New Hampshire!

[lakesidemaiden]

Wolfeboro here! I have 2 two week old LF partridge Cochin chicks,

a Black Copper Marans and a Blue Copper Marans chicks (both Bev Davis lines) for sale.

$8 for the Cochins each, $10 for the Marans, straight run.

http://nh.craigslist.org/grd/5084993121.html

Will also have more chicks due to hatch on 7/10; more Black/Blue Copper Marans, LF Black Cochins and LF Partridge Cochins!

 

[chicken pickin]

This is not chicken related but I was wandering if any of you here in NH are familiar with this type of very large spider I nearly walked into it while locking up my chickens tonight. I have never seen anything like it and it really freaked me out. I walked head first into the web and luckily it was high enough that I just missed the spider. It is large, Im guessing it was roughly 2 inches-ish it was not flat but thick (think tiny tarantula). The pics are as clear as I could get considering I didn't want to get to close.

 

[blackbirds13]

This is not chicken related but I was wandering if any of you here in NH are familiar with this type of very large spider I nearly walked into it while locking up my chickens tonight. I have never seen anything like it and it really freaked me out. I walked head first into the web and luckily it was high enough that I just missed the spider. It is large, Im guessing it was roughly 2 inches-ish it was not flat but thick (think tiny tarantula). The pics are as clear as I could get considering I didn't want to get to close.

maybe a Spotted Orb Weaver.

Nice bunch of boys you have growing out. Love the barring. I still have those 2 Rees females and they did lighten up nicely. I really like one more than the other. Building my Marans flock and will only keep one Legbar for the egg color and if I sell eggs for EE's for folks to hatch but I don't do mixed birds. So much about the color issue still remains and the type of the males seems also to lack consistency from what I see on the various sites, but there are so many really nice looking Legbar roosters out there now. The improvement in the breed is evident.

 

[chicken pickin]

Thanks I looked that spider up and it seems quite similar to what I saw.

Also thanks for the compliment on my boys! I pleased with how this years chicks turned out. The barring on many are really great, also most have those great earlobes, They all of course have their faults some more so than others. Its almost time to make my final decisions since I have to make room, they are all growing so fast. I have 3 males out of 11 that I am deciding between. I need to decide soon what is the most important trait I want to work on for next year and pick a male accordingly. Im currently deciding between a male with nice barring and long back. Next a male with larger body size and a little wider down through the tail which makes his shape resembles another breed just slightly but it might give his future pullet offspring a wider back/tent tail maybe enhancing egg laying ability. The third is a male that to me seems to have a good cream appearance and attempting to enhance the males cream color though he seems to have a little bit of brownish barring in his Cream. Ill be deciding soon. I still have 3 younger males that will be around for a while longer so I still have more options toward the end of the summer.

I have a few nice females as well, and a few that will be getting listed soon to rehome. All the females are on the gray side and less on the taupe side which made me happy.

Also I thought I was done hatching for the year but I have 3 persistent broodies that are now sitting on some CL eggs

How are the Marans going for you this year? Did you end up with anything that you are pleased to be working with?

 

[blackbirds13]

Thanks I looked that spider up and it seems quite similar to what I saw.

Also thanks for the compliment on my boys! I pleased with how this years chicks turned out. The barring on many are really great, also most have those great earlobes, They all of course have their faults some more so than others. Its almost time to make my final decisions since I have to make room, they are all growing so fast. I have 3 males out of 11 that I am deciding between. I need to decide soon what is the most important trait I want to work on for next year and pick a male accordingly. Im currently deciding between a male with nice barring and long back. Next a male with larger body size and a little wider down through the tail which makes his shape resembles another breed just slightly but it might give his future pullet offspring a wider back/tent tail maybe enhancing egg laying ability. The third is a male that to me seems to have a good cream appearance and attempting to enhance the males cream color though he seems to have a little bit of brownish barring in his Cream. Ill be deciding soon. I still have 3 younger males that will be around for a while longer so I still have more options toward the end of the summer.

I have a few nice females as well, and a few that will be getting listed soon to rehome. All the females are on the gray side and less on the taupe side which made me happy.

Also I thought I was done hatching for the year but I have 3 persistent broodies that are now sitting on some CL eggs :/  


How are the Marans going for you this year? Did you end up with anything that you are pleased to be working with?

The first 2 sound like a tough decison. You dont want to keep them both? Or do you just want a single rooster? Id go for the barring and back if the weight was only a mminimaminimal difference and the hens were nicely sized.

