Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[PlatypusPerry]

Probably best. Listen to that little voice that tells you no. When in doubt, DON'T! Where are you located? You might check out the For Sale (BST) Buy, Sell, Trade section on BYC here. You might be able to find a breeder close to you.

I'm in OR - PacNW. I'll have to go check that out! Thank you

 

[stoopid]

Thank you all for your answers! I've decided to pass on the Craigslist Marans and try to get on a wait list for some Marans chicks in the future or keep looking! If anyone finds any feel free to PM me!

I think Pinkchick is closest to you....

 

[desertmarcy]

Marcy - all my OE have pea combs.
I'm pretty good at feather sexing from days 1-5 - other than that, I have to wait and see on those pea combs.
I wish they were easy to sex, like straight combs!

Thanks, if they can be feather sexed, that helps a lot. My Orloffs and Orloff/Ameraucana crosses all feather sexed as females, which they were not! The BCMs seem to feather sex pretty well.

 

[PlatypusPerry]

I think Pinkchick is closest to you....

I just saw that but I have to have 20 posts to use the BST forum so I'm posting like mad so I can use it and not get in trouble! I think she may have chicks - I'm dying to message her now.

ETA: Facepalm....I think I can message her another way can't I...time for more coffee.

 

[Hens and Roos]

Afternoon

, good luck to all hatching or getting chicks!

Well lost one of my 5 week old cuckoo chicks this morning- wasn't moving much all hunched over, seems that they have come down with Cocci- others in the group don't look so perky either and seeing some bloody poop. They have been on medicated chick starter since day 1. So now I am treating with Sulmet in the water and hoping for the best

added a second heat light so that they don't have to pile on each other. Guess time will tell.

Out to check on them again....

 

[stoopid]

Just PM her, I don't think you need 20 posts for that.

 

[desertmarcy]

"Do the oliver egger EEs have straight combs? How easy are they to sex and how old before you can reliably sex them (unless you are an expert vent sexer). I am raising some EEs that are Ameraucana X Orloff and I have to wait forever to figure out sex. Still waiting on a lot of them LOL. They are beautiful birds, though. I just have one splash and one black Ameraucana, moved them into my mixed layer flock with no male for now. Maybe would like to hatch some oliver eggers in the fall. Right now I'm a bit burnt out on hatching and too many chicks--incubators all going off in another week after the last of the turkeys come out. I've been hatching since last fall---and it is getting beastly hot here---need a break."
Hi Marcy!
In order for an olive egger to lay an olive colored egg the bird must have the peacomb, provided it is a cross with a single combed bird. If the bird gets the single comb there is something like..less than a 3% chance that it will lay an olive egg. The blue egg gene and peacomb are closely linked/parked in the order of things. I cannot reliably sex my olive eggers as early as I can the Marans. I watch their comb development as the boys will get bigger and broader combs before the girls do.
Now.....with Orloff's having the Walnut comb it will be especially hard for you to tell who is going to lay an olive egg. In this case you will truly have to wait and see.
I love the looks of the Spangled Orloff's.

Well now you have me completely confused. I had read about the pea comb/blue egg link. But I also read that a brown egg layer crossed with blue gets you green, didn't say anything about comb type. I am not expecting olive colored eggs from that cross (Orloff/Ameraucana), just green.

 

[gilavina]

hey Debbi....I do a different method of potato growing than others I've seen listed. I will till up the ground (prefer to use the stock tanks I have full of soil in the garden and will take the potato eyes I have cut and cured for a few days in the top of the soil spaced out and then will put 10 to 12 inches of straw or hay. I just use the left over stuff I rake up in the goat pens. They've eaten all the seed heads off and only leave the straw like left overs and then water it well once I put the hay over the top. The potatoes come up through the hay when they are ready and harvesting is super easy. Just pull back the hay and the huge potatoes will be sitting on the surface of the dirt to about 6 inches down. Really easy, plentiful harvesting

 

[bobbieschicks]

This may be an absolutely dumb question so I apologize in advance if it is - I've not had Black Copper Marans before and I ordered some hatching eggs. I was expecting to see dark chocolate colored eggs when they arrived. I didn't see the eggs in advance so I wasn't aware of how light this person's eggs would be - you can imagine my disappointment. Even my Lavender Orpingtons are laying darker eggs then a few of these eggs. I'm hoping all is not a loss. I'm hoping the resulting pullets may lay a darker egg. Could that be possible? Could the pullets that hatch from these lighter BCM eggs lay darker eggs then the egg out of which they hatched?

Thanks in advance for your help with this.
Bobbie

Here are a few pictures of the eight eggs in the incubator next to my silkie eggs.

 

[Lotsapaints]

Thanks for all the tater info! I'm going to try it this year. Lotsa, how in the world do you get the taters out from the bottom with the tires??? I had thought about that, but one article I read said don't do it, could make them toxic?? I will most definately have to cover mine with chicken wire, not so much for the chooks, but the cats will see it as a new and improved toilet, I'm quite sure! Whoever said cats were clean animals was a LIAR!!!

I wait for the tops to die lift a tire off and the potatoes start falling out......mine are really growing good right now need to add some more compost sometimes I can hardly wait for them I have 5 rings of them and I so want to grow some fingerlings for fall/winter harvest but sometimes it is so hot I can't....