Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[Germaine_11.20]

Quote:
Wow Wooden Animal-- are those the chicks I gave you? Katy was telling me you thought you had some Birchen! They look very interesting.

By the way, I have a question for you on the Humidaire... plus I still owe you some chicks or birds for the work you did. Good to see you here finally!

 

[Debbi]

The Point,

Just curious, how long do you let your shipped eggs rest before incubating?

 

[The Point]

Quote:
It usually works out to be about 20 hrs. My mail comes around noon and I set them the next morning.

 

[geebs]

Wow...this place is hopping!!! Wow so cool today... I went out and my prize pullet I keep overposting pix of.... Well that sweet little gem laid me a #6 darkie (I am being conservative here)... but oh goodie... I would post a pic but my daughter has misplaced the camera...It was a sunny day also

I also use the crosstitch fabric and plastic cord... (it has to be sterilizeable... ) but I made it so there is 4 compartments and I hatch only 4 hens at a time and I have 3 bators...So that means I can test hatch 12 different combinations at once... I have had one sneak under one time...(that was okay because it was an older big fuzzy one so I could still tell it apart.. The compartments are color coded and I zip tie the babies with the color coded thing and I photograph the males with their eggs. I keep a piece of shell in a carton with their shell also color coded to their legband. Then I make files on them and watch them grow.

I usually do 6-8 hens at a time... otherwise it is a LOT..but I will hatch several times for hens and usually one time for roosters. If I am hatching for hens..

 

[Debbi]

Whoa! I guess I'm lucky so far, to be only hatching the same batch of eggs! Will definately have to improvise when adding two different batches! Ok, now while I only have 10 chicks of different batches, I can still tell them all apart, and have them seperated. What type of leg bands do you pros advise using, and what kind of color code do you use? Seperate colors for each line? Right or left leg for what sex? Double bands meaning what??? I am writing notes, but no bands yet, but see a need for them as they are maturing, and I don't want to lose track of who is who! Help please!! What are the best type of bands and sizes to use on Marans?

 

[Newyorkrita]

For me hatching, and that means shipped eggs, is the only way to go. I have seen the conventional wisdom that shipped eggs is good if there is only a 50% hatch. But I don't need a big flock and I have found I like hatching so can just keep right on trying. I found all the stuff I actually need for the chickens can add up so the actual cost of the hatching eggs really doesn't even concern me.

I didn't want hatchery birds to get started with. The more I tried to learn about how to start the more and more I liked the idea of hatching. The only way I can do that is with shipped eggs.

 

[geebs]

Not a pro..but picky retentive.. I separate by hen.... so I collect for 3 or 4 days and each hen batch is in 1/4 of the bator.. At hatch the fuzzy get to go into sorted baskets... Each in thier own henny basket.. color coded of course till they are a couple weeks old and then I take dollar store zip ties and put them on thier legs.. Both legs and I snip them short and leave little room for growth.. I will redo them when they go outside and then again when they go from one grow out pen to another... When they are color coded they can run together. I hatch a few weeks apart so I can rotate.. I start in December and quit about April-May depending on if I got what I wanted or if someone talked me out of my hatch.. (it has happened) Idon't necessarily do individual photos but of the group... Sometimes we set up paper towel background and photograph the groups Then I can put them in their hen file...

My goal is to assemble them one day on "trading cards" so that each hen/rooster has an egg color sample and pix on a card (much like a baseball card or Majic game) and a bio of the line on the back telling about the faults etc.. Weird huh?

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Got 2 Marans chicks, 1 male, 1 female. I was hoping they'd be a bit bigger than normal birds, but they seem on the small side. They started out with feathered legs, now there's no feathering whatsoever. The Langshans outshot them by far, even the Langshan crosses. The "chicks" are now 4 months old.

I'm going to be eating the male, but the female should at least give some good eggs. Very flighty birds...I don't think I'll be keeping them as a breed for future.

 

[geebs]

HI ROPO!!! Good to see ya... Most important question? Doe max like the marans!!???? Hey I hear Marans taste like chicken...

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Hey geebs!!!!

LOL! The Marans are at the "family home"! The rooster should be edible in another few months.