I have 6 female BCM pullets growing out. I am waiting to see how they turn out after laying before i decide who to keep. I culled all the males from these 2 batches (14/20 - sucked) as I'm not growing out any boys until nexts months batches come in. I have hatching eggs comig this week and a chick shipment next month. Looking forward to seeing how those turn out. Going to keep all the females same as now and settle on 1-2 boys. What the hubby will tolerate. GFF ran a presale i took advantage of so looking forward to see how they look. The eggs come this week. Spent to much $ on those. I bought an RCOM so looking forward to that also....no more styrofoam bators but only 20 at a time. It will be good for me. Hoping for some goodluck on both ends but going to keep a male from these regardless.

 

[chicken pickin]

The first 2 sound like a tough decison. You dont want to keep them both? Or do you just want a single rooster? Id go for the barring and back if the weight was only a mminimaminimal difference and the hens were nicely sized.

I have 6 female BCM pullets growing out. I am waiting to see how they turn out after laying before i decide who to keep. I culled all the males from these 2 batches (14/20 - sucked) as I'm not growing out any boys until nexts months batches come in. I have hatching eggs comig this week and a chick shipment next month. Looking forward to seeing how those turn out. Going to keep all the females same as now and settle on 1-2 boys. What the hubby will tolerate. GFF ran a presale i took advantage of so looking forward to see how they look. The eggs come this week. Spent to much $ on those. I bought an RCOM so looking forward to that also....no more styrofoam bators but only 20 at a time. It will be good for me. Hoping for some goodluck on both ends but going to keep a male from these regardless.

I wish you luck with the next batches and hope you find yourself a male worthy of using. Marans are a tough breed and there aren't a lot of "good" ones out there, its definitely hit or miss, most of the time a miss. I hope the GFF chicks turn out well. Where did you get the hatching eggs? (you don't need to disclose that if you don't want to).

As for me and keeping males I would only like to keep 2 males at most. I have one male right now and it is so quiet here I love it lol. I will keep 2 males though, 1 Cream Legbar and 1 Barred Plymouth Rock from the new group of chicks I am growing out, bred to Standard not hatchery.

My Cream Lgebar Cock I have now is not great looking (Rees) but he is a wonderful flock cockbird, great to the hens and does well with all the broodies chicks , even people friendly (well tolerant lol) I will likely rehome him to someone just looking for an overall good male for their flock. I plan to keep one of my own males to replace him.

 

[blackbirds13]

I wish you luck with the next batches and hope you find yourself a male worthy of using. Marans are a tough breed and there aren't a lot of "good" ones out there, its definitely hit or miss, most of the time a miss. I hope the GFF chicks turn out well. Where did you get the hatching eggs? (you don't need to disclose that if you don't want to).

As for me and keeping males I would only like to keep 2 males at most. I have one male right now and it is so quiet here I love it lol. I will keep 2 males though, 1 Cream Legbar and 1 Barred Plymouth Rock from the new group of chicks I am growing out, bred to Standard not hatchery.

My Cream Lgebar Cock I have now is not great looking (Rees) but he is a wonderful flock cockbird, great to the hens and does well with all the broodies chicks , even people friendly (well tolerant lol) I will likely rehome him to someone just looking for an overall good male for their flock. I plan to keep one of my own males to replace him.
[/quote]

BCMs are a difficult breed. Finding good stock to start with can be a trail even when you go with 'name brand' birds but I decided to source the eggs from Brenda Little. I don't mind saying. I'm not sure they'll hatch and I'm horrid at hatcing shipped eggs but i decided to jump the shark on this one.
Hopefully the RCOM will work well but im prepared for them to be a waste. I did a comissioned painting and used part of that for them...they are not cheap but it helped totally defray the cost. The rest im using to take the kid to Disney. The rooster had to wait as i promised the hubby a year (warm open window months) without roosters so im growing one out this fall and winter. Id like to keep a GFF and LP boy if i could. Both lines are imports. We'll see how it turns out. Ill breed whatever i keep as my foundation flock. Im contemplating showing as a goal to shoot for going forward. Id love if they laid super dark eggs but im aiming for 6-7 as a goal.

The Rees line is better and worse than the other lines. I think they require a full grow out for the best assesment. But Legbars seem to really be best to assess after 9 months or so i think. Good earlobes are a good thing. My rees girls have good lobe color, nice gray tone plumage and okay type but the tails are tight and one has black edge lacing. The egg color is nothing to write home about. I miss my own birds very much at times. I think they were way better.
If your females are nice and gray I'd worry less about the boys cream and more about the barring. T. Adkersen (sp) advised that i do that in my boys as soon as i could as as it would stick going forward. Size ... if you mate him to your larger girls that might be your next step. The English birds have awful barring on the boys. Let me know what you do so i can live vicariously through you.

