Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[SullyD]

Wow, just finished reading this thread (I cheated, I just went back to January). Lots of great info, thank you. I am new to chickens and wanting to add color to my egg basket, decided on adding the Black Copper Marans. I picked up some black and some blues at an auction, and since it was an auction I had to buy 10 blacks and 10 blues (chicken math!). They are about 1 week and 2 weeks old now and I would like to cull for sex only. I seem to have the boy luck. Everything I hatch, and all the babies I buy are boys! So, my flock is huge but I have maybe 12 roosters out of 43 chickens (most roos will be culled). I was only going to keep 5 chickens when I started this hobby!

What I think I have learned in the blacks and blues, is the females feather out first and the male chicks of the same age are slower to feather in. Is there a cheat sheet that has a few things to look for when determining the sex? I had to buy three OE's at the same auction, and one of them turned out to be broody. She has taken over the care of the chicks, which has been wonderful for me! Today I separated the two groups into what I think are male and female. Here are some pictures of what I think are the boys. And a few group shots of the "Girl" pen. Please set me straight if I have it wrong! I don't want to cull the wrong group! Thank you in advance! If you need better pictures of what I think are the girls, I can take better pictures tomorrow.



Chick #1 I believe it is 2 weeks old?



Chick #1 again




Chick #2 I believe it is a little over 1 week old




Chick #2 again




Chick # 3 I think this one is two weeks old also




Chick #3 again.




My "girl" pen? This pen is mixed ages like the boys. Seems 5 are about a week old and 5 are about 2 weeks old.



"Girl" pen?

 

[3riverschick]

Quote:

 

[SullyD]

3RC-So are you saying the chicks in the "girl pen" are boys too, or do you need close ups like I did for the other chicks?

 

[DMRippy]

Wow, just finished reading this thread (I cheated, I just went back to January). Lots of great info, thank you. I am new to chickens and wanting to add color to my egg basket, decided on adding the Black Copper Marans. I picked up some black and some blues at an auction, and since it was an auction I had to buy 10 blacks and 10 blues (chicken math!). They are about 1 week and 2 weeks old now and I would like to cull for sex only. I seem to have the boy luck. Everything I hatch, and all the babies I buy are boys! So, my flock is huge but I have maybe 12 roosters out of 43 chickens (most roos will be culled). I was only going to keep 5 chickens when I started this hobby! :yiipchick What I think I have learned in the blacks and blues, is the females feather out first and the male chicks of the same age are slower to feather in. Is there a cheat sheet that has a few things to look for when determining the sex? I had to buy three OE's at the same auction, and one of them turned out to be broody. She has taken over the care of the chicks, which has been wonderful for me! Today I separated the two groups into what I think are male and female. Here are some pictures of what I think are the boys. And a few group shots of the "Girl" pen. Please set me straight if I have it wrong! I don't want to cull the wrong group! Thank you in advance! If you need better pictures of what I think are the girls, I can take better pictures tomorrow. Chick #1 I believe it is 2 weeks old? Chick #1 again Chick #2 I believe it is a little over 1 week old Chick #2 again Chick # 3 I think this one is two weeks old also Chick #3 again. My "girl" pen? This pen is mixed ages like the boys. Seems 5 are about a week old and 5 are about 2 weeks old. "Girl" pen?

I would be concerned more about the yellow legs....or is that the light?

 

[SullyD]

Thank you for the info on the chicks I posted last nite. At least I got that right, they were all boys! I am not concerned about their features, I will not be keeping them.

Here are six of the ones I am hoping are girls. When I compared them side by side, with the chicks on my previous post that were the same ages, these chicks had more feathering and longer tails than the others did. I'm sure that is not the only method of sexing! Can you comment about what you see that makes them girls or boys? If they are girls, I only want them for laying. I will not be breeding them. Thank you again!





Chick #1 2 weeks old (approx)


Chick #1 again



Chick #2 1 week old (approx)



Chick #2



Chick #3 1 week old (approx)



Chick #3



Chick #4 1 week old (approx)



Chick #4



Chick #4 again



Chick #5 1 week old (approx)



Chick #5



Chick #5



Chick #6 1 week old (approx)



Chick #6

 

[choptank330]

Hey Everyone!! I am looking for some blue and splash eggs!! If someone is close to VA and has some please let me know. I prefer them not to be "hatchery". Thanks in advance

 

[choptank330]

Here is my splash girl!

 

[Chickiemoma13]

I'm new on here so I hope I'm getting this posted in the right place, the Marans thread. I got my Marans because I wanted the dark eggs but as my chicks have grown I really like them. They are so pretty.

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[mtadkins5]

I am expecting some blue and black copper marans in the mail tom

I am so excited

At what age can you began to guess gender and what do you look for? Thanks

 

[DMRippy]

I am expecting some blue and black copper marans in the mail tom

I am so excited

At what age can you began to guess gender and what do you look for? Thanks

it will differ from breeder I would think. with me those combs give them away most of the time at hatch. I never really go by much else. I do have a few roos that like to hide but the red on the wings usually give them away.