Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[RyeRanch]

Had to come in here to cry my woes. I lost Lazer, the Showgirl this morning. Everyone was fine at 7:30pm last night when I fed and watered for bedtime. This morning I go out, and I see red! Blood on those white Silkie feathers is quite vivid. He had a prolapse, but didn't seem like any of the others had been pecking yet, so I had hopes and brought him in. He was in a lot of pain, and I was desperately trying to find answers on here for the situation. In the mean time, he passed away.

Could the heat have caused this problem? He is not of breeding age yet, so that's not it, I just saw no cause for it. He was fine, and running around last evening with a piece of squash that they all love. My only SG, gone...I am bummed, he was so sweet. To make matters worse, my modem is going out, so I may not be on here again for awhile. Sheesh, when it rains...

I am so sad to hear about Lazer.

 

[pinkchick]

Surprise!!!!!!!!! Birchen chick #10 is here. That egg that I didn't think was going to do anything hatched when no-one was watching. LOL!

Went out to check on all the rest of the critters and do some chores, came back in to get ready to remove chicks, band and move to brooder outside and I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. Sure enough they were not. Whoooop! Whooooop!!!!! So happy that it hatched.


Also, update on preggers goatie, liagaments are totally gone this morning, can't feel them anywhere, and she seems slightly aggitated because she doesn't normally try to head bunt me when I rub on her.
Bag feels tighter today than it did yesterday.
I bet babies are on their way pretty stinkin' soon. Unless, she is just foolin' with me.

 

[Hens and Roos]

I think things are slowly telling me that Marans may not be my bird.

I'm having hatch rates at about 10% or less and these roosters are driving me crazy. Time to regroup.

Thanks for everyone's thoughts and opinions!

Don't give up! We lost most of our March 2012 hatch to cocci, and the 2 that made it are still not back up to normal. My 1 Blue Copper rooster broke part of his top beak last night so we are now watching him very closely..... sometimes it's like having little kids

. Hang in there

 

[Hens and Roos]

Had to come in here to cry my woes. I lost Lazer, the Showgirl this morning. Everyone was fine at 7:30pm last night when I fed and watered for bedtime. This morning I go out, and I see red! Blood on those white Silkie feathers is quite vivid. He had a prolapse, but didn't seem like any of the others had been pecking yet, so I had hopes and brought him in. He was in a lot of pain, and I was desperately trying to find answers on here for the situation. In the mean time, he passed away.

Could the heat have caused this problem? He is not of breeding age yet, so that's not it, I just saw no cause for it. He was fine, and running around last evening with a piece of squash that they all love. My only SG, gone...I am bummed, he was so sweet. To make matters worse, my modem is going out, so I may not be on here again for awhile. Sheesh, when it rains...

hard to tell sometimes it happens and it's hard to know just what went wrong.

 

[gilavina]

Surprise!!!!!!!!! Birchen chick #10 is here. That egg that I didn't think was going to do anything hatched when no-one was watching. LOL!

Went out to check on all the rest of the critters and do some chores, came back in to get ready to remove chicks, band and move to brooder outside and I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. Sure enough they were not. Whoooop! Whooooop!!!!! So happy that it hatched.


Also, update on preggers goatie, liagaments are totally gone this morning, can't feel them anywhere, and she seems slightly aggitated because she doesn't normally try to head bunt me when I rub on her.
Bag feels tighter today than it did yesterday.
I bet babies are on their way pretty stinkin' soon. Unless, she is just foolin' with me.

OH!! what an exciting day for you lady!

 

[cherylcohen]

Surprise!!!!!!!!! Birchen chick #10 is here. That egg that I didn't think was going to do anything hatched when no-one was watching. LOL!

Went out to check on all the rest of the critters and do some chores, came back in to get ready to remove chicks, band and move to brooder outside and I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me. Sure enough they were not. Whoooop! Whooooop!!!!! So happy that it hatched.


Also, update on preggers goatie, liagaments are totally gone this morning, can't feel them anywhere, and she seems slightly aggitated because she doesn't normally try to head bunt me when I rub on her.
Bag feels tighter today than it did yesterday.
I bet babies are on their way pretty stinkin' soon. Unless, she is just foolin' with me.

Happy day!

 

[cherylcohen]

What are these new marans in my breeding pens???

 

[slick4591]

Don't give up!  We lost most of our March 2012 hatch to cocci, and the 2 that made it are still not back up to normal.  My 1 Blue Copper rooster broke part of his top beak last night so we are now watching him very closely..... sometimes it's like having little kids .  Hang in there

No, not giving up. Just switching burners for a while.

Congrats Pink!

Debbi, sorry for all the problems.

 

[desertmarcy]

Black Copper Marans males can have up to 10% copper in the breast area and this is acceptable per the standard for Black Copper. It is said that copper in the breast of the males helps with the copper coloring of the females.

IMO, there is a difference between copper and brown that is a stippled looking with a very light noticeable feather shaft.

This photo below, IMO, is not what copper in the breast should look like. To me...this is shafting and is not what is desired.



Will look for a photo of what, IMO, Copper should look like in the breast of the males. May take a while as I have many many many photos to go through.

My original male, the one I used for breeding last fall through this spring, has some copper in his breast, I don't think it is excessive, but he started out with a solid black breast and the copper came in later. So, based on that, I did not want to keep males that were young--only 2-3 months old--and already had copper in their breast as I was afraid it would become excessive. The male I used did in fact vastly improve on my solid black hens, and I have a lot of pullets that now have copper hackles

I believe they could still use a bit more. NONE of the males I am raising or have culled had breasts that look like your pic, thank goodness. They just had copper. Now, I did sell, as layers, quite a few pullets that had mossy feathers. I got my original birds from hatching eggs from Wade Jeane and Cottage Hill lines, so the seller said.

 

[ChickenExtreme]

What are these new marans in my breeding pens???

Beautiful Lavender Marans