Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[gilavina]

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haha too funny! chickens do find the funniest places to lay eggs. I have one that love to lay in the bin I keep my treats for them in.

I'm being really careful with my back indeed...its hard as I feel like I'm being really lazy right now. I usually try to take advantage of my time off working, but for now I'm keeping myself entertained with doing technical drawings of my pens so I get the measurements and my materials all sorted.
That metal building sounds like a good one! I would think if it were me, I would just take over! hahaha The water spigot is a huge bonus, let alone the carport area....sounds like the perfect place to build in.

The people who lived here before us had some horses in there. There is a horse stall attatched to the other side of the building but I already have a bachelor pad in there now LOL. I left everything as is with the stalls and just ran fencing around it, added a gate, and pushed a pallet coop between one of the stalls so I could get horses or something later still if I wanted to. The bad part about that is I have to duck down or climb over the rails between the stalls to chase the roos when I have to catch them and they know it! The little terds! I have one naughty one who will attack me and then run to the other side where he knows I am too lazy to try and chase him.
There is a little thingy where they had an automatic waterer attatched to the spigot as well. I just would need to get more copper tubing or small hose to run from there.

Sounds like you really have quite a bit of space to work with and should be relatively a simple enough solution for more pen space. I have the space, i know what I want to do, but am dealing with my stupid back, the rain, and all that kind of stuff. It kind of driving me nuts to see what I could do and not be able to do much about it. I'm going to have to completely clear the space I want to build in and then have my neighbor come in and take his bobcat and completely level out the ground. Once that's done, then I can get to work. I've made some modifications that I think are better to the cement base (more efficient in cost and materials). Regardless I need to make the
wood be up off the ground since it can get so wet here. I am excited about the solutions, but it just seems so far out of reach since I have to think about being limited in my mobility. I usually am a work horse and can plug away and finish things off quickly. I don't like this back crap. I just hope it is done soon!

 

[flgardengirl]

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Marans should be born with thier shank feathers not just grow them in when they are older. His foot does look red in the picture. Now in the fall, a lot of the roos will get red between thier toes and thier feet in general and it is hormonal. I have noticed this on all my Marans not just the black coppers.

Another factor is scaly leg mites. If you think his legs might have mites you could put some vaseline or neosporine even if you think they are infected (just be sure to use the one without the pain medication in it) on his legs. It will smother the mites. You will have to reapply every day for awhile.
Another thing is he could have molted his leg feathers and grew new ones and had some ingrown feathers which may have become infected which the neosporin would help with as well.

You should compare the foot to the other foot and see if one is more red than the other.
Then feel both feet, is the suspected leg warmer to the touch than the other one? This could indicate infection as well.
Usually scaly leg mites will affect both legs.
Is he limping on one side? If his feet turn out not to be infected and is leg mites or hormonal, then he may be limping for another reason. This is the age a lot of the cockerals seem to practice sparring and jumping down from high places etc and have went through a growth spurt and can pull a ligament in thier leg (just another thought).

 

[LynninOK]

Thank you for your input! I will doctor him tonight, after he goes to roost. He is not real fond of me at the moment.

It seems like the shafts of his feet feathers are really large and kind of broken. Poor guy. I'll post another picture, just for inspiration:

 

[sewandgrow]

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Have you tried theMarans Club Breeders list??Ithinkthey list by state or at leasttellyou what state each breeder is in.

 

[marquisella]

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Hi, If you can join the Yahoo group " Marans_Chicken_Club, its a free group with over 1000 members. There is a breeders database.
I should warn you though, since there is no monitering of who puts what in the database, you should probably ask around before you contact anyone about Marans.
I would like to think that everyone that is in the group is aboveboard, etc. you neer really know unless you have heard of them & what they are doing.

If you would like to run some names pass me, or better yet, contact Bev Davis, who I'm sure has her name on the breeders list, to get her opinion of who in your area could help you out with eggs/chicks.

 

[Cadeau]

Hi all!

Pics of some roos to pare down - can you guys please tell me what you see?

Roo #1







Roo #2






Roo#3
this poor sucker is growing in a new tail - he was low man/younger man in the bachelor pad and his tail seems to have taken the brunt!!








Also - what is this girl? Is she a sport?
She is WHITE with a few grey feathers (unlike my splashes who are light silvery grey with some blue feathers) So - am I confused and SHE is splash and my others are really, really light blue??

 

[Debbi]

Good morning all!

Wow, the rain finally stopped! Thought I was going to have to build an ark. We needed it though, so all is good, but I'm ready for some sun!

Welcome to all the new folks here on the Marans thread!

Cadeau ~ For some reason your pics don't load all the way for me, stupid dial-up! I like #2 roo the best. Number 1 has that Wheaten influence going on. Number 3 looks nice, even without his tail (he did have one before, right??), but he is sparse on the shank feathering. The girl sounds like a Splash to me, it differs in coloring, just like the blues. Maybe post a pic of your blue girls so we can see the difference?

Vicki ~ You better take care of that back of yours! Take some time to heal, the pens can wait a bit

 

[Peach2u]

Well after going to the local fair this weekend I was not impressed. They only had OEG bantams being judged. They had a few people selling livestock. No one had Marans of any color. And I found out what kind of chickens I bought last week. I gave my list to my chicken guy for feather shanked BCM. What he brought me had feathered feet. I bought them cause they where pretty. I ended up with 2 mottled Cochin's! They are so meek. I can walk up to them in the yard and they let me pick them up. LOL I have to call mine in the coop and chase mine down. I guess I just have more yard candy. I didn't pay much for them $7 each. Which is why I bought them. They wont lay for about 6-8 weeks. But the other pullet/hens don't seem to care for them. I have to get them out of the run everynite and put them in the nest box. Because the older ones wont let them tru the door. And, they are the last ones to come out of the coop in the morning. I guess they call it a pecking order for a reason

 

[gilavina]

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I agree debbi...was just lookin at those pics and think the roo i like best is definitely 2.

I'm takin care of my back and bein a good girl...its hard since I don't do well just sitting around doing nothing. I do have to move a few things around to make space for that trio of coronations I picked up Saturday. I have a space for them that is still confined from my other birds but will give them more space. It should be an easy move...and can take it as slow as I need. I am shooting for building a divider in the front half of the original chicken house that is connected to the barn. It will take about 6 2x4s and a door I've already built, and putting up some chicken wire. Easy fix, and easy on my back. Bonus!

Oh....and its lookin like I'm going to Sedalia...I am working on being able to meet up with a guy for some birds there. So, I'm hoping lots of you guys will be able to make it. I'd love to meet you all

 

[Debbi]

Atta girl! I hope I can make it to Sedalia, but as of right now, it's not looking good. On the plus side, my Splash eggs are being shipped out today!

It's been awhile since the bator was humming with Marans eggs. It sure will be different seeing the "new" color (splash) of Marans around here! Let's hope I get a lot of pullets, whether they be splash or blue...just be PULLETS!!!!!!!!!!