Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[Broad St Farm]

[COLOR=800080]Well said Broad St Farm...[/COLOR]
[COLOR=800080]I ABSOLUTELY agree.  I will even go further and add that[/COLOR] [COLOR=800080]I think we can disagree and still do it respectfully.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=800080]We don't have to agree on everything,  but we should always be considerate of how the other person is going to feel.[/COLOR]
[COLOR=800080]There is always a way to say what we need to say without being rude.[/COLOR]

[COLOR=800080]My husband says folks in the South can say anything they want to as long as they follow it up with "Bless his heart".[/COLOR]
[COLOR=800080]I have an uncle who was Irish and bless by the blarney stone... LOL...[/COLOR]

[COLOR=800080]You know for an ex-military man,  you sure have a soft spoken manner about you...[/COLOR]
[COLOR=800080][COLOR=800080] [/COLOR]

Well, to be completely honest, when push comes to shove I can be as nasty and angry as anyone. I try to be passive but I'm by no means a doormat. I know what it means to be new and to be honest again, it ticks me off some of the stupid things to argue about on here. I was a person that got tired of listening to supposed VETERANs rule the roost on here. So I stopped posting. I'm tired of seeing people come and go. If we are going to get this breed anywhere, and if individuals are going to sit up on thier high horse and teach than this needs to stop, period! I have no problem getting banned for calling out some old fool because he can't act like an adult and not play nice in the sandbox. Got to end.

 

[Runawaylobster]

Ok sweetie, then there is absolutely NO WAY I am going to suggest any thing to you...
If he is nasty, I am sure you have done everything and know what you will have to do next time he thinks he is bigger and meaner than you

For the record, I have only had ONE nasty marans COCKEREL.... He was nasty from the beginning. It took him no time at all to earn the name "Soup Pot".
When he was old enough, that is EXACTLY where he went - THE SOUP POT!

I had a nasty one too, going by the name of Spike, but he was very handsome. I sold him to a man (with full disclosure) who felt sure he could tame him
and liked his looks. I often wonder if he is a nicer rooster now, fathering chicks or if he is in the soup pot...

 

[Runawaylobster]

Well... here is a question from a learner LOL! and i promise to respond .

I hatched about 100 birds in my first year of chickendom, i have sold some, grown some and eaten some. Now down to four BCM females that i kept and grew out i have waited anxiously for eggs.

Now only one has started laying, i found the egg a few days ago and decided hmm that's a pullet egg but it was the wrong color so waited for another and sure enough i got another pullet egg, same size same color and the flipping egg is almost white (well very pinkish light brown anyway). so now i am wondering what the heck did i do to get this, as I have only hatched dark colored eggs!! and both parents came from eggs i hatched.

I'm not discouraged at least only one of the four has started laying let so that still leaves me three, and i'm having fun anyway.,,,

can i try keeping this female and breeding back to the parent to see if i can improve the egg color.. ??

 

[math ace]

RunawayLobster,

That is too funny because I had a nasty SS rooster that I sold with FULL disclosure to a fellow BYC member who was experienced with birds... I made sure there were no children in the family and wished him the best with that rooster.

The SS male did great is his new home. After that he was traded to another BYC member and they had no trouble with him either.
The only thing I can think off is that all the males we have must of really put this SS males hormone level through the roof. He was the only male in his pen, but he was surrounded by males in other pens... He must of always of been in "Super Protector" mode because of it. This male would look at us and you could see in his eyes he was deciding whether we were friend or foe. Usually he thought we were friends, but dang if once a week we didn't fall in the FOE category - ouch!

So..... your rooster could of turned into a gentle soul once he left your property....

 

[math ace]

Well... here is a question from a learner LOL! and i promise to respond .

I hatched about 100 birds in my first year of chickendom, i have sold some, grown some and eaten some. Now down to four BCM females that i kept and grew out i have waited anxiously for eggs.

Now only one has started laying, i found the egg a few days ago and decided hmm that's a pullet egg but it was the wrong color so waited for another and sure enough i got another pullet egg, same size same color and the flipping egg is almost white (well very pinkish light brown anyway). so now i am wondering what the heck did i do to get this, as I have only hatched dark colored eggs!! and both parents came from eggs i hatched.

I'm not discouraged at least only one of the four has started laying let so that still leaves me three, and i'm having fun anyway.,,,

can i try keeping this female and breeding back to the parent to see if i can improve the egg color.. ??

KEEP her if she has good type.
Track her offspring and see what they produce.
Sometimes you will lose egg color when a new breeder is brought on the seen.
A couple of generations later, your color will be back...It is a good sign that the other three kept their egg color.

I never hesitate to take a risk on a female because they will at least benefit me with eating eggs. With the males, I am much more picker because I know I am only going to keep ONE roo per pen and a max of two roos per breed.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Okay folks, lets get back to the topic of this thread - Marans.

 

[MandyFitch]

Can anyone tell me about the quality of these 8 week old birds? I bought them as day olds from a BYC-er who says they are Greenfire lines by way of The Garry Farm. I have to rehome the roos so it would be nice if I could have good things to say about them as potential breeding stock (as opposed to potential dinner.) Thanks for your thoughts / advice.
















This is my girl, based on the lack of comb and waddles. Plus, she doesn't ruffle her neck and bump chests the way the other two do. Will the white on her neck go away after she molts?

 

[TulsaChick]

I have had only positive experiences on this post. I'm a learner, who's hens turned out to be pets. I just want to thank those who have helped me along my new experience. Sooo... Thank you!

 

[Broad St Farm]

Thick legs should be fine. Granted you will still have to asses the entire package of the bird when they get older, then figure out what faults you can deal with and improve, or which faults is just to much work. With thick legs would make me assume that it will be a stocky bird. I have had birds that had bigger legs. They ended getting fairly large.

 

[MandyFitch]

Thick legs should be fine. Granted you will still have to asses the entire package of the bird when they get older, then figure out what faults you can deal with and improve, or which faults is just to much work. With thick legs would make me assume that it will be a stocky bird. I have had birds that had bigger legs. They ended getting fairly large.

Thanks. I'm not going to breed, I just am curious about my chickens and I like to know as much as possible. Also want to be able to pass on good information when I rehome the boys.

Thanks again!

Mandy