Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[pinkchick]

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Hi Big!

I know nothing of the Rudy roo, but can tell you that Wade Jeane birds are very nice birds. Hope someone who may know comes along and helps out.

 

[gilavina]

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haha...if a hatch like that ever happens to me again...I'll be shocked....I just kept waiting and waiting for them start developing the combs and etc, and nothing ever happened.

My last hatch that is only a few days old and I will eat my words in a couple weeks if I am wrong, but I don't think so........1 cockerel (brought back from the dead....long story, my stupidity

) and the rest are pullets.
The 2 that hatched the week before that, both pullets.
The hatch the week before that..................all pullets and one cockerel.
I had a pretty good month for females the month before too.

Maybe it comes in yearly waves because the year before last...I was hatching cockerels all year long.
Rooster noodle soup and rooster and dumplings made here, all have a little French twist.... if you will.

Just had rooster and dumplings for dinner the night before last......it was nummmy!

Awwww crap! You're making me hungry for home grown roast chicken and garden fresh roast veggies...spring better decide its coming soon...cause I'm sooo ready. I'm gettin my seeds going and can't wait til I get to play in the garden again. I love the "french twist" line...too funny.
That's crazy you've been having such a good pullet year, but super fantastic at the same time! I'm hopeful that things will level off soon, I've just never had such a lopsided hatch before...well lopsided in the bad way hahahah
I had someone tell me one time (I think I've mentioned here) that a pullet year comes along about every 8 to 10 years...that was last year for me. He also said that its not uncommon to have hatches of nearly all pullets or all cockerels mixed in through hatching season...but that in a pullet year it is a consistent hatching of pullets each time through the whole season...so maybe, just maybe...this is your pullet year!!!!

For me, I better start looking up new chicken recipes the way I'm starting out hahaha

I was gonna ask you the other day and forgot...I know you said your girls run a bit larger, I was just wondering how much they weigh on average? I'm excited for the possibility of gettin some size on my birchen lines.

Oh, and I got what I would consider a fantastically spherical egg today from one of my marans pullets. I don't think she has figured out her paint shoot yet though..the color is more tiny, tiny little specks of color over a medium brown egg...but the shape is crazy round. Made my day!

 

[pinkchick]

I was gonna ask you the other day and forgot...I know you said your girls run a bit larger, I was just wondering how much they weigh on average? I'm excited for the possibility of gettin some size on my birchen lines.

Oh, and I got what I would consider a fantastically spherical egg today from one of my marans pullets. I don't think she has figured out her paint shoot yet though..the color is more tiny, tiny little specks of color over a medium brown egg...but the shape is crazy round. Made my day!

Just a quick note on the larger thing........ummm yah, the larger ones would be any bird that is from Bill, Bill last weighed in at almost 12.5 pounds. He will be 2 years old in April. Haven't weighed one of his girls yet, but can tell you, when slightly nugding and lifting one of these tanks up to feel under her for an egg or just to hoist the beasts from place to place you can definately tell the difference.

I would say that compared to my pure Davis birds they probably outweigh(talking only females that are mature- 1 year or older) the pure Davis birds by maybe a pound or a little more, his male offspring I have only grown out to about 6 or 7 mos. I would say probably came in around about 9 lbs or so at that age. Didn't weigh them either, you will have to see the size first hand and watch them grow. It's quite a difference watching his offspring grow and watching the pure Davis offspring grow together, they are just bigger. If you like bigger birds then you will like the size you will get from Bill's offspring. Someday when it starts getting a little less cold and a little less mucky and wet...I'll grab some weights on my big girls.

Congrats on the very round egg. I love the really round ones.......the hard part is telling which end goes up!​

 

[Mountain Mel]

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Just a quick note on the larger thing........ummm yah, the larger ones would be any bird that is from Bill, Bill last weighed in at almost 12.5 pounds. He will be 2 years old in April. Haven't weighed one of his girls yet, but can tell you, when slightly nugding and lifting one of these tanks up to feel under her for an egg or just to hoist the beasts from place to place you can definately tell the difference. lol: I would say that compared to my pure Davis birds they probably outweigh(talking only females that are mature- 1 year or older) the pure Davis birds by maybe a pound or a little more, his male offspring I have only grown out to about 6 or 7 mos. I would say probably came in around about 9 lbs or so at that age. Didn't weigh them either, you will have to see the size first hand and watch them grow. It's quite a difference watching his offspring grow and watching the pure Davis offspring grow together, they are just bigger. If you like bigger birds then you will like the size you will get from Bill's offspring. Someday when it starts getting a little less cold and a little less mucky and wet...I'll grab some weights on my big girls.

Congrats on the very round egg. I love the really round ones.......the hard part is telling which end goes up!

