Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[gilavina]

howdy everyone! Hey Kim...got a question for you about feeding habits. I know you have posted in the past and am overwhelmed at the thought of searching through the thread to find all the info. What all do you feed your birds? Do you mix feeds based on age? Season? What kind of supplements do you give and roughly how much do you feed your adult birds? I am having to switch feed suppliers (its closer to home and ending up being cheaper anyways, so its good), but I figure while I'm at it...I would go ahead and give some closer attention to writing down some info and coming up with an easier way of portioning out food and etc.

 

[enggass]

My first 2 Marans Eggs. Same bird - BCM. The 2 eggs 2nd from left... will they get darker as she matures a bit? At least I think they are - not sure who is laying yet... I know one Wellie is(third from left)

from this girl here...

 

[Illia]

If you don't notice change now, don't expect much in the future. That's how all mine were.

 

[pinkchick]

Steve~ I believe those are Marans eggs after seeing them next to that Wellie egg. Congratulations! They are a nice color and as Illia and Marquisella stated, sometimes they can get darker and sometimes they may not, just depends on the individual bird. I have been getting some very nice eggs from my young blue cpr pullets, one of them started out pretty light and is laying darker now, but they have only laid less than 10 eggs each so they could still be changing. The others started out dark and have stayed dark.
Too bad about that comb....that girl is lovely!


Vicki~ I don't have time this morning to go over what I feed but will try to get to it this weekend.

 

[gilavina]

Quote:
no worries at all...just whenever

 

[enggass]

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Funny, the people over on the Wellie Forum are leaning towards them being Wellie Eggs - due to the Terra Cotta tone and lack of glossiness/sheen. Time will tell...
Thanks,
Steve

 

[pinkchick]

Steve~ I saw your post over in the Wellie thread and talking about shine....some of my Marans do not lay eggs with shine, they are matte. Then I have a Welsummer that lays very solid matte and dark egg that resembles a lighter Marans eggs almost identically...so now I am totally confused, but still leaning toward those eggs being from the Marans.

You are right time will tell...but I can say this...it would be totally easier if those egg were in my hand vs. being in a photo.....either way....they are absolutely beautiful!

 

[enggass]

Kim~ Yes. Either way I am very happy with them... It is hard because short of standing by the coop all day it takes time to determine who is doing what

The BCM IS very pretty, and big too.

 

[Wynette]

Quote:
ARE YOU STINKING KIDDING ME? Holy cow - I can't believe THE NERVE! I'm so sorry, Sue!

 

[pinkchick]

Steve~

In this photo you will see that the 2nd egg in the 3rd row from the left is matte finish and not glossy...this is a Marans egg from one of my newest layers...a gal from the same parentage as your gal. The egg just above it is also hers and is the one I post a few days ago...it also is not shiny.
Wish I had a Wellie egg to put next to it for you for comparison. Also note the egg in the upper right hand corner...matte finish, this is also from one of my BCM hens.