Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[Hens and Roos]

Quote:
Make sure to post pictures of the new ones from Pink! That way the rest of us can

over them too!

 

[marquisella]

You know a very good friend of mine, Ms. Kathyinmo told me that she read somewhere to move the eggs down a tray per each week of hatching. She says this is how she is doing it and she likes the results, but she does not hatch in the bottom hatching tray, she uses styro 'bators for this I believe. But Kathy is the queen of hatching and she can hatch anything....heck I bet she could incubate an Ostrich egg under a 60 watt light bulb and the dang thing would hatch. :lol

I can't hatch in my sportsman, even though it came with the hatch tray & lid. I could never get the humidity high enough for the hatching eggs, and it drowned the Marans chicks that weren't ready for hatching. So now, I dry hatch and use a styro for hatching. If you want to up the humidity of the styrofoam, put a sponge in the middle well so that it holds the moisture better. I fill all the grooves & wells with hot water when I put the eggs into it to hatch.

Another reason I stopped hatching in the Sportsman is because someone pointed out to me that all the chick dander would eventually gunk up the motor causing problems. I can see how that would becuase it coats the heating elements of the styrofoam bater but I can clean it off easier, and is cheaper to replace than the Sportsman.

Sue

 

[seabreeze]

I live in western (wet-ern) Oregon and the humidity is quite high here anyway so I think my problem may be we are just drowning the chicks because when I opened the Ebay eggs up that never hatched, there was a LOT of fluid still in the shell. Not gushing out but really, really slick and wet.

 

[sewandgrow]

Quote:
I wanna see it when you get it done! I am working on another brooder for chicks specifically hatched out for other folks, I have several chicks coming as well and also growing several out for myself, so the extra brooders will be greatly appreciated on my part, but, DH is not too excited about it being kept in the shop, but hey...atleast I put it on wheels and it will roll right out of the way, and he thinks I was kidding about making another one. NOT!

The first brooder I did had a flat roof. I had homedepot pre-cut almost all the wood for that project. It was nothing to put together

The second brooder we added a slant roof and used green house material for the roof so that the chicks would have light. . .
The third brooder will still have a slanted roof, but will only be 1/2 green house material. The other half of the roof will be plywood.
I am afraid brooder # 2 will have too much sun UNLESS I place it in the shade of our tree line.

Each brooder has gotten bigger because the hatches are getting larger

I post pictures in a couple of weeks on brooder #2 and Brooder # 3

Lisa,
I had that problem with a homemade brooder too. My son used an old shower door for the lid & it got way to hot. We had ventlation holes & still had to prop it open so we ended up moving it indoor (kinda) to the 3 sided building with an open front. Now it gets light but not direct sun & works great.

 

[sewandgrow]

Quote:
Geez..it's not like you were sleeping in, or something...
I'll show up around 4:00 this afternoon...then we'll really see how you can squak!!!

lol

You wanna hear something really funny........I think this hatch is 3 cockerels and 1 pullet.

They're all yours brotha!

eta: 1 Blue Copper that is from Gnarles and one of Bill's Blue Copper dtrs. (I think cockerel)
2 Black Coppers all from Gnarles' pen, pure Davis (I think both are cockerels)
1 Black Copper from Gnarles' pen, pure Davis (I think pullet)

Kinda jealous that you get to watch all 3 of these boys grow out. We might have to do some trading later on.

This is what you get Mel for going so long without a Marans rooster....LOL....LOL

 

[Quinn4321]

I do not have any Marans, but wanted to learn more on this breed. Thanks for all the information and great pics!

 

[Mountain Mel]

Quote:

You wanna hear something really funny........I think this hatch is 3 cockerels and 1 pullet.

They're all yours brotha!

eta: 1 Blue Copper that is from Gnarles and one of Bill's Blue Copper dtrs. (I think cockerel)
2 Black Coppers all from Gnarles' pen, pure Davis (I think both are cockerels)
1 Black Copper from Gnarles' pen, pure Davis (I think pullet)

Kinda jealous that you get to watch all 3 of these boys grow out. We might have to do some trading later on.

This is what you get Mel for going so long without a Marans rooster....LOL....LOL

Knowing the quality of the stock (birds) I will be getting, I have no problem raising a buch of Roos and keeping the best of the best for my own breeding stock. My goal is to have quality Blue Copper Marans, Black Copper Marans, Blue Jersey Giants, and Blue Laced Red Wyandottes. To get good birds I'm going to have to raise a lot, cull heavy, and BBQ often! Am I correct in thinking this way?

 

[math ace]

Quote:
You don't have to own to join in - - - Droolers

are welcomed ANYTIME!

Marans Thread!!

 

[syble]

mel, thats my way of thinking. even if i don't step foot in a show room, i like to breed what ever bird i have up to the standard of what it is supposed to be, otherwise we'd just have the same basic chicken in a couple dozen colors/patterns! Besides is there anything better then beer can chicken made with fresh herbs and black beer?!
Sib

 

[math ace]

GOOooooooood Evening everyone!

Guess what I did today ? ?

I had 5 SS ebay eggs in the incubator for lockdown. . . . ALL 5 hatched today!

DID I MENTION that TWO of the eggs were received CRACKED? . . . .
One I put a piece of scotch tape on and the other I put a piece of masking tape on.
BOTH CRACKED EGGS HATCHED! !