Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[geebs]

I am looking at the bird from a profile shot... The ones that are not v shaped that I have seen are too fluffy toward the tail... as the back marries into the tail... I don't like it to be too fluffy there. I like a neat the tight topline. I have not had a problem with back width in the V tail. But you see my rooster...he is wide and my hens are wide also... I had never considered the shape of the tail from the backside until last year when don brought it up... And I thought he was talking about having a nice tail that didn't "pinch" etc and you would get that problem in a V tail but I don't see how you could get that in a U tail so I am confused here... I want to make sure I am understanding what he means. I think of brahmas when I think U tail. You can google images and see what I mean by too fluffy on a profile picture... I can't visualize a marans with a tail like that so I guess I am at a disadvantage that I don't understand what Don is saying, hence I posted pictures of the bird we were discussing last year in regard to tails... Can one get a pinched tail from a U shape??? or did Don change breeding strategy??? Or was that advice I took out of context entirely.... ????

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl...=1&ndsp=16&ved=1t:429,r:7,s:0&biw=826&bih=743 Link to Brahma picture

 

[gilavina]

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Yay!! Sounds like you were busy!! How did you can your summer squash?
I might get my tomatoes and peppers in this week finally. Its been too wet and I've been working tons, so my goal is tuesday! I'm a major salsa canner too...who am I kidding..I make tons of pico de gallo as well to eat fresh

 

[Mountain Mel]

So....Pinkchick.... This lady really wanted your roo... but I told her it was already spoken for...so she ended up buying three of the 7 Roos that I was going to keep for myself.....

 

[snowbird]

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The easy way to check for the roach back is lay your open fingers on the back at base of neck and run down the middle of back from front to rear. There could be a small ridge you can feel or there might be a high spot in the structure of the back. The roach back usually shows up when we have a bird that is narrower in the back than what is wanted. Try and get a new or used copy of the SOP, as there are sketches available. If you breed the Roach back it tends to reproduce itself.

 

[rsquared]

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Oh Geebs, that pic you posted helped me tremendously as I learn best with reading and pictures. Thank you for doing that....would post more w/ pics if I can take time to figure out the pic thingy. Pinks has asked me to post pics of my/her grandbabies and need to go find her post telling me exactly how to post here as I'm very tech challenged

Debbi, ya still hanging in there after? Thinking and praying for your safety!

 

[math ace]

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I sliced it and raw packed it. .... HOWEVER, I will have to try a hot pack with it next time, because I have an 1" of water space ( without squash) in it. I think that is because the squash softened so much once it was hit with the hot water and processed in the canner.

I did not notice a big difference between the raw pack and hot pack of the green beans.

We LOVE fresh salsa and eat it until we get canker sores from to much citric acid. .. .

With 40 tomato plants in the ground, I do believe I will be canning some tomatoes this year too. The cherry tomatoes are just turning red.
My early girls should be next. Romas should be ready right after that. . .. . . Then there are yellow, celebrity, better boys, and rutgers after that.

I haven't seen the jalpeno yet, but there are some Caribbean slim peppers out there that might make a person start praying for mercy.

 

[sabella]

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Snowbird, I'm reposting because I would really appreciate a critique. No sugar needed. My birds usually carry their tails a little bit higher. The blue hen rarely lifts her tail. This is her usual carriage.

 

[flgardengirl]

I have to vote for the inverted V look. Yesterday afternoon I went out and checked out everyones fluffy butts and that is what they have tight V shapes so trying to get a U at this point aint gonna happen. However, the golden cuckoos tail feathers are so messed up from roo loving and one of them got most of hers pulled out from another hen awhile back and haven't grown back yet so can't tell what thiers is like.

OMG its so hot here. I went and got the girls a huge watermelon so when it hits 96 plus all our humidity again today, I can give them all a cold treat - the poor things!

 

[pinkchick]

Hi Everyone!!!!

Math~ Garden looks great! Nice Job Lady! Hope all with you is good.

Hope all of your chooks are doing great.
I can't wait to start canning. I planted about 40 'mator plants as well, all heirlooms (purple, orange, green, yellow and red) we will see what happens, after transplanting the starts I am down to about 30 that are just now getting real leaves, the others didn't like the transplant to a larger pot. Cross your fingers.
All my corn starts except 6 died, so I had to start more. Something eat my lemon cucumbers.

Pumpkin, golden squash, potatoes, radishes, peas are in the ground and doing well, Potatoes are in the lead going NUTZ! Mammoth Sunflowers are starting to grow crazy too, I've always wanted to try and make a sunflower house, so this year I am going for it. Fruit trees have just now decided that they should flower.....hopefully we can beat the wildlife to the fruit.

flgarden~ You could just send about 16 degrees over our way and then you would be at a nice comfy 80 and we could possibly get over 60 today and all would be swell.

Wanna hear something weird....out of everything I have ever fed my chickens I have never fed them watermelon. I bet they love it something fierce. Stay cool my friend!

Sabella~ I am not Don, but would like to give you my 2 cents. I really can't see anything wrong with any of these birds. They are still young and will still do some filling out and changing before they are a year old, and quite possibly you may even still see changing in Sherman after a year of age as well. I have seen some pullets that carry their tails low like that change, my Charmin carried her tail like that for a long time until she was about 7-8 months old. Give them some more time to finish maturing and bulking up...you have nice birds to start with girl. Smile and love it.

 

[Hens and Roos]

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We give ours watermelon and they do a good job of eating it- of course they get whatever is left on the rind after my kids eat it- if I tried to give them a half of one I think my youngest DS would be in the pen with them

they also like musk melon. We were laughing the other day because I sent the youngest DS to give out sunflower seeds as a treat and he went into the girls run and the next thing you know they are crowed around him and he's kneeling on the ground- he dropped the container and was trying to pick up the seeds just as fast as the girls were trying to help him- asked him if they knocked him down to take the treats! He was just fine, it was pretty cute!