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

[butterrflye81]

back woods poultry are top of the line people and birds , i am lucky to have a few birds (2 wheaten hens and a roo) that are one year old i bought and hatched ....best of luck with your hatch....... i put 21 eggs in the bator monday night that are a cross from bev davis and the back woods poultry lines
it took my birds 11 months from the time i placed them in the bator to the time they produced a egg for me but the climate and time of year could play a part i would think ... personaly i think the wheaten in the nicest color for marans but thats just me
. The egg color i was getting from my wheatens has lightened up when that big snow storm us with 3 foot and the snow wont seem to melt ! good luck to the northern places getting hit with the snows right now

I can't agree more abour Buddy and his eggs. I have alot to learn about bloodlines but I'm on overload on everything Im learning so Im taking it one step at a time. Did all my reading and research about incubating before I got the eggs. Now they are here and Im doing all the research on the hatching and taking care of chics part. We have been learning and preparing for a year.

2nd Snow Day here in PA for me and the kids. Our Area had about 20inches fall down on us last night. Good thing my eggs are inside the house in the bator and safe, but the kids I sent out in the blizzard to play and to shovel..LOL​

 

[drom]

So in case you guys are interested, here is Buddy's recommendations for hatch settings:

It is post # 20 at the bottom of the page

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=113681&p=2

 

[butterrflye81]

That thread and all of Buddy's advice is exactly what Im using. He knows Marans ans he has been doing this for a long time and his family for generations. So I have put no water in, just have the humidity in my house up. I love that thread and have heard alot of great reviews on it. I am deff using it.

 

[berkeleysprings]

i have hatched wheaten marans 5 times with a lg bator but i never payed atention to humidity but now i have auto humidity control on a new bator i figured id ask ...

 

[drom]

Well, it's a good question and I am curious too. Buddy seems really adamant in his post about not going over 55% in the last few days. I have seen other posts from people who go higher than that. So, I have to admit, I am a little confused. And, I am wondering if hatching in the table tops is different than in the big cabinet incubators and if the technique is a little different in the table tops

 

[kathyinmo]

Well, I don't know. But, I do know what works for me. I hatched 6 of 7 of Berkeleysprings (shipped) eggs. I used 34% for incubation, and increased to 60 - 65% for the last hatching days. I am gonna stick with that. I incubate in a cabinet style (Sportsman) and transfer to a HovaBator for the hatch.

 

[drom]

Yes, that's what I hear a lot of other people say-60% to 65%, of course you could hatch rocks in that incubator.

 

[Dread Pirate Roberts]

That thread, and specifically Buddy's and Jamie's advice, made my hatch rates go from like 8% to 90+%

The stuff they say about the eggs needing to lose weight, that's exactly what the instruction manuals for "real" incubators tell you. By "real" incubators, I mean like the Sportsman and the Brinsea Ova Easy, as opposed to the jokey little styrobators' instructions that just say "put water here and good freakin' luck".

 

[lildinkem]

I do a variation of the way Kathyinmo uses. I do start out with humidity up, then I let it drop to around 30% to 35% then add H2o and repeat till last three day. then I up it high. well over 55%. Today I had 10 eggs in the bator and 9 hatched.

 

[Shadowhills Farm]

Here is my Bev Davis Splash Maran cockerel