Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[pinkchick]

another suggestion, and I have found to be effective when determining blue or black, is to breed to a splash. If hes black you should get 100% blue and being bred to splash will lighten the blue tone a bit. When bred to a black, if it is a very dark blue, can deepen the blue color more and make it hard to tell on the offspring. If not 100% come out blue, then you know you have a blue.

If a Splash chick pops up out of this mating then the rooster is blue.

 

[gilavina]

If a Splash chick pops up out of this mating then the rooster is blue.

yup yup...sorry, forgot to mention that part. was on my way out to work when posting yesterday.

Hows the garden coming along lady? Should hopefully be more seed starting tomorrow. Probably the bulk of everything left minus the cucurbits. Also should be able to transplant some stuff in the greenhouse protected raised beds and some out in the raised beds possibly.
Also trying to decide if I'll take some birds to the local sale for people laying flocks. Its supposed to rain day of the sale, so not sure.

 

[pinkchick]

Vicki~
I pulled out the seeds this morning. I didn't realize that I have 2 brown paper bags full of envelopes full of seed. Geesh! LOL!

 

[gilavina]

Vicki~
I pulled out the seeds this morning. I didn't realize that I have 2 brown paper bags full of envelopes full of seed. Geesh! LOL!

haha awesome! I'll get a list ready for you too when I get home from work. I have a short day today so should be this afternoon. We should swap seeds lady!

 

[pinkchick]

yup yup...sorry, forgot to mention that part. was on my way out to work when posting yesterday.

Hows the garden coming along lady? Should hopefully be more seed starting tomorrow. Probably the bulk of everything left minus the cucurbits. Also should be able to transplant some stuff in the greenhouse protected raised beds and some out in the raised beds possibly.
Also trying to decide if I'll take some birds to the local sale for people laying flocks. Its supposed to rain day of the sale, so not sure. 

LOL! We must have been on the same wave length yesterday as I was on my way out the door to and I totally forgot about the black to splash matings.


Not been able to get out to the garden in the last couple days....been painting my friends rental house for them. Have a half day today to tie up some trim work and then I am going to pick up a couple seed packets that I seem to be missing. :/ Don't know why I am going to bother with them....I never have any luck with them, but I humor myself every year trying anyway.

I have the rest of the week and this weekend free and hope to have something completed so I can move on to seed starting. Wish you would come over here and start mine for me, that way they would get done.

OHHHHHHHHHHH.........forgot to say that the last few days of Birchen eggs and their color have been getting better. I am now seeing speckles of darker shades on them and they are now an orangy color.
The Birchens are going to their new home today north of Seattle to a nice man that is willing to work on their egg color and is committed to the long journey ahead of him.

Now maybe I can bring home that other blue gal from my friends house and I am thinking of borrowing her pair of Barnevelders so that I can cross my Stoopid girl and get more blue laced barnie crosses for a layer flock.....that girl is a laying fool! She is the best layer out there and she is so pretty to look at. So why not have some pretty layers in the layer flock that never miss a beat in the egg dept.?

 

[pinkchick]

 haha awesome! I'll get a list ready for you too when I get home from work. I have a short day today so should be this afternoon. We should swap seeds lady!

Absolutely! I know you were eyeballing some of my different zucchini's last year.



Marans....marans LOL

 

[pinkchick]

Blarney~ Congrats on your hatch!!!!!! They look like happy and healthy little butterballs!

 

[gilavina]

Absolutely! I know you were eyeballing some of my different zucchini's last year.

Marans....marans LOL

haha I have quite a few different seeds here as well. The main issue we have here in the midwest is infestations of squash bugs, they destroy cucumbers, squash- both summer and winter, melons, and most other vining plants like that. Its really hard to get the right window of time to plant. This year I believe I'll be putting row cover over the plants and polinating them with a brush. I was reading something really interesting about bees tho...did you know that bees will pollinate the same flower 18 to 25 times before it is considered fully pollinated? The scientist was saying that's why sometimes there are odd shaped or developed fruits. Isn't that crazy?

 

[gilavina]

LOL! We must have been on the same wave length yesterday as I was on my way out the door to and I totally forgot about the black to splash matings.

Not been able to get out to the garden in the last couple days....been painting my friends rental house for them. Have a half day today to tie up some trim work and then I am going to pick up a couple seed packets that I seem to be missing.

Don't know why I am going to bother with them....I never have any luck with them, but I humor myself every year trying anyway.

I have the rest of the week and this weekend free and hope to have something completed so I can move on to seed starting. Wish you would come over here and start mine for me, that way they would get done.

OHHHHHHHHHHH.........forgot to say that the last few days of Birchen eggs and their color have been getting better. I am now seeing speckles of darker shades on them and they are now an orangy color.
The Birchens are going to their new home today north of Seattle to a nice man that is willing to work on their egg color and is committed to the long journey ahead of him.

Now maybe I can bring home that other blue gal from my friends house and I am thinking of borrowing her pair of Barnevelders so that I can cross my Stoopid girl and get more blue laced barnie crosses for a layer flock.....that girl is a laying fool! She is the best layer out there and she is so pretty to look at. So why not have some pretty layers in the layer flock that never miss a beat in the egg dept.?

Glad you found a home for the birchens. Hopefully they will do well with him.

How do you start your seeds? Do you use seed starting soil or?

 

[pinkchick]

Glad you found a home for the birchens. Hopefully they will do well with him. 

How do you start your seeds? Do you use seed starting soil or?

I am sure he will do just fine with them. We have had several conversations and this will be his hobby as he is not in them for making money. Just loves the Birchens and would like a project so they fit his needs perfectly.



I start my seeds on trays in the house where it is warm and use moist paper towels to crack them. Once they have cracked they go in to starter trays or appropriate containers depending on size of plant and how much room it will need to start before transplanting to garden. Then they are moved out to the shop under grow lights. I told you this is my hubbies most favorite time of year because he loses a huge portion of useable space in the shop because of my lights and tables. We also have a woodstove out there for keeping the heatsource going if it gets a bit chilly. Once I have good establishment, I move the seedlings to the greenhouse to harden off. Then to the ground.


I have a neighbor that I am going to talk to about beekeeping. I have always been interested in it. My family and friends think I am crazy because bees, wasps, yellow jackets and the whole stinging family of insects do not bother me. I like to let them do their business in the garden and flower beds and I don't freak out when they buzz around me. I love watching honey bees, they are my favorites. I also love to photograph honey bees!