Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[Debbi]

Quote:
Yeah, that "look" of a champion that Mel refers to is not desireable! To me, it's more of a "soup pot" look!

I've had some chicks take 4 1/2 - 5 months before they reached their true eye color. Most have a nice orangey eye by 3-4 months.

 

[math ace]

Quote:
It only gets worse ( ie LOUDER)!

 

[flgardengirl]

Quote:
We picked our blackberries over the last couple of days. .. .and made 8 jars of blackberry jam!


The SS seem to be naughty girls. . . I've got a bunch of them over here - - close to 30 chicks.
We call the one batch "NAUGHTY GIRLS". The first chicks I have ever had who get on the roof of the brooder / temp coop.
At first, they were just jumping on the roof and running along it and jumping off the other side . . .. Now, they jump on the roof and FLY over the fence so that they can free range. .. NAUGHTY GIRLS - - gotta love em

I made strawberry jam last year (first time by myself) it came out a little runnier than normal but we are still eating it. I don't know if I could make blackberry lol.

 

[Debbi]

Hmmm, up here, if there is a bumper crop of wild black berries to be found, they make "Sweet Lucy". It's a wine that is supposed to ferment for 6 months, but no one I know has ever managed to leave it alone for that long! It is gooooood!

 

[AyeUpChuck]

Quote:
Blackberry booze is

: we make a blackberry IPA that's fantastic. It's 8.4%ABV. She's been dubbed the "Cheeky Tart" IPA!

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Quote:
It only gets worse ( ie LOUDER)!

One of mine, BCM, barely 5 weeks old is crowing up a storm daily now. Pretty impressive crow considering he still does chick-speak as well! I have NO doubt this boy is going to be a force to be reckoned with when he matures. He is also twice the size of any one else in the bunch. Biggest legs I've EVER seen on a bird and with feathers, makes him look like a monster. And he's a snob. Very pleased with himself. Has been since he cracked the shell.

 

[pinkchick]

Quote:
We picked our blackberries over the last couple of days. .. .and made 8 jars of blackberry jam!


The SS seem to be naughty girls. . . I've got a bunch of them over here - - close to 30 chicks.
We call the one batch "NAUGHTY GIRLS". The first chicks I have ever had who get on the roof of the brooder / temp coop.
At first, they were just jumping on the roof and running along it and jumping off the other side . . .. Now, they jump on the roof and FLY over the fence so that they can free range. .. NAUGHTY GIRLS - - gotta love em

I made strawberry jam last year (first time by myself) it came out a little runnier than normal but we are still eating it. I don't know if I could make blackberry lol.

I will be trying my hand at strawberry jam for the first time this year, if the strawberries happen.

They have good growth, but no berries yet. This time last year my daughters went out every morning and picked all the fresh strawberries and ate them before I ever got the chance to use any of them. Good thing I only had less than 10 plants last year or the girls would have turned into strawberries.

Now you wanna talk blackberries..blackberries go with so many things. Few of my favorites are blackberry blueberry jam, blackberry raspberry jam, my personal fav...blackberry pomagranate(sp?) YUMMY, blackberry loganberry, blackberry marionberry, and blackberry lingonberry. I also make an old fashioned chocolate blackberry bundt cake that is out of this world.....with cream cheese frosting.

When you have blackberries at your finger tips and in abundance like we do here in the PNW you take full advantage of the them.....best part is they are free.

My dog Bailey loves blackberries and a couple years ago I taught him how to pick his own berries off the vine...craziest dog I have ever had.

All of my chooks except the Marans will go into the berry bushes, don't know why but they stay clear of them.

 

[Debbi]

Speaking of "chick speak", (love that term!). I was waiting for my 11 weekers to decide it was time to coop up last night. They get so fussy and loud, worrying about going to bed. Up on the roof of their coop, down to the door, back to the roof, all the time chattering and peeping. Well, last night marked the threshold of the beginning of maturity. As I listened to them, I noticed the peeps were now being substituted for "clucks"! All in a day's time, they went from chick speak to pullet speak!

 

[pinkchick]

AyeUp~
I think the chick that you posted a photo of looks like a cockerel (photo 1) but I would expect a larger comb for a cockerel unless she/he is just slower than the others. Looking lovely by the way. Do you have a photo of the others?
Splash birds are so unique, not one of them is alike. Absolutely no uniformity with the splash....I think thats what keeps me loving them....can't duplicate the same one twice.

 

[AyeUpChuck]

Quote:
Sad.... I was really hoping he would be a she but Iguess it explains why "she's" so pretty. I'll get some pictures of the others today. One of the blues has a slight eye infection. From what I can make out he's scratched it and there's a tiny cut. So I separated him, cleaned and treated the wound last night and it looks pretty much clear. Will keep him quarantined for another day or so to be on the safe side. So now I think maybe I do have all boys from that batch. They'll be good looking though.