Marans Thread for Posting Pics of Your Eggs, Chicks and Chickens

[onthespot]

Oh ninja! I am just floored by your news!!! I am so sorry for your loss. Having brooded and hatched and worked like a FREAK to get as far as I have in a year, with my second generation laying dark eggs and already selecting replacement stock from generation 3, I feel your pain. I don't have near the flock you have. I only have about ten adults, less actually as I recently sold of the bottom third. That is an old rule from horse breeding. Every year sell off the bottom third no matter how good they are. Your herd just gets better and better every year. Hopefully there are some fertile eggs you can incubate. Even if you decide later on not to move forward, keep your options open for now until you decide. DO incubate those eggs! If you decide you dont' want to continue, I am certain you will have no trouble finding homes. Sorry again for your loss!
Patty

 

[drom]

Yes, gather all your eggs up and get them in an incubator ASAP. I lost my best hen to the heat in early July (it was 108 degrees here). I was actually really emotional about losing her because she was very sweet and more of a pet than anything else for me.
Anyway, I gathered up everything I had-some eggs were over a week old and some had been in the refrigerator and I packed them up and sent them to Donna who hatched them out for me in her Sportsman. She hatched out 5 chicks from those old, cold eggs so I have some offspring now from my hen and don't feel the loss as much.

You can start over and this time around you will be starting out with all the knowledge you've gathered along the way that you didn't have the first time around. It won't take as long to get to where you want to be with your stock.

 

[drom]

LA~Poulet :

Finally I have a submission for this thread!

The post office must have pulled a real doozy on my poor eggs during shipping... only 3 seemed viable and 2 developed & hatched. These are my two precious babies.

Something about the one on the right screams cockerel, don't you think?

Just for fun, I know it is impossible to tell. I can't put my finger on why exactly, if it is that 'he' has the most prominent comb out of the 16 (of different breeds) I just hatched, or his stance. What do you think?

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v492/AshleysBucket/web-maranschixCOC.jpg

So I noticed something with this new clutch of chicks that never occurred to me before. One very easy way to sex BCMs at about 1 week is by looking at the color of their feet. I didn't notice before that the pullets feet start turning dark very early and look very different.

Cockerels:

Pullet:

 

[pinkchick]

Drom asked a fabulous question in a thread that I posted about combs. Since there hasn't been a reply I thought that I would ask for her here!

When counting the number of points on the comb does the little point on the first little section of comb count and does the point on the lobe count.....or is it just the points in between?

Thanks in advance,
Kim


*edited to say* NINJA............DON'T GIVE UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am very sorry to read of your loss.

 

[tfpets]

Quote:
You must find a way to go on, especially with the Marans - figure out what happened, please. It was not your fault, and your efforts with your flock speak for themselves, in the improvement in the breed and in the egg color - your care for your birds is above terrific, and your contributions here on this thread are fabulous - dont give up...it hurts so bad now, losing them, so many at once, it makes no sense.
But dont forget, Ninja, You are a real asset to the Marans Community..and your knowledge and experience are needed as well. I am so sorry for your loss

I hope you find a way to continue. Marans are an awesome breed.

 

[pbjmaker]

I have a genetics question. I just hatched a cross between my BCM roo and cuckoo maran. It is a pullet. The cuckoos eggs are on the light side and I am wondering if this baby will lay darker eggs when she grows up since the roo came from an incredibly dark egg. Also what will happen if I hatch a male and cross it back to the cuckoo mom? Will their off spring leak red?

 

[onthespot]

"leaked red" = golden cuckoos I think.

I crossed my CBM roo from a dark egg on my black marans with not as dark egg and the offspring laid a much better colored egg.

The barring is sex-linked, so the roo should inherit a single barring gene from his mama. If you breed him back to the mother then he will transmit the barring gene to half of his offspring, and the mother will give it to all the boys. Therefore... in theory... IF I am understanding what I read on here and saying it right... and that's a BIG IF... then half of the male offspring will be single barred, half will be double barred. The pullets, half will be non barred and half will be barred. Some will show red leakage, some won't, randomly, about half and half (IF the roo showed leakage) but I'm only guessing about that part.

 

[Chef]

Quote:
So I noticed something with this new clutch of chicks that never occurred to me before. One very easy way to sex BCMs at about 1 week is by looking at the color of their feet. I didn't notice before that the pullets feet start turning dark very early and look very different.

Cockerels:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/11818_new_babies_031.jpg

Pullet:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/uploads/11818_new_babies_029.jpg

Drom the babies are adorable!

I have some new arrivals myself. I have 12 BC marans eggs under two silkies and a showgirl and I went out this morning and I have 3 babies already. They were set on 7/19 so I was surprised to see them so early.

Hey Patty... looks like this girl in the last pic is definetley a Copper blue. Check out the little blue baby

So Donna has some blue from somewhere.


Chef

 

[Tsagirl]

I saw this thread and wanted to post pics of my maran eggs that they first layed today!!!
someone let me know what they are on the marans scale!

so excited!.................

http://picasaweb.google.com/jody.bleisch/ChickensAtFairSummer2009#5366603772746156866

the other pics were my kids winning some ribbons too...

ENJOY!

 

[Chef]

Dont have a number for you but I can say those are SUPER nice eggs. I'm envious

Good job and good luck on those dark eggies!


Chef