I know what I'm gonna name that big blue pullet that I got from Pink...the one she calls' "Bills'Girl"...I'm gonna name her Dolly....for Dolly Parton!

 

[gilavina]

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Just a quick note on the larger thing........ummm yah, the larger ones would be any bird that is from Bill, Bill last weighed in at almost 12.5 pounds. He will be 2 years old in April. Haven't weighed one of his girls yet, but can tell you, when slightly nugding and lifting one of these tanks up to feel under her for an egg or just to hoist the beasts from place to place you can definately tell the difference.

I would say that compared to my pure Davis birds they probably outweigh(talking only females that are mature- 1 year or older) the pure Davis birds by maybe a pound or a little more, his male offspring I have only grown out to about 6 or 7 mos. I would say probably came in around about 9 lbs or so at that age. Didn't weigh them either, you will have to see the size first hand and watch them grow. It's quite a difference watching his offspring grow and watching the pure Davis offspring grow together, they are just bigger. If you like bigger birds then you will like the size you will get from Bill's offspring. Someday when it starts getting a little less cold and a little less mucky and wet...I'll grab some weights on my big girls.

Congrats on the very round egg. I love the really round ones.......the hard part is telling which end goes up!

Sounds like they are right up my alley...I have a giiiannnt splash boy that is from a late fall hatch last year and he needs some big girls cause he just keeps getting bigger and bigger...he doesn't mean to, but he's so big he has kind of torn up a couple of my smaller girl's backs...so I have him in a bachelor pen right now...til I decide where to put him. I have a couple bigger hens he will probably go with, but Bill's girl's sound fabulous!

glad I'm not the only one with the addiction to hatching...I have yet to pack the incubator clear full....I keep telling myself its not so bad if I do smaller hatches...more frequently ....haha

 

[gilavina]

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Ahhhhhahahahha....that's hilarious!

 

[HenThymes]

Hi Marans peeps.

It's me again with the jacked up cuckoo hatch from a couple of months ago. I have a couple of questions and yes I need to get some new pictures.

There are a couple of interesting colors in the group. This group was also to have the possibility of gold cuckoos as well.

One of the cuckoo's is a cockerel and tonight I noticed what looks like some tiny goldish color starting to grow out in his hackle and saddle areas. He did not hatch yellow or even light brown like I have seen other golds look. He hatched black and looks like a normal black/white cuckoo other than this new color I am starting to see. Could he be a gold cuckoo that is dark bodied? I have seen a couple of rooster that are black/white golds...

He is also French as he is feather legged. Good news, I believe the other 4 cuckoos are all pullets.

Could I get that lucky...

I have two that hatched solid black and have stayed solid black. I was assuming they were BC but wasn't sure, well tonight I noticed that one is getting his copper in the hackle and saddle area. The other is still solid black. They both look like cockerels but I have also been told that some BC pullets can fool ya. Seeing that the other is not showing any copper yet, could it be a pullet? How fast do their comb and wattles grow?

I will get pictures of the brown one that I have as I still have no clue but it does look like it may be some form of a wheaten?? The white barred looking one just has me stumped.

 

[gilavina]

I was sorting pics on iphoto and thought I'd post a couple pics just cause...
These are all project girls...so forgive the lack of correct color, but things should begin to improve with this breeding season...I've got some plans brewing haha

ok...the first pic is that girl I mentioned that lays that giant egg. This is when she was just a youngin'. This pic really does not do her justice...she was one of the most beautiful chicks.

This next one is her grown up at the end of the summer last year. Her tail set is waaay too high, but I still love her. Even if I only use her as a layer, she won't be going anywhere

This is her mama on the right with my big ol' cuckoo boy...Claude Hopper. He is the best leader for the girls I've got.

this last pic is just for Kim....another shot of my blue project girls....I know how ya love the blues

well....those are some of my 'mutts', might take me longer to get to the direction I'm heading, but I love'em anyways. Its a good thing I've got some good ones mixed in or I might never get anywhere

 

[Mountain Mel]

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Those are some awesome -pretty birds! Wow, I didn't even know this color pattern existed...I want some!

 

[gilavina]

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Those are some awesome -pretty birds! Wow, I didn't even know this color pattern existed...I want some!

I got them from a guy as young pullets that I'm sure were sport chicks from some of his experimental crosses in his quest to develop lemon blue marans...but I too love this pattern. I'm toying around with a couple of ideas to sharpen the color up a bit and localize it a bit more, so its not so willy nilly. They remind me a bit of East Frisian Gulls, an eastern German chicken. I'm hoping to get a few of them in that same white neck and etc, but a blue body instead. I think I will probably feel like I've died and gone to heaven if I do... They are truly striking in person to look at as they are, I can't imagine what they will look like if I can get the blue coloring in there...