Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[TurkeyMountainChickens]

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Thanks! I am pretty pleased with him. I think his comb is good, he's got what I consider the right amount of leg feathering, and I like his color balance. He does have a few tail feathers that are a bit droopy, but he's not full grown yet. He hatched in March.

Here's a slightly better shot of him from last month, which I think I posted early in this new thread.

Once I get my computer back, I can upload some better pics of him. I'd love to get some feedback on what you all think of him.

In the meantime, we're working on MANNERS. He tries with the hens, bringing them treats, etc., but needs to learn that human children are NOT targets for sparring practice. He's been to chicken jail for jumping at my 4 yo DD twice. I'm hoping he'll make the connection...

 

[TurkeyMountainChickens]

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Cute baby! I'm nto an expert at sexing cuckoo chicks, but that looks like a pretty big head spot. It's easier to tell when they are together which are the males and which the females, but I would guess that your baby is a little cockerel there. you should be able to tell by the barring on the feathers when they come in, too!

 

[pinkchick]

Aleighz~

Thanks for the info! Ok, so now I have a another question. Out of my five I did ended up getting a Wheaten... How do I tell if its a male of female? I will try to take a pic and post it soon. Thanks
- Leigh

All I can say is that by about 4-6 days you should be able to see the difference in the wing. Males will have a black coloring coming in on the wing and females will have a lighter taupy? color coming in on their wings. Hard to explain without a photo. Not much help at all huh? lol!
Berkeley Springs ............do you have a photo of some chicks that you could share to show the difference in male or female????

 

[BevDavis]

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Hi

A female has a small spot on her head and a male has a large spot, I think it might be a boy! Please post later to let me know if I am right. Anyone else have a any guesses?

Bev

 

[pinkchick]

Quote:
Hi

A female has a small spot on her head and a male has a large spot, I think it might be a boy! Please post later to let me know if I am right. Anyone else have a any guesses?

Bev

I agree with TurkeyMountain and Bev that you have a little cockerel.

 

[Wynette]

Quote:
Hi

A female has a small spot on her head and a male has a large spot, I think it might be a boy! Please post later to let me know if I am right. Anyone else have a any guesses?

Bev

I agree with TurkeyMountain and Bev that you have a little cockerel.

Conroy - I guess you'll just need to try again for more pullets! YEAH! A good reason to hatch again!

 

[cottagegarden]

TurkeyMountainChickens-What a great shot!!!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/26987_mack4mo.jpg

 

[BevDavis]

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Hi

I read in a very old poultry book that the indentations at the side of a comb is a sign that the chick was in stress when it was growing. The sprig at the side of the comb is a fault and is caused by both parents carrying that gene. If only one parent is carrying the gene then you won't see any side sprigs but the gene could still be present in the bird. It will only show itself when mated to a bird carrying the same gene. It is hard to breed out.

Now, I have a question. I have a bird that has a wave in it's comb near the beak. Does anyone know anything about this?

Bev

 

[BevDavis]

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Awww!

Cute chick!



Good news to report so far! I didn't lose anyone last night! I'm going to wait a couple more days before I celebrate though.

I can't help but feel like a bad chicken mama. Hubby told me over and over yesterday that things just happen sometimes and I need to quit beating myself up over it. So my way of dealing with it: Bio-security lockdown!

I have banned all neighbor kids from the fenced portion of my yard (The neighbor lets all the kids run in and out of his coop and I know they wear the same shoes everywhere).

I already do the basics like wearing my chicken boots only in the coop and no where else. My kids have also always followed this.

If anyone has any other Bio-security suggestions please let me know.

Hi

I also read that they used to treat chicks with dried milk if they got cocci. It's useful to know because we often have dried milk in our homes and the chicks can be started on this while we go and get medications.

I do the Bio Security thing and I just wish the wild birds knew it as well.

Bev

 

[pinkchick]

Bev~

A wave.....like a crinkle or a groove, so to speak? Do you have a photo to share? I am very interested in seeing what it looks like. Thanks!