Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[Hens and Roos]

Quote:
only if you are a chick.....if I fell asleep like that I wounldn't be able to straighten my neck! Very cute!!! Pink

 

[Ivywoods]

You chickie moms in the northwest may be getting out your liferafts, but here in northeast Kansas we currently have 40-50mph winds with the temperature plummeting. I cannot even stay outside very long at all. Thank God I got that coop done last night. It is also snowing.... but the snow is not "falling." It is simply traveling horizontally, blowing through, I guess.

It's a good day to stay inside and drink some hot tea and read.

I still have my 3 little BCM chicks in the corner. They have already outgrown the little brooder box I made for them, so tonight at work I will hunt up something bigger and TALLER. Right now they are in there practicing their flight maneuvers.

"BCM 1 you are cleared for landing on 1-9 Right." "Mayday...Mayday. Crash landing on 1-9 Right....BCM 1 veered off flight pattern and crashed into BCM 2 on the taxiway...."

 

[pinkchick]

Quote:

Hopefully you are denying requests to buzz the tower.

 

[Debbi]

Ivywoods ~ Thanks a lot girl, you are sending that weather this way too!

Started out 46* with thunder this morning. Now the wind is picking up, and the temps are expected to get down in the teens tonight, with a wind chill of -10! Then some snow, although they say maybe an inch. I hate it when they say that, that's usually when we get 18" or so!

Threw some deep straw in the coop, and put a layer of bubble wrap over the two vents to prevent and drafts in the high winds. Seems like when the temps start to drop, all the chickens lose their minds! Everyone is chasing everyone today! Looks like New York traffic out there! Just hope they all settle down and merge peacefully come bedtime.

Pink ~ That baby looks so peaceful, at first glance I thought it was dead!

Only two babies?? Wonder why the eggs were cold? I got another pretty speckled egg today from "Pretty". She hasn't laid a jumbo since the last one...can't blame her!

 

[Ivywoods]

Debbi- No, I'm not sending it your way... I wouldn't wish this weather on anyone, whether they have 2 or 4 legs. It started out pretty warm here this morning... not even freezing. That sure changed in a hurry.

Our barbecue grill just blew off the deck.

The other one blew off in June during the big storm we had then. This one was still nearly new. It's a 10 foot drop, and it did not survive the trip.

We are still in the process of finishing the deck, so we don't have the railings up yet. Sometimes hubby and I run out of energy before we run out of projects.... but it's not like I didn't talk with him SEVERAL times about the possibility of this one blowing off. He steadfastly maintained his position that it would be all right.

Pink--I, too, had to do a double-take at your chick. I thought it was dead first, too. It does look like it's found a comfortable place to stretch out.

 

[pinkchick]

Just finished checking out the eggs and I am glad that instead of just leaving them out or tossing them, I stuck all questionable eggs in the big hatcher until I cracked them open to look. I candled first and glad I did, one of Charmin's eggs are still good and lots of movement in there, all but 2 of Charmins eggs were duds. One developed to about the first week then quit and the other is back in the 'bator. I found a couple of blood rings, several duds and a few quitters that look to have quit in the first and second weeks. There are still 7 rocking eggs in there and one is peeping up a storm.

 

[Debbi]

Quote:
I'm glad I waited on buying a BBQ grill this year. I would plan to move it to the garage, but I too know the tired vs. projects thing. It would've ended up being tarp strapped to the deck railings!

Winds here are really picking up, they are supposed to get to 40mph with up to 60mph gusts. Ding dong dandy. With temps in the teens, that wind is sure going to bite in the morning while feeding. I sure feel for the animals in this kind of weather. Rubber-like chicken feet don't look too warm to me

 

[Debbi]

Yeah Pink!! Glad you candled them. That would break my heart to crack open a viable one. I have yet to do an egg-topsy. Will see how these do, and those that don't hatch will have a look-see. Do you put them in baggies to do that? I'd hate to think about cleaning up rotten eggs AND vomit!

 

[pinkchick]

Quote:
Yes, I use a gallon size ziplock bag to do the deed in.


Hope all that are getting a front of wintery weather all fare well! Keep warm!

 

[shelleyd2008]

Chicks #2 and #3 hatched last night from my BCM...another clean-legged wheaten and a feather-legged black copper! So there is hope yet!

So now I have 2 wheaten and a black copper baby, with a few more eggs in the bator. Of course the crazy weather we've been having has made the girl(s) stop laying, so no more new ones for a little while after the ones already cooking