Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[blackbirds13]

The sprigs are very hereditary and will breed on forward and get worse every generation. If you are not breeding to the SOP then there would be nothing to worry about unless you decide to sell eggs.

he is... was my favorite so far and from a nice super dark egg. Will keep watching the others. Thanks.

 

[DMRippy]

Quote: I am still reading.... someone may have answered already, but NO WHITE FEATHERS.... they should be colored all the way down the feathers.

 

[desertmarcy]

I am still reading.... someone may have answered already, but NO WHITE FEATHERS.... they should be colored all the way down the feathers.

Yes, already answered but thank you anyway!! I went out and caught a couple of my cockerels and checked them for white on the base of the feathers and found none, yeah

!! I didn't think they had white feathers, but then I didn't think to check all the way down to the base, either.

 

[DMRippy]

Marcy!

I sold 2 Blue Coppers today and 3 little pullets too

That makes another pen I can use for grow outs. Now if the guy will just come and get the Cuckoos.... that will be another pen empty.

I need to start planning my pens for the fall.

 

[unkadan]

This is why I started with some BCM's last fall, now to get some better stock for breeding to SOP(working on that right now) but these eggs have me hooked

 

[DMRippy]

Vicki did your little helper come back? Did you get lots of work out of him?

Did you guys get rain?

My rain barrels are full. That will not last long. I don't think there is rain in the forecast for several days. Fine by me, I need to dry some barley for feed. I am running out and I have a good chance to get enough to catch up if it will not rain over the weekend. I can dry it outside in full sun in a day. I am going to TRY to dry about 8-10 5gal buckets of barley. (Spent grains from a brewery... helps TONS on the feed bill and ups the protein)

 

[Hens and Roos]

This is why I started with some BCM's last fall, now to get some better stock for breeding to SOP(working on that right now) but these eggs have me hooked

very nice color!

 

[desertmarcy]

Marcy!

I sold 2 Blue Coppers today and 3 little pullets too

That makes another pen I can use for grow outs. Now if the guy will just come and get the Cuckoos.... that will be another pen empty.

I need to start planning my pens for the fall.

Yeah, me too. My grow-out pens still have almost grown-out birds in them

I need to get that bachelor pen thinned out. Still have 5 of the black copper cockerels in there, 1 is definitely going soon; I am waiting on 2 to grow their tails back in so I can evaluate them better. Plus a blue copper Marans, 3 Orloffs, and an Orloff/Ameraucana cross project cockerel that I don't even know if I'll use. Then I have a smaller grow out pen with 3 late hatching pullets that aren't big enough to add to the layer group yet. Then I have 2 hens--on Blue Laced Red Wyandotte and one Cuckoo Marans, with feathered legs no less, that have been totally poor layers but somehow I just haven't had the heart to butcher them. I don't feel right pawning them off on someone else, either, unless they just want eye candy that doesn't produce. Guess I will just get heartless and do the deed one of these days, probably when I have to order feed again and the price has gone up.

 

[gilavina]

Vicki did your little helper come back? Did you get lots of work out of him?

Did you guys get rain?

My rain barrels are full. That will not last long. I don't think there is rain in the forecast for several days. Fine by me, I need to dry some barley for feed. I am running out and I have a good chance to get enough to catch up if it will not rain over the weekend. I can dry it outside in full sun in a day. I am going to TRY to dry about 8-10 5gal buckets of barley. (Spent grains from a brewery... helps TONS on the feed bill and ups the protein)

Not yet on the helper, this week is a crazy one for us and him (my boss is gone for the next 6-8 weeks and I was trained on her job in about 6hours, so I'm swimming), so we're gonna shoot for this weekend. The temps have shot up almost 10 degrees hotter than they forecasted both today and yesterday, so I wouldn't have felt comfortable having him working in that heat and humidity. The good news is that by friday, we should be in the low 80s, so plenty of good workin weather!

No rain, again..... they had tornado warnings, severe thunderstorms and it was just black over us, but the whole thing just blew off and it poured elsewhere. I don't know what to say....at least it will be cooler for a few days.

You'll have to let me know about the spent grains and how the birds like them, I know a couple people that home brew for competitions and have thought about seeing if I could try some.

 

[DMRippy]

Quote: I have the same kind of problem with some WL, they are good layers their yolks are just chalky yellow and don't hatch great. I think I will give them to the roo guy too when I get some replacements. I know exactly where they came from.... I just don't know for sure which ones are doing it.

Maybe they would do better free ranging... They are the ONLY chickens I have that lay a yolk like that.