The Moonshiner's Leghorns

[ozmarans]

Yes I agree, you all are both really good at creating varieties out of genetics your current varieties have. He could tell if a bird had all kinds of hidden things and he would cross and back cross, and line breed the fire out if it until he produced what he wanted. It was pretty cool.

I wouldn’t have stopped raising Marans if they were better about keeping themselves dusted. The hens did okay but its like the roosters didn’t even attempt to dust themselves to keep free of bugs. The cocks kept mites on them all the time during the warmer months, so I would routinely dust them weekly to try to stay ahead of it. They had so much fluffy plumage and we’ve always been used to tighter feathered birds like Games that are pretty bug resistant, so it was exhausting. lol

I had few lines like that ,they all died out ,what I have now are super healthy and resilient chooks haven t used any thing on them or medication for 4 years now ,just ACV first week of the month ,I never had a healthier stock like now ,
lot peoples breed week chooks because they don t want to loose them ,I don t blame them ,
Ozmarans

 

[ozmarans]

@The Moonshiner my favorite thing about Chooks man (Joe) was that he believed in using the birds you had, imperfections, defects, and all. He didn’t see a bad comb, a squirrel tail, etc and immediately say “cull him and buy better stock.” He would help us pick out birds to mate those birds to that would balance out their flaws in the progeny. I learned a great deal from him, and learned that you can breed any line to SOP as long as you know how to balance your brood birds with complementing birds. It may take a while but you will see the offspring improve every season. I like that mindset, and seeing the good qualities a bird has instead of focusing only on its flaws.

very easy to cul anfd go buy new ,it is harder to breed what you want true but it possable ,The Moonshine know that very well .
Ozmarans

 

[ozmarans]

I’m in here bragging on you @Joemarans !!

this is my new username .I was away for 16 month or more ,focussed on my chooks ,I had to redo thing completly diferent . I had to adjast my self to focus on my marans ,now I m really hapy with what I have ,the healthiest marans ever .
Ozmarans

 

[ozmarans]

Idk they were cool but just not super exciting to me. My females wanted to go broody to often. They'd hatch 2 or 3 broods a year. I never knew they were a broody breed. Must admit a hen with a string of chicks is unbeatable for cuteness but that cuts down on egg production.
I never had mite issues though. But seems everyone's soul focus was on egg darkness. It's cool but not long term fun for me.

marans chooks are like the thouroughbred horses you can t focus on spead and forget the stamina and conformation .balancing the art of the mating to produce better progeny ,not put all the effort on breeding one trait ,you end up broke .
most marans breeders around the word they want dark eggs doesn t matter if they are laid by a crow ,that fine by them ,
for me every trait is important and I ll give it a time ti understand it and breed it true ,
all about balance , for any pair to produce a better progeny than them self , they have to complement each other ,
for us as breeders it s our job to find who compliment who ,

thank you all for the kind words ,Blessing to ya all

Ozmarans

 

[Amer]

marans chooks are like the thouroughbred horses you can t focus on spead and forget the stamina and conformation .balancing the art of the mating to produce better progeny ,not put all the effort on breeding one trait ,you end up broke .
most marans breeders around the word they want dark eggs doesn t matter if they are laid by a crow ,that fine by them ,
for me every trait is important and I ll give it a time ti understand it and breed it true ,
all about balance , for any pair to produce a better progeny than them self , they have to complement each other ,
for us as breeders it s our job to find who compliment who ,

thank you all for the kind words ,Blessing to ya all

Ozmarans

Good to see you!

 

[The Moonshiner]

Hi it me still working on therm ,my strain are moreadvence noew more stable, you still doing a lot work ,
chooks man with different new account ,
Ozmarans

Good to hear from you. Good to hear about your birds.
I'm still at it but the last two years have been tough. Two years ago I had to thin down quite a bit. Even more last year and I hatched about 25% of what I used to.
Pretty low of varieties and numbers compared to before so need figure out plans for this season.
Hatching season is just getting underway here in the states so....

 

[The Moonshiner]

We'll see how the day goes. Expecting a chance of 18 hours of rain starting today. Ground is still soaked. Think we're way ahead on rain this spring. I'm over it.
Made a feed run so got that out of the way. Picked up more straw. Sucks it's $8.50 a bale now. I remember when it was $4 a few years ago.
Still looking into bulk mulch. Found a place but dang that stuff was pokey and jagged. Can't image I'd be good on their feet.
Now to go unload the truck. Have I ever mentioned I love my big gorilla cart?

 

[KF0002]

marans do not like confine places ,they bred to be free ranging ,
how are you my friend ,
Ozmarans

I agree, all chickens prefer to free range but some are better built for it than others. Marans are a very robust breed and do quite well free ranging. They were also our most resistant birds to coccidiosis, which I found to be amazing. I never lost any chicks to coccidiosis or illness.

I am doing well! I changed my username a bit ago, my previous one was kfelton0002. I miss the Marans thread and chatting with you and our friend RedBanks. I hope your birds are doing well in Oz and I hope you are well also! My husband and I have changed gears and now want to focus on Leghorns, since they are his favorite breed, second only to his Games. They tend to do well both in pens/coops as well as free ranging and don't eat as much as the heavier breeds. That helps offset the amount of feed the turkeys eat. lol

 

[KF0002]

Leghorns have proven to be a very intelligent breed, similar to Games, and my 4 juveniles I just turned out to free-range have already learned to roost in trees, and have learned quickly to come to me at feeding time and where the community water troughs are. They have taken to free-ranging very well and happily chatter on and on, picking and scratching. My husband was amazed at how quickly the Game hens taught them to get in a tree. They just watched the hens and followed them up into the trees on the first night.

People will say they are skittish and flighty, as are Games. But in reality, they are just "street smart" and very predator savvy. They are fast and flighty by nature to avoid predation. It's very interesting how similar Leghorns are to Games. I am betting Games are in their ancestry somewhere. I would have to research that, so don't quote me on it. The similarities in the two breeds are uncanny, and our Game eggs look identical to our Brown Leghorn eggs.

 

[KF0002]

We'll see how the day goes. Expecting a chance of 18 hours of rain starting today. Ground is still soaked. Think we're way ahead on rain this spring. I'm over it.
Made a feed run so got that out of the way. Picked up more straw. Sucks it's $8.50 a bale now. I remember when it was $4 a few years ago.
Still looking into bulk mulch. Found a place but dang that stuff was pokey and jagged. Can't image I'd be good on their feet.
Now to go unload the truck. Have I ever mentioned I love my big gorilla cart?

It is crazy how expensive straw is! I remember going to get a load of it when we had the GMC and it was like $3.50 to $4 a bale. Luckily, we are entering into the hot and dry season soon and everything will be bone dry. We had a thunderstorm last night and I got lucky and had just finished butchering the last of 5 roosters when it hit. We are way ahead on rain this year also. My husband and son mow grass as a side hustle and they have had to work around the rain.