Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[gilavina]

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I have pinks bcm eggs, some more ss eggs, and my own marans eggs in the incubator on Day 2 or so.

I did hatch some chicks in Nov when the temps were down in the 20's. That was interesting.
My chicks spend the first two weeks in the house no matter what the weather is like. I like to monitor their progress during this time frame.
I don't like them in the house after that - - - TOO MUCH DUST! TOO MUCH POO!

Then the chicks go to an outside brooder that has a heat lamp in it. I can move the brooder so that it is visable from a house window and I can see how they are doing.

I had a real hard time when the temps dropped so low. The good thing about our weather is typically all COLD weather is short term . . . gone within a few days!

HEAT HEAT HEAT - - - the summer heat is awful on the hens. I don't think it would be as bad on the chicks. They need that heat for the first few weeks. After that, they start getting their real feathers in and I don't know how well they will handle it. I had some chicks last year, but not in the hottest part of summer. The temps were over 100 degrees then.

That sounds like a good set up you have and some more awesome eggs in the incubator! ...I wish the cold weather here would leave in a few days....instead of staying cold for so long.

Although, I did live in Minnesota for almost 10 years, so the weather here is so much better than there....glad I'm not there anymore...I just couldn't handle the cold for so many months. I would think about moving somewhere, where the weather would stay more temperate, but noooo humidity and high temps for me. It just kills me....

I saw you got your brooder making materials today!! Yay! I can't wait to see pictures. I love building things!

 

[gilavina]

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I can hatch them, but I'll be dippity do da if they don't all turn out to be roos . . . NOT ROFL!

I was just checking in on my latest hatch that happened on wednesday and thursday of this week and I'm seeing signs here and there that this hatch might be more balanced in the roo/pullet count so far. The funny thing is that on those shipped eggs i'm actually glad I have some splash roos showin...I want 2 to be able to work with in my breeding pens. Then the rest can be pullets hahha

 

[jeremy]

I got some BC eggs from ruth!

 

[math ace]

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Jeremy,

You should be very happy because Ruth has some nice eggs. . . . : thumbsup

 

[pinkchick]

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Quinn!

 

[pinkchick]

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

I hear that! I was thinking about that when I was setting it up and getting it ready to use for the first time. Thank you for bringing that up Sue, after I read your post outloud to DH, he has agreed to painstackingly clean the Sportsman for me when I turn it off. Of course I had to agree to turn it off at some point.

I am going to let him clean it for me after the next 2 hatches are done. If I have anything to set..I can just set them in my styro bators until I get the Sportsman back.

 

[pinkchick]

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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

 

[pinkchick]

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?

You got it!!!!

 

[pinkchick]

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That's GREAT!!! Congrats! Soooo cool that the tape worked.

 

[pinkchick]

This is for Pinkchick. This is a shot of the legs from one of those 3 that I got from you in February...

Mel~
The photo kinda washes them out, but from what I can see they are fine. I know what you think you are looking at, but give them more time, trust me. The leg color of the Splash is different than the leg color of the Blue's and Black Coppers, Splash can have either the whiteish pink leg color or they can have a lighter shade of pale (blue) slate and it kinda has a funny cast to it until the leg changes to its true color. I haven't had any of the whiteish legged Splashes for a long while now...they have all ended up this light blue.