Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[Christie Rhae]

Christi Rhea, I beat your day yesterday..... First the hubby had a flat on the lawnmower and could not fix it. Then I activated a new phone and the battery was dead and I could not find the charger or extra batteries.... panic for about 20mins then switched back to old phone. Hubby then did not have the stuff to fix the flat. LEFT my phone at home after all that.... packed up some little roos to GIVE away, finished farm work loaded them in the trunk of the car dropped hubby at home to cut grass, he left the tire in the car so I had to turn around and go back home. Got stuck in traffice! OH yeah got a notice from CODES that we had to clean up the duplex next door that we DON'T own! Delivered the little roos and got a phone call about an hour later they were ALL DEAD! Heat is my guess in the trunk..... and I am PMS.....


OK I can't top the ear drum thing..... but that was pretty good!

Today is a new day!

Hahaa... yeah that was a sucky day for you too. Why is it the PMS seems to be just the frosting on the cake? lol

My 6yr old son with the busted ear drum is doing better. He is going to school tomorrow for the first time in a week. The doctor got the culture results from his ear. It was streptococcus! No wonder he was in such pain! Poor kid. But it is a new week and things are looking up. My 20 year old daughter (yup I got them all ages) is graduating college and receiving a special award tomorrow night for academic achievement.

 

[Christie Rhae]

LOL...ok I am just catching up like 5 pages of reading.. I am up to the potato posts.

Look what I accidentally dug up in my garden yesterday!


The puppy had chewed on one of my potato plants and I forgot that there had been a plant in this one spot. I was mounding up around the other plants and found this. I thought "what the heck is a potato doing here??" Duh!! I grew it! lol. My first time growing potatoes. We cut it up and fried it for breakfast along with some eggs.

 

[geebs]

Wow a potato post (goodie) I have an experiment going with potatos... two really... One experiment is using an old grain sack with organic dirt in it to grow potatos (whites) and the other experiment is with yukon gold in a bucket and grafting other nightshade plants to it... like roma tomatoes!!!

Hey anyone around here got marans??? (lol)

 

[bobbieschicks]

There for a moment I thought I stumbled upon the potato thread - JK.

Thanks for the insight flgardengirl - I will put bands on the darker ones and keep track of them. Hopefully the next generation will lay darker.

Mark the chicks that come from the darkest eggs with a leg band and if you get a pair from the darkest eggs mate them together and you will have a chance to improve your egg color. Not sure how great of an improvement but it should help some. Otherwise, you will have to get more Marans from darker eggs to mix in or just start a new line depending on the other qualities these birds have.

 

[thebutress]

Ok, you guys. I am new to the forum and new to chickens. I have 1 of everything right now! Just kidding, but I bought a few different breeds to have fun and see which are the best chickens for my family. I am posting in all areas of this forum to inquire about my different breeds. I got a Marans a few weeks ago. Wasn't planning on getting it, but it came home with 2 silkies and a sizzle. Anyways, it is really HUGE. compared to silkies it probably looks giant I am assuming. The lady told me it was a Pullet, and that was when it was 3 weeks old. Now at reading this thread I am starting to wonder if that was correct, because it seems that sexing by tail feathers or color isn't all correct. It is about 8-9 weeks old right now. But I have a question. At first, I thought this chick was just being a stinker, because when I tried to feed her a snack she bit me every time. She would peck me and pinch my hands and fingers. The other chicks take the snacks so gentle. Then I was thinking it was its size. That its peck it just much more powerful. The marans is also kinda jumpy. Like when I lean in the cage or move quickly, it really spooks. I have been handling her since she was 2 weeks old, so I figured she would be a little more gentle. Ok, so yesterday, I start start giving her a snack and she is repeatedly missing the dried worm. Like it took her about 10 times to get it. Now I am starting to think that this bird can't see well. She can jump onto the water/feeder and land on it, but she isn't graceful. So Im starting to think she isn't just being mean, but she actually can't see well. Even when she pecks at the ground, she misses the snack. Am I crazy? obviously she is growing well and looks healthy. I hope this doesn't sound like some nutty post!

Here is the marans, with a little silkie that is the same age.

 

[Keara]

Are you sure you attached the right photo? You are claiming both birds in that photo are 8-9wks old?


By the way, based on age and comb size, I would say your Marans is a roo, with really nice looking leg color and feathering.


.

