Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[berkeleysprings]

Congrats!!

Do you run each color in a pen or over several pens?

Forgot:
I have two roosters who have grown up together all along (hatch mates, same breed) - they are in charge of my free range flock of pets.
Last year, they had a few scuffles and one roo came out boss and things were fine, other than 2nd in command waited until dark to come inside at night and was first to run out in the morning.

BUT - those boys have been really going at it for the past few days....
They're doing more damage to combs and wattles than really spurring each other, but I'm hoping it won't get to that.

Any advice?
Do they usually work it out?
How do I know if/when I have to take one guy out?

thats partly why i butchered a bunch sunday they were gunna kill each outher after a year together. i never put them with hens but they startwd fighting bad its a tough call .

 

[Debbi]

Cadeau ~ All of my boys here got along, except for the two brothers! They were best buds for the longest time, then one morning out of the blue, they started some bloody fighting! I've kept them seperate from then on. The other day I decided to see if they could get along together since I got rid of the other 9 roos. I usually put Clyde in a night pen, and Roy gets to free range with the girls during the day, while Clyde stays in the run. This has worked for a year, so thinking the stress might be less on them now with more girls to share, and less males to compete with, I let Roy in the run with the rest of them the other night before I put Clyde up. For about 10 minutes, everything was peaceful. I was just getting done feeding the Silkies, and I heard the ruccus. Dang it! Roy had lost his top dog status with all the other roos, so I thought maybe he would back down from Clyde too. NOT! A bloody mess ensued, and I still have to seperate them. Clyde gets along with Pip and Pekker, but no way with his brother Roy! Go figure...

Both boys bring different things to the table, so I really need them both. Guess I will just have to build another pen for Roy and his own girls...

 

[pinkchick]

Hello Everyone! I have missed ya'll like crazy but haven't had the time to stick around and play.

Debbi~ Glad you are doing ok and very glad to hear that Pip is finally a man. Oh and I love that BAD has kinda stuck to Charlotte's name. It's cute. Congrats on the chickies too!

I'm suppose to have a hatch today of olive eggs and Marans but I don't see any signs of life yet. Maybe they will all pop like popcorn today while I am gone.

When I get some time (hopefully before they don't look like chicks anymore ,LOL) I will try to photo the 3 little refrigerator babies that I am keeping. 2 splash and 1 blue copper. They are rambunctious ornery little things......I think they are related to Bad Charlotte.

And I believe all 3 of them are girls.


Donna~ No signs of short down chicks in the refrigerator chick hatch. Weird. Will be interesting to see what hatches today and tomorrow. Maybe I should put all my eggs in the fridge for a couple weeks before setting them.

Congrats on your hatch too! How many more are left to go?

 

[Debbi]

Hello Everyone! I have missed ya'll like crazy but haven't had the time to stick around and play.

Debbi~ Glad you are doing ok and very glad to hear that Pip is finally a man. Oh and I love that BAD has kinda stuck to Charlotte's name. It's cute. Congrats on the chickies too!

I'm suppose to have a hatch today of olive eggs and Marans but I don't see any signs of life yet. Maybe they will all pop like popcorn today while I am gone.

When I get some time (hopefully before they don't look like chicks anymore ,LOL) I will try to photo the 3 little refrigerator babies that I am keeping. 2 splash and 1 blue copper. They are rambunctious ornery little things......I think they are related to Bad Charlotte.

And I believe all 3 of them are girls.


Donna~ No signs of short down chicks in the refrigerator chick hatch. Weird. Will be interesting to see what hatches today and tomorrow. Maybe I should put all my eggs in the fridge for a couple weeks before setting them.

Congrats on your hatch too! How many more are left to go?

That's cause you put them in the fridge!

I swear, that may be a good idea! The one Silkie in my last hatch that is HUGE, came from an egg that I picked up off the ground that was nearly frozen! I had marked the egg "COLD", and figured it wouldn't hatch. May just have to try that with some of my own Marans eggs...it sure couldn't hurt!

 

[gilavina]

OK....I think this crazy weather is making my birds go a bit haywire too... I have girls that are 3 1/2 months old poppin out little wanna be song bird eggs!

 

[Mountain Mel]

cute eggs

 

[Debbi]

Wow Vicki ~ 3 1/2 months old?? That's the youngst I ever heard of, but you may be onto something with this goofy weather. I noticed Clyde chasing the 2 young girls around in the run this morning, and they aren't quite yet 5 months old. He's never been wrong yet, so if past experience is going to hold, I should be getting eggs from them within two weeks! Cute little eggs, what are you going to do with them??

 

[gilavina]

Wow Vicki ~ 3 1/2 months old?? That's the youngst I ever heard of, but you may be onto something with this goofy weather. I noticed Clyde chasing the 2 young girls around in the run this morning, and they aren't quite yet 5 months old. He's never been wrong yet, so if past experience is going to hold, I should be getting eggs from them within two weeks! Cute little eggs, what are you going to do with them??

Probably crack them open to see if they have yolks...I would say its a fair bet they won't. When I found 1 last night and then to find 2 this morning....I've given up trying to figure out whats going on... I read earlier about your crazy boy finally being a man. You're gonna give him a lady eh? Yay!

 

[Debbi]

Yes, Pip is a man! LOL!! Seems to have done him a world of good too. He hasn't given me one ugly wing dance today!! Of course he started with the littlest hen with a carnation comb!

Kind of reminds me of an old joke, but I won't go there!

She won't be used for breeding, and I was going to sell her the other day as a dark layer, along with one of my original hens with a carnation. I don't want ANY of those combs here!! I would hate to snatch away his new found love too early in the game, so I'll give it a week, then off the two girls go!

 

[gilavina]

Yes, Pip is a man! LOL!! Seems to have done him a world of good too. He hasn't given me one ugly wing dance today!! Of course he started with the littlest hen with a carnation comb!

Kind of reminds me of an old joke, but I won't go there!

She won't be used for breeding, and I was going to sell her the other day as a dark layer, along with one of my original hens with a carnation. I don't want ANY of those combs here!! I would hate to snatch away his new found love too early in the game, so I'll give it a week, then off the two girls go!

haha...poor boy...but I would be getting rid of them asap too. Maybe there's another lady hanging around that he'd get along with. I think if things go well with the hatches this year and I am able to select out just the best from the hatches for supplementing my breeding season...I'm gonna be in a really good place Debbi! So, might be able to help with populating your pens a bit later on indeed. Its been a very good culling session over the last three weeks...tiring, but hopeful!