Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[Debbi]

Quote:
well you just made my day...I need a blushing smilie. I plan on sorting out how I'm feeling about the whole NPIP prospects after I get my pens and etc all built this spring. I need to get those out of the way so I can focus a bit easier. Lately I've been spread way too thin for my own good.

Its sunny here today and finally we are not getting the extreme winds. Its still plenty windy tho...you know its bad when the chickens are leaning sideways just to stay upright. We also lost part of the soffit on the house from the wind the other night. I'm gonna have to get back up there and recut a new piece and reattach it and such. I am still trying to figure out strong the wind had to be to rip it off.

No need to blush, he IS lovely! I especially love his coloring...I neeeeed that here..hint, hint, hint...

 

[gilavina]

Quote:
well you just made my day...I need a blushing smilie. I plan on sorting out how I'm feeling about the whole NPIP prospects after I get my pens and etc all built this spring. I need to get those out of the way so I can focus a bit easier. Lately I've been spread way too thin for my own good.

Its sunny here today and finally we are not getting the extreme winds. Its still plenty windy tho...you know its bad when the chickens are leaning sideways just to stay upright. We also lost part of the soffit on the house from the wind the other night. I'm gonna have to get back up there and recut a new piece and reattach it and such. I am still trying to figure out strong the wind had to be to rip it off.

No need to blush, he IS lovely! I especially love his coloring...I neeeeed that here..hint, hint, hint...

haha...I got ya...

Did ya see that last night I found a nice lovely dark first egg in one of my grow out pens...and there's really only a small small handful of girls it could be...I think there are 5 it could be...all the others in there are of other breeds. I am suspecting it is that nice blue copper...i'm thinking I might have my start to the blue coppers for sure now if it indeed is her egg. The shape of the egg is pretty consistent for the line of birds the hen that she is from. So

Its too bad the egg was used for scrambled eggs this morning...

Checked the pen before i shut them in just a few minutes ago and there was not another one, but I'm hoping at some point over the next week or so I'll get another one!

 

[Debbi]

Yes, I read that, congrats! One of my older girls left me a nice, tiny, evenly speckled eggie today! She hasn't laid for quite awhile since her molt, but it looks like Beaut is back in business!! She is from my original birds, but has a nice comb, although she will be treated as a carrier when pairing her up.

Sad day, my boy Roy has been sent to the bottom of the pecking order! Hard to imagine, he was the King here for so long, now Pip picks fights with him?? WTH? Tonight, he refused to go into the run, and refused to let me catch him. I sure hope nothing gets him in the night, it would break my heart!

 

[gilavina]

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OH NO! That's terrible! I hope he finds a place to hide that is safe over night! I know you love that boy!

I'm glad that you got an egg out of your girls! I think you are smart to treat everyone like carriers and then do the test matings and if it comes out that some show things, you know you are right and if there are some that continue to come up clean, then you know you might wanna hold on tight to them

 

[Debbi]

Wow, I must talk a lot! I've become a "Flock Master"!

Vicki ~ hope to get some pics tomorrow, unless that fool wind is going again! It was so windy and cold here today, neither me or the chickens had it in us. Day 10 of the heat here, but it's been fairly easy so far. Only 4-5 days to go...

 

[Debbi]

Yes, and Miss Beaut is a large gal, with hairy legs!

 

[gilavina]

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I was trying to get some pics here too when I got home from work but the chickens were just NOT gonna have it here either...the wind was less but the cold in the air I think had them huddling in for warmth earlier than usual. I really am happy that thus far with how winter has gone. If it stays mild like this, I'll take it!

Congrats on the "upgrade"

 

[pinkchick]

Here it is......I believe this is the same exact thing that I am seeing in my Marans, but this is not a Marans and this bird came to me in the form of a hatching egg. NONE of her eggs have ever been incubated and there is no chance that this bird is a rooster either, this female is over a year old and has just sprouted this fault. This is a Delaware hen.

Amazing how much it resembles this little comb................................................the little "fnky comb medina."

this is my last little cockerel that showed the comb that was a product of Gnarles over one of the GFF hens.
Black Copper cockerel 7 weeks old.

4 week old (Completely Un-Related )Silver Black Birchen Marans

See why I believe it is sprigs?Maybe it has modifier or something that allows it to be symmetrical in a way, or it is the multifunctional genes at play and appears to the be same presentation to me as seen is the Penedesenca.

 

[flgardengirl]

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haha I agree..I think this weather is throwing things off for sure! I really am excited about hatching from my individual pairings this year. I have been thinking about it quite a bit and how to most efficiently do that. I really do think this is going to be a good year despite the set backs!

WHOA! These girls need to wait until I have the breeding coops set up! I don't even have roosters in with a few of them....

I have a group of hens (without a rooster) who keep sliding up to the fence line to squawt for the rooster in the pen next door. LOL.
He was their original rooster and must still be their favorite

I had a different rooster in with them for a while. He had to chase them down to mate.

These girls just seem to have their own ideas.... They think they can select their own mate AND their own time to hatch AND their own eggs to sit on AND where to lay them!

SERIOUSLY, WHAT are these girls thinking? Didn't they get the memo that THEY ARE NOT IN CHARGE ? ?

Haha squatting by the fence huh? What little hootchies lol! I pulled that broody bcm girl off the nest again today. I think I broke the OE finally because she wasn't on the nest tonight. I took the other one's eggs 2 days in a row and does she care? NOOO she just lays another one and gets some of the other girl's eggs up under her wings jumps into the nest and sits on them!! This is the second time I've observed broodies actually pick up eggs. I have a little phoenix hen that actually got an egg and took it over the fence before I had it covered because I had pulled her off her nest in the woods and put her back in the run!! She had it way up under one wing...the wing pit.

Man I'm tired, spent half the day getting everything in the greenhouse, doing last minute repairs to it, and then the propane heater wouldn't light grrrr. Thank goodness dh is such a handy guy. He pulled it apart and fixed it.

 

[gilavina]

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haha....sounds lovely