Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[marquisella]

Quote:
I'm in the process of culling my flock down to just hens that lay eggs 6 or darker, and chicks that hatched from those eggs....
So,hopefully by the spring, I will only have hens that lay eggs that dark....etc.

Of course, they will have to be up to the standard as well. Only time will tell.
I don't really know how I will sell next year, I will just wait & see. They are all off for the summer...

 

[dday911]

I asked this question on the page but I guess this is where I should have posted it.....
I have a young blue birchen roo that I want to introduce to 3 black coppers and a blue copper hen.
What will I produce breeding a birchen to the coppers? I assume I will get blacks and blues from the blacks and blues and splash from the blue to blue cross,
My concern is the birchen to copper crossing.
I am new to marans, I have been a bantam cochin breeder for several years. Can someone give me a brief history of the crosses. Will I produce mutts, or will the offspring be a recognized color? Will I get birchen, coppers, or a mix? Not sure how the genetics will affect the colors?
Thanks guys!

 

[gilavina]

Quote:
I'm in the process of culling my flock down to just hens that lay eggs 6 or darker, and chicks that hatched from those eggs....
So,hopefully by the spring, I will only have hens that lay eggs that dark....etc.

Of course, they will have to be up to the standard as well. Only time will tell.
I don't really know how I will sell next year, I will just wait & see. They are all off for the summer...

awesome! Marans are a newer breed for me, so I still have quite a bit of work to go on them. How long have you been working on your flock? I think all the work you are doing is fantastic!!

 

[ChicksterJo]

My Blue Copper is finally 16 weeks old and has coppering coming in on her hackles...

She should start thinking about laying soon, right?!

I need to see how dark her eggs are and the wait is killing me!! When should one expect the egg color to "stabilize," to some degree?

 

[blackbirds13]

Quote:
I also have a similar question but it's a Splash copper roo over a Birchen (Silver or Black) hen. Would I be mutting up the strain a lot, a little and are they still Marans?

Thanks.

 

[Debbi]

Good morning all

Aye ~ Pretty cake! I had to look twice though, at first glance, I thought there was a chicken sitting on top of it!

More new people here

I'm not experienced with the Blue Birchens, but I would think if you cross one on a Black or Blue Copper hen, you are going to end up with birds carrying the gold and silver genes. Black and Blue Coppers are also of the Birchen pattern, only they carry the gold gene which expresses itself as copper; the Blue Birchen carries the silver gene, expressing it as silvery color. So, in my mind, (and I'm not sure you want to be in there!), they may come out with yellowish hackles or silvery with copper leaking through. Now, if you breed one of the offspring back to the Blue Birchen daddy, that should help to double up on the silver genes, and thus make them look more like Birchens. I may be totally wrong here, it wouldn't be the first time!

I'm sure some of the Birchen breeders will chime in here, but that's my feeble attempt at explaining it.

 

[flgardengirl]

Quote:
I love this brooder. Very cool. I have some large old plant shelves that I normally hang lights from to start veggie seedlings. I bet one of them would work great for this.

ducklover: So sorry you had a bad hatch. I hope the next one goes better for you. Don't give up hope!!

gallavina: I can't imagine being able to harvest broccoli in July! Sounds like you are having a good gardening season this year. I dried a ton of dill, basil, bay leaves, and thyme the other day in the dehydrator. I have peppers and summer squash coming out of my ears and not much else right now LOL!

I stepped on a board with 3 long nails in it the other day and of course they all went through my shoe and foot! AND...of course, there was a fire ant hill under that board so they all crawled up both my legs and bit the $*%# out of me at the same time! Fun fun fun NOT.

Its no joke when something pierces your feet.

Last year I was wearing plastic crocks the cheap kind with the holes, and decided to walk into a pen. I usually wear Birkenstock heavy plastic clogs, but didn't want to change, too lazy.
Anyway, I stepped on a piece of wire, it went though one of the holes, and into the base of my big toe. Yeah, covered in chicken poop....

I hoped it would be ok, but of course, the next day,, my foot was red with an ugly red line running up the foot towards my ankle.

Went to Urgent Care and they put me on antibiotics, but told me to come back anyhow the next day so they could check it out, and I might have to go into the hospital for IV antibiotics....

I went back the next day, but it was not much better. There was a different doctor on and she put me on another antibiotic that she though more appropriate with instructions to come back again the 3rd day so they could check it out.

Luckily, the 3rd day there was improvement, so I didn't go to the Hospital, but I was sweating it!

Puncture wounds can be very dangerious....don't fool around, be safe and see a doctor. Thank goodness I had had a tetanus shot a year before, so that wasn't an issue.

Sue

Thanks Sue So far, I don't seem to have any infection or anything. I am an RN BSN and working on my Masters in Nursing so I know what to look for as far as something hideous happening. I try real hard not to go to the ER or urgent care unless I'm half dead LOL. I hate the wait! I did go for a kidney stone last year though...I never knew they were worse than childbirth till I got one myself LOL!
Anyhow, yes punture wounds can be nasty due to the bacteria entering inside the wound and since due to the nature of the wound, the bacteria is trapped inside the body and can enter the bloodstream very easily. Also, some people get infections easier due to various reasons and should be seen quickly by a Dr etc. if they know they are prone to infections or have diseases that make them at risk etc.
In your case, you obviously should have gone asap due to the risk of sepsis (blood poisoning). A red line running up from the wound towards the heart is always an ominous sign! I'm glad you are okay.
I cleaned mine off real good with betadine and then put some neosporin on it. Later I gave it a soak in Epsom salt and water a few different times. Looks okay so far..just hurts like heck.

Aye that cake is gorgeous. My dd would love to spend the day with you working on something like that. She is insane about all those cake shows and likes to try making different ones. I told her she should take a cake decorating class. I could never work on cakes, especially chocolate. I'd eat them all !!

 

[pinkchick]

Hi Everyone!

Welcome to the Marans thread New Marans Friends!

I just popped in quickly to say that..........."I'VE HAD IT WITH BROODIES!!!!!!" As of yesterday I have my 13th and 14th broody hens of the year, another Black Copper hen and Darryl my Splash hen.

I guess I should be thankful that they didn't all go broody at once.

 

[Debbi]

Hi Pink

Well, on the plus side, you can turn off the Sportsman and save electicity??

I had two eggs yesterday, and I'm wondering if one wasn't from Charlotte!! I think I had kept her and only one other older hen in the run with Clyde yesterday, and there were two eggs in the nest box!

Darned if I wasn't thinking this morning and let Charlotte out with the rest of the flock!

Will keep her back inside tomorrow, or later on if I can catch her. She's 17 weeks, 2 days old today!!

If she did lay one of those eggs, it was a WHOPPER!!!

 

[PHarris985]

Quote:
I'm in the process of culling my flock down to just hens that lay eggs 6 or darker, and chicks that hatched from those eggs....
So,hopefully by the spring, I will only have hens that lay eggs that dark....etc.

Of course, they will have to be up to the standard as well. Only time will tell.
I don't really know how I will sell next year, I will just wait & see. They are all off for the summer...

Your eggs are beautiful