Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[Ivywoods]

Oh, and we got 10-12 inches of snow. The wind is starting to blow hard, so we will have some sizeable drifts by morning. We are snowed in already. The last car to go by was the mailman this morning. Bet he doesn't make it tomorrow.

 

[Kenshan1]

Quote:
I live out in the corn and bean fields, and we get the snow geese almost every year. It is amazing. The numbers are incomprehensible. It looks like a snow drift slowly moving across the field as a flock of them land and then gradually work their way across the field eating dropped beans and corn. So cool. When they fly up, the sky almost turns black as they are so thick you cannot see through the flock. Our usually come in Feb. and March.

I've had more orders for chicken eggs than I can fill. SOOOOOO... that means I NEED MORE CHICKENS! I'm now looking at some buckeyes that are from show stock. NPIP flock. I'm ordering chicks, so it's going to be a while before they can help fill my egg orders. I should be getting black, lavender and silver ameraucanas, buckeyes, my black rosecombs back from my sister, and hatching my own BCM's, BO's and BJG's. These are all scheduled to arrive around the 3rd week of March. That will keep me busy and out of trouble for a while. I have stock tanks that I made secure covers for that none of the barn cats can get into. I've got 3 tanks ready, but I may need to get another one ready. They make pretty nice brooders. No corners for them to crowd into.

Now if I can just get my little breeder pens and houses finished. I sit and think and think about how I want to build the houses. I'm just not sure how I want to build them so they will be warm in cold weather, cool in hot weather, dry in wet weather with enough ventilation for all weather.

We had a small flock of snow geese fly over our house honking the other day, they tend to hang out down the hill in the flower fields or the swamp behind the school behind us. I'm use to Canadian geese honking as they are around all the time these days. Snow geese have a different honk & much louder. When they flew over the other day my hens were all talking loudly to me & they shut up very quickly when the snow geese flew over lol.

Shannon

 

[Mountain Mel]

Ivywoods, if you have H.V.A.C. at your house you might try piping it to your coops/brooders so those birds will be warm in winter, cool in summer, and think of the interesting pics you could post on BYC

 

[Ivywoods]

Quote:
We have an outdoor woodstove that heats the house with 300 gallons of circulating water at about 180-190 degrees. It stays about 75 degrees in the house in the winter. It would take a heck of a lot of tubing to pipe that water around to the coops. Plus, I wouldn't want them to get too hot. BBQ chicken eggs is not on my menu right now.

 

[dldolan]

I miss the snow (grew up in Madison, WI), but here is where I live now, and this was taken last week:

Sorry, couldn't resist.

But give me a good hockey game any day!

Now, questions about my 9 day old BCM babies...2/4 seem to have feathered shanks. These are Wade Jeane lines...is that an OK percentage? One has black feathers and one white, as far as I can tell. I have to distract mama to get to them, and think I might pick up the same two every time. Jeesh.

 

[pinkchick]

Quote:
I live out in the corn and bean fields, and we get the snow geese almost every year. It is amazing. The numbers are incomprehensible. It looks like a snow drift slowly moving across the field as a flock of them land and then gradually work their way across the field eating dropped beans and corn. So cool. When they fly up, the sky almost turns black as they are so thick you cannot see through the flock. Our usually come in Feb. and March.

I've had more orders for chicken eggs than I can fill. SOOOOOO... that means I NEED MORE CHICKENS! I'm now looking at some buckeyes that are from show stock. NPIP flock. I'm ordering chicks, so it's going to be a while before they can help fill my egg orders. I should be getting black, lavender and silver ameraucanas, buckeyes, my black rosecombs back from my sister, and hatching my own BCM's, BO's and BJG's. These are all scheduled to arrive around the 3rd week of March. That will keep me busy and out of trouble for a while. I have stock tanks that I made secure covers for that none of the barn cats can get into. I've got 3 tanks ready, but I may need to get another one ready. They make pretty nice brooders. No corners for them to crowd into.

Now if I can just get my little breeder pens and houses finished. I sit and think and think about how I want to build the houses. I'm just not sure how I want to build them so they will be warm in cold weather, cool in hot weather, dry in wet weather with enough ventilation for all weather.

I hear ya Ivy! I too have more orders for eating eggs than I have chickens for, I don't like turning folks down when they ask for them but I must. Wish I had the funding for more coops and more birds but I just weigh it out and tell myself atleast for now, when the girls want to cooperate, they give me enough eggs most of the time for my eating egg customers. Now toss collecting eggs to hatch on top of collecting eggs for eating........sometimes the pickin' is slim.

 

[pinkchick]

Just for fun, I took this photo yesterday to share with everyone, thought you all might like it, it's not Marans related but sometimes we all just need to see something that makes us smile.

This egg is in a town not to far from where we are working and it just so happened that we had to make a trip there yesterday for some unexpected and needed building materials.
This is in the little town of Winlock Washington.

On the corners of the main street they have 3.5ft roosters of all different colors. I couldn't get a photo of all the different roosters but maybe I can talk DH into driving back there today after we finish working.
NO FAIR, I want those roosters in my yard!!!!!!!

This is the leghorn rooster they have on one corner going out of town.

MORNING EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!

ok....back to Marans.

 

[pinkchick]

These are some of the eggs I am saving to put in the new 'bator. Sorry I couldn't get a photo that didn't give me glare, but this photo shows the true tone of these eggs anyway. The last 2 eggs on the far right middle and bottom row are the last 2 eggs from the earliest laying and most correct GFF pullet. Some of her earlier ones are the 2 directly on the left of her egg the last on bottom right corner. One is also in the top left corner. Others are Blue Coppers and a couple from another GFF BCM that has started laying.

 

[sewandgrow]

Quote:
Hi Lisa,
I come from a long line of allergies family but have never been plaqued with them myself until a some years back & instead of spring/summer problems like most people I start around November. After a few years of it my aunt finally targeted it as possibly some type of wet weather allergy I may have. I too, am always healthy other than that.

 

[Hens and Roos]

Quote:
Hey could we see a picture of the chicken that laid that!!!!!