Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[Mountain Mel]

Yep....it sure is nice living right next door to Pinkchick!

 

[Illia]

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This guy.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5084/5348254102_8c77b1f23a_z.jpg

Illia ~ He is awesome!! Have you ever tried crossing him on a Brahma? I thought about that the first time I saw his pic. Those would surely be some monsters!

Okay first, again, Mountain Mel - There are other people here too who are neighbors.

But, no, I don't have any SQ Brahmas to use, and I don't think Brahmas would make as good of a cross. They grow very slowly and are often more fluff than flesh. My hatchery Brahmas would be the biggest joke to use though. . . Poor girls are only 5-6 lbs and are nothing but feathers and bones.

 

[sewandgrow]

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W H Y ?

Did he hurt your ladies? ?

They are actually very sweet birds Math.....that is unless you are another rooster. They will protect their ladies from any other males. I'm sure he was a perfect gentleman with those ladies.

I have been reading some of the other threads and was really surprised to read how very docile they are. They look so mean.......LOL

 

[Ivywoods]

Hi Everyone-

I haven't had much time to be on here lately. Hubby and I went up by Omaha yesterday and got a new vehicle. 4-wheel drive Jeep. We are going to need it! We've been thinking we could use one for a long time now, but decided now is the time since we thought the tranny was going out on our old Chrysler. If the weather does what they SAY it's going to do, we will be snowed in again, 4 wheel drive or not.

I have eggs coming out my EARS! A few people at work have brought some egg cartons here and there, but I'm still piling a few up in ice cream buckets. I've had very good demand for these eggs, and they all sell.... I just need a bigger stockpile of cartons. I really don't want to buy egg cartons. It just seems kind of crazy when there are people who throw them away every day. I put an add on craigslist saying that I would trade one dozen jumbo eggs for 15 cartons. So far I have one response from someone that has egg cartons, but the weather is putting a delay on getting them from her.

I'm thinking of putting my RIR pullets in with my marans hens. They are about the same age. I have 10 RIR's and about 8 BCM's. Do you think they would fight? Is there a better time of day to mix the two flocks? Any ideas, suggestions or advice will be appreciated.

 

[sewandgrow]

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Good luck with that............. I too went on a Silver Birchen hunt a few months back & was very discouraged with the results. I had trouble finding much. I think they are beautiful. A chicken friend of mine that doesn't live far from here that knows Bev said Bev had none for sale. I think it is because she is involved with projects right now. I eventually gave up on it & instead increased my small flock of Wheaten Marans. I am into chunky large sized chickens & was also told the Birchen are not as big so that helped me make up my mind. I will check with my friend again for you if you want just PM me.

 

[sewandgrow]

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Bragger.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! LOL

 

[sewandgrow]

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I have had good luck with mixing the girls together. As long as they are near the same size. I have had no trouble so far & have been doing it awhile. At first I was putting them in at night but I even quit bothering with that. Now they go in together whenever I am out there & have my son available to catch for me. As long as there are no overcrowding problems I would say go for it. I only keep one rooster per pen though except for hatch mates that have been raised together. Just my way with my individual successes.

 

[Mountain Mel]

I have a small rabbit-type cage that I put my "introduction" birds in. It is big enough for food & water too - so I'll put my new bird in that and set it in the coop with the regular flock for a day or two. It gives the birds a chance to get to know each other without all the pecking and in-fighting. So far, this has worked for me.
The exception is that I had a couple of birds that would not tolerate black & white birds. They tore up my Lakenvelder cockerels and then started in on the White-Crested Black Polish. After that it was the Columbian Wyandottes. I finally sold the the racist members of my flock and that solved my problem.

 

[Casey76]

Wooooooooot I've managed to secure some eggs from silver black and silver blue Marans here in France!!! I'm so excited, especially to play a (small) part in breeding the silver blue, which isn't a standard colour yet.

Here are a couple of photos of the "parents"

And an example of the eggs...

 

[Wynette]

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This is very similar to how I introduce birds to a flock; however, I will say that when it's more than just 2 or 3, I typically do not see nearly as much of a problem. I think because they seem to be their own little and separate flock for a good long time.