A single rooster is great but that heir and a pair quote i know is good advice from experience.

 

[chicken pickin]

I wish you luck with the next batches and hope you find yourself a male worthy of using. Marans are a tough breed and there aren't a lot of "good" ones out there, its definitely hit or miss, most of the time a miss. I hope the GFF chicks turn out well. Where did you get the hatching eggs? (you don't need to disclose that if you don't want to).

As for me and keeping males I would only like to keep 2 males at most. I have one male right now and it is so quiet here I love it lol. I will keep 2 males though, 1 Cream Legbar and 1 Barred Plymouth Rock from the new group of chicks I am growing out, bred to Standard not hatchery.

My Cream Lgebar Cock I have now is not great looking (Rees) but he is a wonderful flock cockbird, great to the hens and does well with all the broodies chicks , even people friendly (well tolerant lol) I will likely rehome him to someone just looking for an overall good male for their flock. I plan to keep one of my own males to replace him.

BCMs are a difficult breed. Finding good stock to start with can be a trail even when you go with 'name brand' birds but I decided to source the eggs from Brenda Little. I don't mind saying. I'm not sure they'll hatch and I'm horrid at hatcing shipped eggs but i decided to jump the shark on this one.
Hopefully the RCOM will work well but im prepared for them to be a waste. I did a comissioned painting and used part of that for them...they are not cheap but it helped totally defray the cost. The rest im using to take the kid to Disney. The rooster had to wait as i promised the hubby a year (warm open window months) without roosters so im growing one out this fall and winter. Id like to keep a GFF and LP boy if i could. Both lines are imports. We'll see how it turns out. Ill breed whatever i keep as my foundation flock. Im contemplating showing as a goal to shoot for going forward. Id love if they laid super dark eggs but im aiming for 6-7 as a goal.

The Rees line is better and worse than the other lines. I think they require a full grow out for the best assesment. But Legbars seem to really be best to assess after 9 months or so i think. Good earlobes are a good thing. My rees girls have good lobe color, nice gray tone plumage and okay type but the tails are tight and one has black edge lacing. The egg color is nothing to write home about. I miss my own birds very much at times. I think they were way better.
If your females are nice and gray I'd worry less about the boys cream and more about the barring. T. Adkersen (sp) advised that i do that in my boys as soon as i could as as it would stick going forward. Size ... if you mate him to your larger girls that might be your next step. The English birds have awful barring on the boys. Let me know what you do so i can live vicariously through you.

A single rooster is great but that heir and a pair quote i know is good advice from experience.[/QUOTE]
Thank you for your advise about how to move forward. Your advise/opinions are always very appreciated!

Ill keep watching them to see who will work the best. I have 2 favorites with fantastic barring that were the top 2 contenders, but as they get older even in just a weeks time they are starting to show much more chestnut than I would like to see But the barring is dark and crisp. I might have to take the hit with the chestnut.

You are right that the Rees line is good and bad, My Rees hens and pullets are nicely colored (some better than others) and type is ok, I do like the way they look. My Rees cock and cockerels are not the best and all will be culled, I feel like the Rees line could possibly be a pullet line but that is just a guess coming from my own experience and some other pics I have seen. And yes the barring between the UK males and our US males is such a difference as you mentioned. Rees males have quite blurred barring almost looking "splotchy" or "smoky" even if that makes sense. I do plan to mix my Rees Hens/pullets in with my other CL to see where that takes me. So I think you are right on picking a male with good barring to move forward.

Ill keep you updated on where I go with the flock.

 

[kara1015]

I have some extra boys available if anyone is interested.

- Cream Legbars
- Blue & Black Copper Marans
- Easter Egger
- Olive Egger

NPIP & AI clean. FREE!

 

[Mahsully19]

Stratham! I'm just getting started. Getting my 3 chicks in a couple of weeks, a friend is keeping them til they can live in the coop. Looking for any advice from folks in NH. How do you guys deal with watering (do you use a nipple system?), especially in the winter!; what do you prefer for bedding and feed? I put wheels on my little coop (with a small run) so I can move it around my yard. Would love to truly free range, but have hawks that nest nearby...what is your experience with that? As I said, any advice is appreciated...thanks!!