Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[gilavina]

Quote:
glad your little ones are calming down..that first night is always so nerve wracking....worry about them. Hopefully there won't be any storms that scare them

 

[Cadeau]

Ivy - think a bug light in for a "nite light" would help for the first couple of nights??
Maybe they won't pile up then??

Poor kids...hard to grow up!!

 

[ChicksterJo]

I start turning off the brooder light when mine are still inside. I think it lets them get used to the dark a bit easier. However sometimes I still found the little 7 week olds to be cheeping loudly for me to put them up on their roost.

 

[geebs]

hmlongino It may be carrying wheaton or another color... IT is a cute chick Congratulations on your hatch...I have had worse hatches. With so few you will probably keep em all huh???

 

[Ivywoods]

Light in that coop would be tough. It is a temporary pen and there is no electricity and I don't think I have an extension cord long enough to reach it. They have been without lights at night for quite some time now.

I think they are going to be just fine, as long as we don't get a big whopper of a storm that scares them to death.

I'm going to have to start thinning them down soon. I'm not looking forward to that.

 

[pinkchick]

Quote:
You know....I've been thinking and following both yours and Math's limpy boys and have a couple questions.

So....neither of them is showing signs of bumble right?

No, no signs of Bumblefoot

Neither of them has any open sores on the leg or foot anywhere, right?

No, no sores anywhere

Are there any hot spots on the leg or the foot? I am especially wondering about the shank area.

The only swelling I can see/feel is in the knee joint, and it is a tad warm. Shank is fine as are the feet

Any signs of swelling?

See above

How much does each bird weigh?

Don't have a scale, but at 5 months old, this boy weighs probably 8-9 pounds!

How high are their roosts? Or how high is the highest point they can get up to and perch or when they are resting outside?

Never seen him go to any height or even perch while out of the coop. The roost is about 4 foot at the highest level

Would they ever be jumping off something that is more than 5ft off the ground?

See above. 4' is the highest I've seen him jump from. When he does jump off the roost, he does not use his wings very much. No flapping, just kind of opens them and jumps. He's been sleeping in one of the nest boxes since he hurt himself, about one foot off the ground.


So, what do you surmise here??

Thanks for the info ladies!
I was wondering if they have fractured their legs, I have put down 2 birds due to fractured legs and the only thing I could come up with was that they jumped down from something to high and with their large frame bodies that is a lot of weight coming down. After inspecting their coop, I figured out that I put my roosts to high, I lowered them and I have not had another injured bird. One was a very large Marans hen and the other was my one and only very beloved Jersey Giant hen, upon investigation after putting them down I found the fractured legs.
Just a thought. I hope they get over it and that it is nothing to worry about. But it sounds as though they are not jumping from high places, but then again, ll I can break my ankle just walking down my own stairs and end up in a cast..and six months later break the same foot getting into my truck.

Debbi~ Sorry this is late, but a couple days ago you asked about the bands that I use for the chickens, I use the numbered plastic bandettes. I have found they last a good long time. The only draw back is with the correct amount of dried mud in just the right places on the band......one can't make out the numbers.

 

[pinkchick]

Morning!!!!!

GEEBS........WHAT SAY YOU ABOUT THE WEATHER YESTERDAY FRIEND! It was drop dead gorgeous......can't wait for today. I hope you got to enjoy some of it.



I have 5 Marans chicks, lots and lots and lots of Wellies, one Barnie that I can see, one Olive Egger and a one pip in my test eggs from my Splash Copper or Birchen? boy. Lots more pips in the Wellies and a couple more pips in some more Marans eggs and a couple more pips in my Barnie eggs.

 

[Debbi]

Good morning all

Going to be another hot one here today! They say there may be a breeze, so that will help! Woke up to 72 and humid. Haven't been to the coop yet, but looking out the window, all looked like they fared the night with the coop doors open.

IVY ~ I know how hard it is letting go of the babies for their first night out. They go through their little ritual "night song", chirping and chattering to each other; "oooo, it's getting dark, what to do, what to do???" So cute, but it always make me think they may be sounding the dinner bell for wiley Coyote too. Got to wait for the hawk's morning fly-by before I let them out of the run. That Cooper's hawk comes every morning, does a swoop and search, circles a bit, then heads out to the woods and a better feeding ground. He's probably also checking out the size of the birds, cause the older ones are the only I let out to free range, and some of them are 2 1/2 times as big as Mr. Cooper!

I think the 11 barn cats tend to keep him at bay too, and they all like to hang with the chooks, it's a win-win.

PINK ~ Blue Butt is making progress with his limp. He may have fractured something, hopefully, he just sprained it. He's moving faster, standing more upright, and putting weight on his foot, so I am hopeful. He's also getting his "tude" back, as he made a faint lunge at my cane the other day. Little terd!

 

[Debbi]

Pink ~ Yes, those are what I used. Size 11 for the girls and 12 for the boys, and they are too small! Had to snag one hen the other day to take one off, as it had gotten down around two toes?? The mud here too made the numbers, and colors for that matter, impossible to see! I think I'll just let them all go bare naked for now. Like I said, I know who everyone is, and would have to buy bigger bands on top of it all. Then, in the future if I do need to band, I will use the colored zip ties or get some of those adjustable metal bands.

 

[hmlongino]

Thank you for your responses! I am definitely keeping all 4. I wish I could get more eggs, but I'm just not sure what went wrong and I'm way over budget on eggs and such!!

It will be interesting to see how the little one feathers in!