the babies with us and soooooo glad they are feeling better.
As geebs suggested, I would wait even longer than 15 weeks, these boys that I have are still changing quite a bit and bulking up after 5 mos., also the pullets changed alot......every one of them has copper, though several of them looked like they would never have it and now at 5 mos. they all show it. Now I do have a couple pullets that have very very very dark copper that makes them appear all black but in the sun light you can see the color, barely but you can see it.

eta: I have a girl that looks just like your first pullet and she is my 2nd favorite even though she has very dark eyes, she turned into a beautiful girl, she has the best copper I have ever seen on a pullet.

 

[pinkchick]

Quote:
Hi Hens!!!!! Good to see ya!

Normally..no they cannot be sexed as young chicks unless a person is capable of vent sexing (eeeWWWW

), but I will tell you that between 3-5 days I start watching their primary and secondary wing feather growth. My females tend to feather out faster than the males and the primaries and secondaries on the pullets are longer and more even when stretching out the wing to look at them. In my experience the boys will have shorter secondary wing feathers. I also watch for shoulder feathers, my females will get their shoulder feathers in faster than the boys, I notice shoulder feathers starting to come in on pullets around 8-10 days.
At 3-5 days I will mark the ones that I think are females with a temporary vet wrap band, by about 10-15 days I know who is who because the cockerels combs will start to show.....all of a sudden they start to get wider and fat, not neccessarily more red but they are starting to pink up by this age, also take a look at the waddles, they will be bigger and more pink as well. The pullets tend to keep a very small tight and sometime darker colored comb, some almost look blackish grayish in color and they change as the girls get older. I have seen some keep the small blackish colored combs until they are 3 mos or better. If I still have my doubts about who is who by the age of 6-8 weeks and believe me there are some sneaky little pete's (boys) sometimes that I don't catch, but I start watching for any copper coloration on the body of the bird, especially in the wing area, shoulders and saddles.
I came to this conclusion by watching another breed that can be sexed at hatch and how they feathered out, then applied it to the other breeds that I work with.
Now this is not gospel but is what works for me. Hoping that others will come by and share what they watch for when trying to determine their chicks' genders.