Ok, you guys. I am new to the forum and new to chickens. I have 1 of everything right now! Just kidding, but I bought a few different breeds to have fun and see which are the best chickens for my family. I am posting in all areas of this forum to inquire about my different breeds. I got a Marans a few weeks ago. Wasn't planning on getting it, but it came home with 2 silkies and a sizzle. Anyways, it is really HUGE. compared to silkies it probably looks giant I am assuming. The lady told me it was a Pullet, and that was when it was 3 weeks old. Now at reading this thread I am starting to wonder if that was correct, because it seems that sexing by tail feathers or color isn't all correct. It is about 8-9 weeks old right now. But I have a question. At first, I thought this chick was just being a stinker, because when I tried to feed her a snack she bit me every time. She would peck me and pinch my hands and fingers. The other chicks take the snacks so gentle. Then I was thinking it was its size. That its peck it just much more powerful. The marans is also kinda jumpy. Like when I lean in the cage or move quickly, it really spooks. I have been handling her since she was 2 weeks old, so I figured she would be a little more gentle. Ok, so yesterday, I start start giving her a snack and she is repeatedly missing the dried worm. Like it took her about 10 times to get it. Now I am starting to think that this bird can't see well. She can jump onto the water/feeder and land on it, but she isn't graceful. So Im starting to think she isn't just being mean, but she actually can't see well. Even when she pecks at the ground, she misses the snack. Am I crazy? obviously she is growing well and looks healthy. I hope this doesn't sound like some nutty post!

Here is the marans, with a little silkie that is the same age.

 

[Debbi]

Ok, you guys. I am new to the forum and new to chickens. I have 1 of everything right now! Just kidding, but I bought a few different breeds to have fun and see which are the best chickens for my family. I am posting in all areas of this forum to inquire about my different breeds. I got a Marans a few weeks ago. Wasn't planning on getting it, but it came home with 2 silkies and a sizzle. Anyways, it is really HUGE. compared to silkies it probably looks giant I am assuming. The lady told me it was a Pullet, and that was when it was 3 weeks old. Now at reading this thread I am starting to wonder if that was correct, because it seems that sexing by tail feathers or color isn't all correct. It is about 8-9 weeks old right now. But I have a question. At first, I thought this chick was just being a stinker, because when I tried to feed her a snack she bit me every time. She would peck me and pinch my hands and fingers. The other chicks take the snacks so gentle. Then I was thinking it was its size. That its peck it just much more powerful. The marans is also kinda jumpy. Like when I lean in the cage or move quickly, it really spooks. I have been handling her since she was 2 weeks old, so I figured she would be a little more gentle. Ok, so yesterday, I start start giving her a snack and she is repeatedly missing the dried worm. Like it took her about 10 times to get it. Now I am starting to think that this bird can't see well. She can jump onto the water/feeder and land on it, but she isn't graceful. So Im starting to think she isn't just being mean, but she actually can't see well. Even when she pecks at the ground, she misses the snack. Am I crazy? obviously she is growing well and looks healthy. I hope this doesn't sound like some nutty post!

Here is the marans, with a little silkie that is the same age.

Hmmm, can you say Cock-a-doodle-doo??

 

[thebutress]

Darn, I was right. See all this wonderful information on BYC, and I figured it was a roo. But I was in denial. I think my D'uccle is a roo also. Now I'm getting a little disappointed! I wanted to raise them from babies, BUT....I can't have all these roos. We weren't really planning on keeping a roo. But I appreciate your expert advise!

 

[Debbi]

Yes, I agree with Keara. That Silkie chick looks maybe 3 weeks old. The Marans looks like mine do at about 6 1/2 - 7 weeks old. He does look like a nice boy though. As for the eye sight, I really can't help you there; that's one problem I've not had .....yet.

 

[thebutress]

Keara, I'm sorry that was misleading. They are currently 8-9 weeks old. The photo is from 2 weeks ago. So the marans would be about 7 weeks old and the silkie would be approximately 6 weeks old in the photo. That little silkie was having a problem growing, but we did research here at BYC, fed him scrambled eggs, and he is coming around (sorry I know this is a marans thread). Now the silkie is on the right track. These 2 silkies were hatched a the same time, and one is about 3 times its size currently. The photo below was taken the same day. Really. I have had the silkies since they were 1 week old. Here are the silkie shots.



Anyways, so in that photo above in the previous thread, the marans is about 7 weeks? Does that make more sense? I will try and get a photo of the marans today. What do you think about the eye sight thing? Or am I over reacting. An d I promise not to hijack with silkies again! I really was concerned about the marans vision, but now I am going to have to find him a nice home. We really can't have all these roos! Agh!