Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[chrissyr]

My Marans were purchased in September, so the move may have delayed them somewhat also.

Hopefully it will be soon, it's hard to wait! Best wishes to you

 

[mikefields]

My marans hatched March 17 and two of the three started laying Aug 31. They stopped laying for after a couple months. One started laying two weeks ago and on Nov. 19 I had three eggs in the boxes. Each one lays a distinctive egg, kind of like her signature .

 

[ladycat]

Here is a pic of a 7 week old BCM chick. Went out this evening to check on them and found it sitting on its feet with its head on the ground. Picked it up and it's neck just hung limp. We have had this before and none have died, just would like an idea of why this is happening.

I don't recall ever seeing this before, but strange I should see it in this thread a week or two back, and then today one of my chicks started doing it, though not quite as extreme. (sorry, I have no camera).

I have 5 splash I hatched from my own birds, and they are 4 weeks old. They are in a box in the house with pine shavings, and they are getting fed chick starter only.

Today one of them can't seem to raise it's head. It has no discernible injury, and doesn't seem sick. It's head isn't all the way on the ground, but just kind of halfway hanging down, and it can't raise it's head any higher.

I don't remember ever seeing that problem before.

 

[Ihilani Coffee]

I don't recall ever seeing this before, but strange I should see it in this thread a week or two back, and then today one of my chicks started doing it, though not quite as extreme. (sorry, I have no camera).

I have 5 splash I hatched from my own birds, and they are 4 weeks old. They are in a box in the house with pine shavings, and they are getting fed chick starter only.

Today one of them can't seem to raise it's head. It has no discernible injury, and doesn't seem sick. It's head isn't all the way on the ground, but just kind of halfway hanging down, and it can't raise it's head any higher.

I don't remember ever seeing that problem before.

It is weird...to see this from people all over. The only thing I've seen similar was a Polish pullet 5 months old with (I assume) a broken neck. I watched her do it...she flew down from the top rail of a heavy cattle panel and "missed" her landing, doing a face-plant into the floor of the stall (rubber mat over gravel with sawdust bedding). After that she walked over to the feeder but kept "fading" like she couldn't really hold her head up. The next morning she was on the floor of the stall and had no control of her head at all, just hung limp like the photo above. Though it may have only been neurological trauma like a spinal cord bruising, I did not want to have her suffer so we culled her.

Sure hope everyone finds out what is going on with these young birds soon.

 

[downtheriver]

It is weird...to see this from people all over. The only thing I've seen similar was a Polish pullet 5 months old with (I assume) a broken neck. I watched her do it...she flew down from the top rail of a heavy cattle panel and "missed" her landing, doing a face-plant into the floor of the stall (rubber mat over gravel with sawdust bedding). After that she walked over to the feeder but kept "fading" like she couldn't really hold her head up. The next morning she was on the floor of the stall and had no control of her head at all, just hung limp like the photo above. Though it may have only been neurological trauma like a spinal cord bruising, I did not want to have her suffer so we culled her.

Sure hope everyone finds out what is going on with these young birds soon.

I wonder if they have compared what feed each is feeding ?

 

[ladycat]

I wonder if they have compared what feed each is feeding ?

Big V Chick Starter. That's the brand I've used for at least the last 100 chicks. Haven't had any problems with it. All my chicks have been healthy.

 

[OkieQueenBee]

We talked with 2 university vets who specialized in poultry and they were at a loss as to what could have caused the problem especially since the chicks recovered. They both thought that it could be a form of Mareks that is usually not fatal but couldn't give a lot of information about it. They also thought that they were too young to have fermented feed. After doing more research myself I think I have decided that it was sour crop. I don't think that the FF itself was the problem but I wasn't providing them with access to any type of grit. I would mix a little scratch in with the FF and of course they couldn't process it. I have stopped giving the FF to the younger ones and I am providing them with grit now. We moved them into the bigger brooder house and when they have adjusted to it I will start them back on FF. My suggestion to you is to get some vegetable oil down their throat and a vitamin E with Selenium. Look up sour crop and see what you think. Hope this helps and sorry it took me so long to respond.

 

[Blarneyeggs]

What do you all think of this girl, September 15th hatch date. I'm pleased to have one with more copper, especially since her eyes decided to lighten up. sorry the pics are so bad.

 

[Ihilani Coffee]

We talked with 2 university vets who specialized in poultry and they were at a loss as to what could have caused the problem especially since the chicks recovered. They both thought that it could be a form of Mareks that is usually not fatal but couldn't give a lot of information about it. They also thought that they were too young to have fermented feed. After doing more research myself I think I have decided that it was sour crop. I don't think that the FF itself was the problem but I wasn't providing them with access to any type of grit. I would mix a little scratch in with the FF and of course they couldn't process it. I have stopped giving the FF to the younger ones and I am providing them with grit now. We moved them into the bigger brooder house and when they have adjusted to it I will start them back on FF. My suggestion to you is to get some vegetable oil down their throat and a vitamin E with Selenium. Look up sour crop and see what you think. Hope this helps and sorry it took me so long to respond.

We feed grit from day one, like sprinkling salt on food.

 

[Wynette]

What do you all think of this girl, September 15th hatch date. I'm pleased to have one with more copper, especially since her eyes decided to lighten up. sorry the pics are so bad.

It's a bit tough to see much detail since the pics are far away and it's a bit dark out, but in the bottom pic, she appears to have a nice underline. Nice hackle color, and looks like excellent shank feathering. Not much more I can personally tell from the pics.