Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[BarnGoddess01]

Quote:
Her eggs are getting smaller and lighter - but the shape has improved.

The 3 I hatched out of her - 2 are cockerels and will be culled. (I'll eat them.) The female will be added to my layer coop. I hatched them with a bunch of Olive Eggers just because she laid them when I was collecting eggs. In fact, this girl has her problems - over melanized, spurs that rival any roo, and a feather picker. So she really isn't a breeder. We are having a queer season here. Unseasonably warm. No snow to speak of. The girls have all kept laying even without artificial light.

I've started feeding her hard-boiled eggs to see if that has any effect on her feather picking but other than that, nothing has changed. (She has stopped feather picking .... )

 

[gilavina]

hey Barb....I'm having a terrible memory day....you were my hatching buddy right? Are those the silky eggs you said were not any good?
I'm gonna candle the eggs that went through the power outage to see how they are...I'm very nervous....

 

[DMRippy]

Attn Pink... you may be a grandma soon! I put your Blue Roos first babies in the Hatcher today! Like Vicki I had a power outage but my younger eggs seem to be fine and I think I saw movement in one of these eggs I just put in the hatcher. I just can't see in the Marans or Olive eggs or Am eggs. But they were full! I didn't get to candle the eggs you sent but I will TRY before the week is out.

My hatcher has been holding temp for days! Love that!

 

[BarnGoddess01]

hey Barb....I'm having a terrible memory day....you were my hatching buddy right? Are those the silky eggs you said were not any good?
I'm gonna candle the eggs that went through the power outage to see how they are...I'm very nervous....

My Silkie hatch is a TOTAL bust.

Not one fertile egg - and just got the news today that the roo passed away this morning so I won't be getting any replacement eggs anytime soon. (Perhaps explains the lack of fertility ....)

I'm on the hunt for more eggs but it can be a bit more of a challenge in Canada.

 

[gilavina]

My Silkie hatch is a TOTAL bust.

Not one fertile egg - and just got the news today that the roo passed away this morning so I won't be getting any replacement eggs anytime soon. (Perhaps explains the lack of fertility ....)

I'm on the hunt for more eggs but it can be a bit more of a challenge in Canada.

awww...I was hoping it wasn't the same hatch....boo. I just got done candling...last friday I took 5 eggs out and tonight I took out another 19....which means there are 53 left, but I'm not too hopeful about a large chunk of those. I left them because I want to make sure that they weren't just slowed down by the outage....sigh...

 

[Arielle]

Attn Pink... you may be a grandma soon! I put your Blue Roos first babies in the Hatcher today! Like Vicki I had a power outage but my younger eggs seem to be fine and I think I saw movement in one of these eggs I just put in the hatcher. I just can't see in the Marans or Olive eggs or Am eggs. But they were full! I didn't get to candle the eggs you sent but I will TRY before the week is out.

My hatcher has been holding temp for days! Love that!

DId you change the controler or heat source? You were planning to change something as I remember. Did the part arrive and get installed??

 

[gilavina]

ok...so I have to ask for all those that plant chicken gardens...do any of you grow kale that you recommend? I've never grown any, but want one that's a good producer. Workin on seed orders for this spring to supplement my seed safe.

 

[DMRippy]

DId you change the controler or heat source? You were planning to change something as I remember. Did the part arrive and get installed??

I converted it some. I added flexwatt and a new WHT. I got my new digital thermostats but have not tried them yet. They will go in the new incubator first, I think. I will let you know and post pics when done.

 

[Zanna]

ok...so I have to ask for all those that plant chicken gardens...do any of you grow kale that you recommend? I've never grown any, but want one that's a good producer. Workin on seed orders for this spring to supplement my seed safe.

I have grown many types of kale, all were very prolific and hardy. Just picked the last tonight to give the chickens tomorrow (planted last May). It will keep growing all through the winter and will withstand many days of freezing. The leaves don't get slimy like the outer leaves on cabbage after a freeze. Siberian or Winterbor have a finer leaf that I like in a sausage soup I make, Winter red has a tougher leaf but is great as well. I don't think you could go wrong with any variety but some claim to be more winter hardy. If I put it on the ground in the pens, the chickens don't eat it but if I zip tie it to the fence it gets eaten in a hurry!

 

[math ace]

Edit function wouldn't work so I just quoted and fixed my typo's that way.

Some one needs to let Nifty know that we need, REALLY NEED, to be able to edit our posts more than once.

Otherwise, I am going to have to type only ONE line responses

AND use lots of smilies