Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[TulsaChick]

How often do FBCM lay? Like every day or every 3 days. I got my first egg and can't wait to get another one.

 

[Broad St Farm]

How old is she? She definitely looks overmelanized. The face, wattles, and comb should be red and I see a lot of black mixed in. Her eye color looks a little dark, too. Look at the comb and see if it is flopping over in the front. Can't really tell from the photo. If it flops (lops over) too much it is a disqualification.

If the comb flops over on a female doesnt mean its a DQ. If she is in lay than its aloud.

 

[desertmarcy]

If the comb flops over on a female doesnt mean its a DQ. If she is in lay than its aloud.

The SOP says "No female in or near production with the rear portion of the comb lopped should be discriminated against."
(bolding is mine). That is why I asked about the front of the comb.

 

[LittleMissPurdy]

Hello..I am really enjoying learning about Marans, was given an incubator and 6 eggs to hatch for the first time from some friends...enablers...same difference!
Anyway, 3 hatched, but we lost 2 due to vit.-def.(long story), was able to save 1. She is now 14 weeks old. Not going to breed Marans, as my breed of choice is Wyandottes..but I still think it is important to understand and be somewhat knowledgeable about the birds we collect.
Having a wonderful experience raising her from a hatch-ling, over-coming adversity, and now watching her fill-out & get closer to some of the pictures I see here. Thank you all for sharing you knowledge. I know the Marans breed can over come the issues it has, to be the creature it was intended to be by the dedicated folks here! -Danielle
**Here is chic-a-dee(chicka): She is 14 weeks. She does NOT have feathered legs, her copper just started to show, & her eyes have actually gotten lighter. I need to get some better/ closer pics.

 

[chrissyr]

We have one hen that was born last December that we are still waiting for her to lay.  What could be the problem?  We couldn't cull her, she is so sweet, always comes up to us and lets us pick her up, I think she likes to be held.  We call her Midnight because her face and comb has a blackish hue, I think that is a violation to the SOP.

Some issues I've had with laying were hens being overweight, or they laid softshells and got eaten before I could find them. Check her vent, I it's moist then she's laying. If she was born in December she should be laying by now. Also, I she is actually an older bird, that could be it too. I had BCM that quit laying around 6 years old

 

[ladycat]

I have a frustrating problem.

I have a trio of splash. They do not lay dark eggs (which is why I won't order Marans from MyPetChicken anymore), but they look like Marans and they're very pretty and gentle.

Since they are in the same pen, I don't know which hen lays which egg, but one lays a medium brown egg with darker speckles, and one lays a tan egg.

This is the second time I've set eggs from them, and the tan eggs do not hatch. They never even develop- they stay as clear as the day they were laid.

The brown eggs hatch into vigorous healthy chicks.

Could the hen have fertility problems? Seems to me like if she was infertile, she wouldn't even lay.

Or could it be that the hen doesn't allow the rooster to mate?

Or might it be a different problem altogether?

I have 3 splash roosters from the same batch of chicks the trio came from running loose with the main chicken flock. I'm wondering if I tried a different rooster, my results may be different?

 

[desertmarcy]

I have a frustrating problem.

I have a trio of splash. They do not lay dark eggs (which is why I won't order Marans from MyPetChicken anymore), but they look like Marans and they're very pretty and gentle.

Since they are in the same pen, I don't know which hen lays which egg, but one lays a medium brown egg with darker speckles, and one lays a tan egg.

This is the second time I've set eggs from them, and the tan eggs do not hatch. They never even develop- they stay as clear as the day they were laid.

The brown eggs hatch into vigorous healthy chicks.

Could the hen have fertility problems? Seems to me like if she was infertile, she wouldn't even lay.

Or could it be that the hen doesn't allow the rooster to mate?

Or might it be a different problem altogether?

I have 3 splash roosters from the same batch of chicks the trio came from running loose with the main chicken flock. I'm wondering if I tried a different rooster, my results may be different?

Male chickens definitely play favorites. He may not be breeding that hen. Do you have a small enclosure where you can put just two of them? So if she is avoiding the male, she will have a harder time doing so? Say a 4' X 4" or 4' x 8' pen? Or even a huge dog crate, as long as it is high so the rooster can mate? You can try the food coloring trick. I've never tried it myself, but supposedly if you put some food coloring in the hen's vent, for the next day or two, the coloring will show up on the egg shell. A way to see which is laying. You can also move each hen in turn into a small pen until they lay an egg to see which one is laying tan. If you want to improve on egg color on your splash Marans, then why bother hatching from those tan eggs anyway? It is recommended to hatch only the darkest eggs to improve egg color. If they were my birds, I'd identify which hen is laying the light eggs and move her into a laying pen and not use her for breeding.

 

[rexy]

How often do FBCM lay? Like every day or every 3 days. I got my first egg and can't wait to get another one.

mine lay every day and a half, ie 2 eggs every 3 days.

 

[KsKingBee]

Thank you for the replies! The hen came from another member on this list, in a round about way, who assures us that the hen was hatched last December. Although to me she appears to have an 'old' looking face with narrow slit eyes. The front of her comb does lay to the side and we do realize that she is not SOP quality for breeding. We did at least expect her to lay and wondered what would keep a hen from laying. She has no back feather loss and shows no sign of being rode. Another quality about her is that she seems to be very squinty eyed, although she seems to be able to see ok and eats well, but not heavy.

PS, She free ranges, gets fermented feed, layena, and scratch.

 

[Mr MKK FARMS]

Quote: Nice!