Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[Illia]

Quote:
Do you know how FEW of us do show Marans?

You do know they're not even accepted in the APA yet, right?

 

[Mountain Mel]

I took a couple pics of the biggest blue yesterday....I'll gobble my breakfast & go get the camera....Pink, those chicks are very cute. ( I would say "darling" but it wouldn't sound very manly now, would it?)

 

[Mountain Mel]

These pics turned out very crummy. At the time I took them I thought they were going to be fine, but not so much. I will post new pics tomorrow, I promise. This is the largest of those I got from you, Pink...

So,,,,,,,which of those fluffy babies get to come to Castle Rock, Pink?
and in case you are wondering....that really is not porn on the T.V.!

 

[pinkchick]

Mel~

I don't know which ones get to come to your house yet......

WoW! She sure is a big girl! Gotta love Bill.

 

[Ivywoods]

I think chicks that are not fully feathered out look so funny. It's kind of like our own kids. Everything is our of proportion for a while, kind of like when kids loose their baby teeth and all of the sudden have these big teeth coming in where there used to be a little one. Once they get all their feathers in they start looking like, and sometimes acting like big chickens, only with that little chicken peeper voice.

Gotta love 'em.

I'm having coop problems. The layer coop we fixed up has a leaky roof. We tried to seal it once, but it still leaks. I'm afraid a fix is going to have to wait until warmer weather. Also, with the snow and wind here, snow tends to blow in through the door around the cracks. I have to sweep the snow out of the walk in area. My other layers are in a pen in the new barn. This is a brand new barn that was just built after the windstorm last summer took two of our other barns. The new barn is DAMP! It seems like it doesnt vent or drain at all. I think we are going to have to do a lot of work to get it to dry. The ground it is built on, although up where it should drain seems to hold moisture like clay. We need roof vents or something.

Because it is so damp the poop ends up clumping up no matter how much shavings I use. It is going to be one big mess trying to clean it all out when the time comes. I'm thinking I might move ten of the RIR's in with my marans and see how they get along. They would have more room that way.

 

[Mountain Mel]

Doggone it Ivy, it sounds like you are having all kinds of trouble. I wish I were closer so that I might be of help. I thought about inviting you to come out here for a week or so and let some of this winter weather pass you by, but then I realized that your airports are probably snowed in! I'm almost feeling guilty for our mild temps and snow-less, wind-less winters that we have out here.
You are right about the chicks looking strange at this stage in their life. Like clumsy teen-agers, exactly. And just remember...we have mild winters but we have scrawny, puny little deer out here. You have harsh winters but you also get those Big, Hurkin' Stud Whitetails every fall, so it's kind of a trade-off. (But we do have elk.....hahahahahaha)

 

[HarmonyOaks]

Hello and Good Morning!

Okay I know this is a shot in the dark, but some of you have really deep connections, and I am hoping with a little help, I may find someone willing to help me further my Whites along.

Does anyone have or know of someone with quality French Marans (as in bred to the French standard of Marans, considering body type, comb and tail sets in conjunction with a dark egg) in the Silver Birchen variety?

I am actively seeking a couple of laying hens or pullets to improve egg color in my whites. Hence, why I need females of laying age. Willing to lease or purchase, but these girls must be consistently producing 7s or better, prefer 8s, but -ok I know you are all laughing already so I might as well include that I prefer 8s! I already consistently get 6s but I need some help bumping their egg color to the next level. Several articles and citations suggest that a Silver Birchen is the preferred variety to use to accomplish this goal.

I have steadily improved the overall type of these whites and believe, that while they continue to be a work in progress, they have reached a level of consistency that I am comfortable exhibiting them. I prefer not to step backwards by bringing in V'shaped birds, wacky tail sets. or crow heads.

Please feel free to forward and cross post this request. The best way to reach me is: [email protected]; I also welcome dialogue with other breeders of Whites who may be facing similar challenges. Collectively we can accomplish more than we can ever do alone. Thanks, Carrie

 

[pinkchick]

Hi Harmony!

How many generations are you into your White's? Has egg color stayed consistent with each new generation?

 

[jeremy]

Quote:
Bill Braden in Oaklahoma used to raise White Marans, I don't know if he still has his flock(s) though, the last I heard he was downsizing only to work on Delawares. He might be able to point you in the right direction though.

 

[flgardengirl]

Pinkchick: I tried to send you a pm but your box is full LOL! I was gonna tell you that if you have pics on a photobucket account, you can add glittered text to your photos. They have a bunch of other stuff like frames etc. but I haven't messed with all that yet.

Does anyone know if there is a such thing as blue bantam marans? Not blue copper but BBS. One of my blue girls, Bella, is small. Okay , so I was gonna work on getting thier size bigger. However, one of her daughters came out ultra small. Smaller than Bella. Not dwarfy looking -very normal just small and she is a pistol in personality. She is laying now (the daughter) and I thought maybe she would be a late bloomer and grow some by now but she is staying little. So I am wondering if I could use her for a bbs bantam breeding program?