Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[Debbi]

Glad to hear you finally got some rain Debbi! It is raining like crazy here right now. I still have the broody sitting on eggs. Only three hatched so far........ today is day 22/23. The hubby wants to start cracking open eggs- when do you all think is a good time??? I am terrified of opening them too soon..... they were all set at the same time, so one would think they would all hatch around the same time..... .but they have me waiting. I would think that the broody would abandon the eggs if they were not alive, right?? We did have to remove the three chicks from her yesterday too. She was not paying too much attention to the third chick that hatched. It seems to have something wrong- kinda like one wing is higher on it's back making it loose balance? But it has made HUGE progress since this morning and is eating, drinking and running around finally on it's own. Still slightly wobbly- but certainly better. No more on it's back spinning in circles! I am so happy that I have some more blues though.... better not both be roosters!!!!!!!!!!

NOOOooooo!!! Don't be cracking eggs yet!! My Silkies hatched out their brood of 14 chicks, and it took over a WEEK!! They know if the egg is bad and will kick it out of the nest if they are seasoned broodies. My new broodies kicked some out, and I put them in the bator, and 3 chicks hatched in the next 2 days! They don't lay the eggs all at once, so they don't hatch all at once; let 'em ride!!!!

ETA: Unless they start to stink, then you might want to candle them and smell one by one. Watch your hands and eyeballs though, those broody mamas are SERIOUS!!!

 

[heath_elisha]

NOOOooooo!!! Don't be cracking eggs yet!! My Silkies hatched out their brood of 14 chicks, and it took over a WEEK!! They know if the egg is bad and will kick it out of the nest if they are seasoned broodies. My new broodies kicked some out, and I put them in the bator, and 3 chicks hatched in the next 2 days! They don't lay the eggs all at once, so they don't hatch all at once; let 'em ride!!!!

ETA: Unless they start to stink, then you might want to candle them and smell one by one. Watch your hands and eyeballs though, those broody mamas are SERIOUS!!!

Too late. He decided to start checking them. Turns out all remaining eggs were indeed stinky and no good. The broody was hanging tight though....... sure disappointing. Good news is that I did get 3, which is far better then nothing. With the heat and a trip from Washington (other side of the world lol) these 3 survived. The weak one of the bunch is doing great.

And so sorry to hear of your tough choose in putting down that chick laughingclown. It is something that I fear having to do. These are my babies, all of them and it will be a very hard day when it comes to having to do it.

Here are some pictures of the new littlest cuties..... the blue one with the white wing tips is the one that was struggling at first.

 

[DMRippy]

Cute babies!

 

[ChickenExtreme]

I can't wait to start breeding my Babies, lol

 

[Christie Rhae]

Congrats on everyone elses hatches. Im sad. I need to put one of my chicks down tomorrow. Its not doing well at all. They hatched this past Tue and all of the other chicks are almost twice its size. Even the other runt is doing better. It has almost half a body. It has a hard time going poo. Hardly eats, drinks or walk around. When it does walk it woddles like a penguin. I feel so bad for it. I should have followed my gut and put it down days ago. I just was hoping it would come around. This is a chick I helped during hatching. I will not do that again, no matter how hard it is. I think its hard because Marans are still new to me and the money I put to eggs and birds is crazy. But I know what I have to do.

That is so hard. I have had to do it twice so far. One as still wet from hatching and it was not so hard to do but the first one I had to put down was all fluffy and dry and chirping. It had issues and could not stand. I knew it would never survive in a pen of other chickens. I knew I had to do it. I sobbed afterwards. Poor little chicks... Part of being a responsible chicken breeder though. Cannot allow suffering to continue if you can help it.
You did good.

 

[Debbi]

Congrats on the 3 babies! That Black on has "tude" going on already. Even did the "dead chick" pose for you!

Good thing you tossed the stinkers too. The nose knows, and some of those broodies can be very stubborn. I had to remove 2 of the 4 Silkie hens that refused to give up hope, and sure enough, they were sitting on 4 stinkers. Wouldn't that just be a mess?

 

[heath_elisha]

Congrats on the 3 babies! That Black on has "tude" going on already. Even did the "dead chick" pose for you!

Good thing you tossed the stinkers too. The nose knows, and some of those broodies can be very stubborn. I had to remove 2 of the 4 Silkie hens that refused to give up hope, and sure enough, they were sitting on 4 stinkers. Wouldn't that just be a mess?

All three have "tude"

Every time I stick my hand in the brooder, they come running charging me and give me a good peck. Kinda young to be fresh with this chicken mama

And yes the "dead chick" is certainly spunky now lol I love them to pieces!!!!!!!!

 

[Debbi]

Holy cow! I woke up at 4:16 this morning, shivering. It was 58* outside and it felt downright cold! I'll take it though, beats waking up sweating!!

My 3 Marans babies, now 7 weeks, spent all day outside with Clyde and Dopey in the run. They finally figured out they didn't have to stay where I set them down. Silly things, were going crazy flying and running in the cooler and windy weather yesterday. I even let in a couple more of the hens into the pen to see how they all got along, and everything went fine. I guess my big girls now are finally excepting the fact that others will be living here, and they just need to get over themselves! I think Bad Charlotte is happy to see another Blue face on the place. She has been the lone blue here for awhile now. The really funny one is my bad boy, Pip. He followed Wheatie-Pie all around the pen on the outside, I think he has plans for her in the future. Maybe one time old boy, but when I finally get some more Wheatens, you are outta there! The fact that Pip is now showing some cinnamon wing feathers, keeps gnawing at me. I guess a test mating of those two wouldn't hurt, I would like to see what a Wheaten and a Wannbe Wheaten cross would look like.

 

[Debbi]

All three have "tude"

Every time I stick my hand in the brooder, they come running charging me and give me a good peck. Kinda young to be fresh with this chicken mama

And yes the "dead chick" is certainly spunky now lol I love them to pieces!!!!!!!!

I really get a kick out of them when they do the "dead chick" now. When my very first clutch hatched, and were about 5 days old, I had just come back from shopping, and all 5 chicks were flopped over on their sides, with the leg sticking out! I shreiked, OMG!!, and scared the socks right off of them all!

Scared me to death, but now when I see it, I have to laugh and remember that first time.

 

[Hens and Roos]

Well I did it. I didnt want wait till tomorrow. Very hard to do. I dont know why. I have hunted for most of my life. But as I get older Im valuing life more. I hope I dont have to do that again anytime soon. Goodnight everyone.

it is never easy but atleast you know you did your best.