Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[math ace]

Good grief, we had the most miserable summer eh? Humid & rain practically every day... I lost soooo many chicks!! I decided I am hatching in fall from now on. I hope this winter is as nice as last winter too! Last winter I only heated my greenhouse maybe 5 nights total. I am thinking about brooding chicks in there since it stays so toasty.
I am going to be hatching as well.

I've got a crazy hen that has gone broody too! I gave her a handfull of the eggs from the incubator that are on day 18... I tried to break her of this nonsense a year ago. Crazy girl went broody repeatedly until I finally let her hatch some eggs. This time, I got smart. She will be on those eggs a total of 10 days and she wil be done with this hormonal business for another year LOL . . .

 

[gilavina]

Wish I had the money and set ups that you and Don have to be able to produce more at a whack. Slow going here with limited space, and money. So what takes you 4 years to accomplish, will probably take me ten years! Definately would've helped if I had started with better stock; that first 2 years was a total mess! In the mean time, I will just do what I can, learn what I can, and go from there..

Hey lady, Don't despair. I will stay good to my word that I'll make sure some birds make their way down to you once I feel more confident about birds breeding with consistency. I do have high hopes for what I've got going here lady. We can chat on FB about them in more detail if you want.
The set up here is nothing fancy...the key here for me is to start with culling from the very beginning. That might sound harsh, but anything I don't like goes. And I will continue hatching only as long as I feel like I'm still waiting to see what I'm hoping for. During hatching season here, I'm selling young birds for layer stock and etc since I only have so much room, and monetary resources to feed these dinosaurs.

 

[Debbi]

Hey lady, Don't despair. I will stay good to my word that I'll make sure some birds make their way down to you once I feel more confident about birds breeding with consistency. I do have high hopes for what I've got going here lady. We can chat on FB about them in more detail if you want.
The set up here is nothing fancy...the key here for me is to start with culling from the very beginning. That might sound harsh, but anything I don't like goes. And I will continue hatching only as long as I feel like I'm still waiting to see what I'm hoping for. During hatching season here, I'm selling young birds for layer stock and etc since I only have so much room, and monetary resources to feed these dinosaurs.

LOL! I just need one good BCM roo and maybe two good hens! And one good Wheaten roo! I hatch on such a small scale that if I culled too hard, I'd have nothing! Got to the point where I thought I'd just toss everyone and start over, but I have made improvements so that gives me some hope for what I have and have done. I need color!!!!!! Without scraficing type and size! You can just send Gigantor packing this way, I like that boy! LOL!

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Quote:
This person has been raising a stink on several of the breed threads, not just Marans. BYC staff are on it. I'm thinking we should just chalk it up to a bad day and move on.

 

[Debbi]

Got to add here about shank feathering. Something I have noticed is new growth of feathers here! My weirdo roo, Pip, yes I still have him, has sprouted shank and toe feathers! He had some when hatched, but within a few weeks, they were all but gone. He held onto a little square of feathers in the middle of each leg. Now, at over 2 years old, he has started sprouting shank and toe feathers! Nowhere near like Clyde's feathering that never left, but they are indeed feathers, and not the short, hairy looking stripes, these are feathers! Makes me want to now buy only 2+ year old roos, as it seems by then, or shortly thereafter, you will more likely know what they will end up like, and possibly pass on! I'll have to get a newer pic of him and his new digs, they seem to have come on all of a sudden with gusto!

 

[gilavina]

LOL! I just need one good BCM roo and maybe two good hens! And one good Wheaten roo! I hatch on such a small scale that if I culled too hard, I'd have nothing! Got to the point where I thought I'd just toss everyone and start over, but I have made improvements so that gives me some hope for what I have and have done. I need color!!!!!! Without scraficing type and size! You can just send Gigantor packing this way, I like that boy! LOL!

haha I love him too....To be honest, no matter whether I stop working with him for breeding down the road, he will retire and live out his days free ranging because he is such a good pal. Him and Big Boy are my Chore Chickens. Follow me everywhere and get up on the picnic table outside the kitchen window so they can see inside and talk to me while I'm doing dishes or cooking. I honestly think I can create better with time. Just what I saw from this last spring developing from hatches, I have a set of breeding pens lined up that I'm really excited about. I sincerely hope for males that I can see in my mind's eye that can be produced from the birds I've held back.

Can't help ya with the Wheatens tho. Just never been a color I've raised. Oh...I do have Blue Ameraucanas tho and know we've talked about those. Did you see that beautiful straight blue Ameraucana egg in that carton of eggs I showed the other day? I'm getting a couple of those a day now.

 

[math ace]

FY

Wish I had the money and set ups that you and Don have to be able to produce more at a whack. Slow going here with limited space, and money. So what takes you 4 years to accomplish, will probably take me ten years! Definately would've helped if I had started with better stock; that first 2 years was a total mess! In the mean time, I will just do what I can, learn what I can, and go from there..

Debbi,

I don't have a huge set up either. I do see improvement from one generation to the next and that is all that counts with me. I never got into chickens for the money. It is OK if it takes me longer than 4 years to get where I want to be as long as I can see marked improvements each year.

Like you, I probably keep birds around a lot longer than others. It is what it is... I sleep good at night knowing, without a doubt, that I will leave this breed much better shape than I found my original stock in!

 

[math ace]

This person has been raising a stink on several of the breed threads, not just Marans. BYC staff are on it. I'm thinking we should just chalk it up to a bad day and move on.

Thanks for the heads up...

 

[BarnGoddess01]

Quote:
The guy that presented our informational session this weekend on line breeding (bantam White Rocks) talked about using a 7 year old cock bird!!!! So even the uber successful guys with all the choice in the world keep their good birds around for a LONG time when they can. (He also told us he usually hatches about 25 birds a year, culls maybe 3 of those. Won't it be nice when the keepers SO out-weigh the culls?!?!)

 

[math ace]

WOW ! That was a lot of catching up I just did!
Y'all have a good night.... I am heading to bed.