Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[geebs]

Mathace... A real tip!!! .... an instant read thermometer... that tell you right away what the temp is... I don't know if you could use an insta read for ppl... but possibly.
I like the little stick ones cause you can poke it down the tiniest holes and get a reading from different spots in the bator...Maybe candy thermometer isnt' the right word.. you can use them in meat...

Oh and hands down... Cochins... Silkies can't stand up to a mean marans hen... but a bantam cochin can... they are ferocious mothers... The standard are okay too... I like the bantams with the "what you lookin at" attitude... I have 4 cochins that act as bators for me in the spring... They will all share the duties with each other but will not share with anyone else... They know how to divide up the babies too... that is a big deal... marans have bad math skills...LOL

 

[snowbird]

I see all the hen hatching planned. Just wondering how do you vaccinate for Mareks when you use a hen for hatching ? Don

 

[berkeleysprings]

i have not had luck with partrige ,,, had them 4 years and no broody ones
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[berkeleysprings]

chiming in here in our case we only have a few silkie hens we have in a general population of 18 different birds/breeds or so and the silkie steal a few eggs or we throw a few to them because they enjoy the hole mom thing .so we dont , the next question is how many people do ?



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[Organics North]

I have one Silkie pullet that is 18 weeks, I got her at 8 weeks and holds her own with 26 Marans, Ameraucana's and EE's.

So time will tell... I do have a Ameraucana pullet that looks to be going broody.. Considering letting her give it a try.. It is winter, and egg production is not spectacular anyway..
ON

 

[pinkchick]

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Hi Don!!!! Good to see ya back!

Good question..........

 

[pinkchick]

Morning Everyone!

Busy busy here yesterday! Love all the photos! Very pretty birds everyone! Really good to see some solid Black Marans pics popping up! I would love to try my hand at pure solid BBS Marans one day.

 

[puredelite]

Good mornin', As a recent addition( like many) to the BCM world I was wondering about the color variation in each individual that I have( one roo and four pullets) The roo came from one breeder and the pullets from another source. They were all hatched from shipped eggs. I didn't get a great hatch from either clutch. Out of my first setting of 12 eggs I only got the roo and out of 13 eggs I hatched 5 chicks which just happened to be all pullets!! All were very dark eggs and out of the pullets there is great variation as to the amount of copper feathering in the neck area with some hardly any and others with various amounts. As mentioned all the eggs were very dark colored and one of the five pullets hatched is definitely not a BCM but is a blue( colored like my blue Ameracana) and smaller than the rest. Will try to post a pic of her so maybe someone can help me identify her breeding. I guess my question is about the coloration in BCM's, do other breeders experience this and is it due to the variations in different bloodlines or what? Any help appreciated...

 

[snowbird]

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Hi, will try and explain some of the variations in the Black Copper Marans. It is normal to get wheat, Copper and Mahogany colored Marans from the same batch of eggs. I am a firm believer that you can not breed the Black Copper to only have the Copper color variation. I will say that you can cut down on the amout of culls by single mating and double mating your brood fowl. I do not think it makes a difference in the bloodline as I ask anyone with the good BC Marans male to come forward with a picture, I am still waiting. Some will say their BC Marans will breed true to SOP and I still say show and tell.

These are just my observations and nothing else so if anyone has a different opinion now is the time to come forward. Don

 

[Debbi]

Just got done opening my Blue Copper eggs, all arrived intact and all a large+ size. The color is somewhat disappointing, but they were at the end of their cycles, so... besides, I know my next batch of blues will be MUCH darker!

All are resting till tomorrow morning, then go into the bator. I am going to try the "dry" method this time to see if I don't get a better hatch. Wish me luck!