Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[Talonstorm]

Has anyone found their marans to be noisier than other chicken breeds? I have a single GCM and she is by far the noisiest hen I have. She cackles loudly much of the time. She just started laying, so she is pretty young, but her noisiness is a bit on the annoying side. The rest of my flock consists of orpingtons, australorps, barred rocks, and wyandottes. We call her big mouth, lol. She is laying nice dark eggs though. I hatched her from Papa's Poultry in CA.

 

[KernH]

Has anyone found their marans to be noisier than other chicken breeds? I have a single GCM and she is by far the noisiest hen I have. She cackles loudly much of the time. She just started laying, so she is pretty young, but her noisiness is a bit on the annoying side. The rest of my flock consists of orpingtons, australorps, barred rocks, and wyandottes. We call her big mouth, lol. She is laying nice dark eggs though. I hatched her from Papa's Poultry in CA.

I have two Marans hens, and they are the quietest of my chickens. My noisiest are the Welsummers. Kern

 

[Talonstorm]

I have two Marans hens, and they are the quietest of my chickens. My noisiest are the Welsummers. Kern

Hehe, maybe it is just a trait specific to my hen then. Important to know in case I decide to add more marans to the flock.

 

[KernH]

Hehe, maybe it is just a trait specific to my hen then. Important to know in case I decide to add more marans to the flock.

My Marans are calm and quite. On the other hand I gave away my two Welsummers because they never shut up. Maybe just an individual chicken thing. Kern

 

[Pharkas]

Hi, I am looking to start a flock of marans from hatching eggs. I am interested in the darkest eggs. I don't show birds but I would like to keep a pure bred flock. I have been looking at FBCM on E-bay auctions but since I am new to this I am overwhelmed. Many of the pics of eggs on Ebay don't look any darker than the eggs I am getting from my Red Stars and Amberlink hens at the beginning for their laying cycle. I know the lighting of pics is very subjective and the people claiming to have the darkest eggs on ebay may be just showing a darker less exposed picture. Any suggestions for breeders with dark layers. Should I buy eggs from more than one breeder to enhance my gene pool from the start? I am a newbie so please educate me. I looking at FBCM since that gets the most "wanted to buy" hits on my local craigslist so I'm guessing that's the most sought after?

 

[KernH]

Hi, I am looking to start a flock of marans from hatching eggs. I am interested in the darkest eggs. I don't show birds but I would like to keep a pure bred flock. I have been looking at FBCM on E-bay auctions but since I am new to this I am overwhelmed. Many of the pics of eggs on Ebay don't look any darker than the eggs I am getting from my Red Stars and Amberlink hens at the beginning for their laying cycle. I know the lighting of pics is very subjective and the people claiming to have the darkest eggs on ebay may be just showing a darker less exposed picture. Any suggestions for breeders with dark layers. Should I buy eggs from more than one breeder to enhance my gene pool from the start? I am a newbie so please educate me. I looking at FBCM since that gets the most "wanted to buy" hits on my local craigslist so I'm guessing that's the most sought after?

I got eggs from Ladycat. Very nice lady. Kern

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/...rs-seramas-midget-turkeys-post-updated-mar-18

 

[ladycat]

I emailed Cutler to find out how much shipping would be to my zipcode.

I heard back from Cutler. This is what my cost would be.

10 ( $21.95 ) (12lbs) shipping is $21.24
25 ( $49.55 ) (30lbs) shipping is $31.71
100 ( $175.95 ) (79lbs) shipping is $50.92

10 boxes would be more than $4 each!
100 boxes is the cheapest choice, but dang, that would be like $227 outlay. I won't even need the boxes until next spring, but I have to start figuring all this stuff now.

 

[OneMountainAcres]

Has anyone found their marans to be noisier than other chicken breeds?  I have a single GCM and she is by far the noisiest hen I have.  She cackles loudly much of the time.  She just started laying, so she is pretty young, but her noisiness is a bit on the annoying side.  The rest of my flock consists of orpingtons, australorps, barred rocks, and wyandottes.  We call her big mouth, lol.  She is laying nice dark eggs though.  I hatched her from Papa's Poultry in CA.

my pure Marans are not really noisy at all but my Marans/brahma cross and her daughter (1/4 brahma 3/4 Marans) and noisy, bossy brats! Lol

 

[Chickielady]

That is a BIG expense in WA from what I heard. You have to pay a vet and pay per test or something crazy like that.

No, not so, from what he has told me NOW, the fed system has added alot of freebies, maybe for disabled folks or retired or those who have a limited income, anyways, the feds have helped out.
he said it was no cost to me.
This is after I told him we were both disabled, and thus retired on a fixed cruddy income.....so, we'll see.
Especially since I culled so hard on my flocks, I have less than 50 adult birds here now....and they'd be testing 1 of each flock.
Then the fed gov is paying FREE AI testing, which has to be done every 90 days FREE.
IDK if I want THEM crawling AROUND HERE @ 90 DAYS...............but oh well.
If they tick me, I'll send them on their way.

All our flocks have been tested at the Fairs around here.
Oddly, no one at the Poultry shows does any testing.

 

[Chickielady]

I heard back from Cutler. This is what my cost would be.

10 ( $21.95 ) (12lbs) shipping is $21.24
25 ( $49.55 ) (30lbs) shipping is $31.71
100 ( $175.95 ) (79lbs) shipping is $50.92

10 boxes would be more than $4 each!
100 boxes is the cheapest choice, but dang, that would be like $227 outlay. I won't even need the boxes until next spring, but I have to start figuring all this stuff now.

pips&peeps used to get chicks and adult fowl shipping boxes, I wonder where she got them ?
Maybe have to rattle her cage ?