Wheaten and Blue wheaten Marans Discussion Thread

[berkeleysprings]

just playing around with pictures tomarrows hatch day again and just now one poped out an egg and its chirpinhhhg loud

 

[berkeleysprings]

a question for people who have raised wheaten marans roosters for at least 3 years , how was fertility rate ? and how was his good looks ?
my origonal roo of almost 3 years is looking so rough , i moved him to the batchlor pad about a 6 weeks ago because of hhatch rate was awful ....2 out of 12 hatched for the first hatch this year .second hatch got 3 out of 14 so how long do your roosters last for breeding ?the first year i got marans i concentrated on raising the breeder stock keeping only 6hens and a roo second year it was all about the roosters i raised many and keeping only one with the best color ,least amount of cotton tail
just finished a hatch and got 8 out of 12 (1 roo to 6 hens) useing the goodlooking rooster i saved from last year. i should of saved more hens last year this year will be hen time......Out of the 3 new hens from my stock i added 2 look good the 3rd is to young to tell, and woo hoo , got 8 chicks from yesterdays hatch in the brooder with nice lightly feathered feet .im sure 7 are roo ..lol lol lol

 

[Debbi]

Hi Randy,

I can't tell you how long they stay fertile, especially the Wheatens as I don't have any, but I would think they should stay fertile for at least 3 years if not more. Have you tried giving your boy some vitamins? Some people use "Red Cell", used for horses and dogs, and there is also a product called "Rooster Booster" that I would assume is for just that purpose. I've used Red Cell before with dogs, and it did wonders. Just a thought?

 

[berkeleysprings]

thanks debbi , i will definatly try the rooster booster
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[nivtup]

Our breeder Rooster is 3 years this year and fertility is pretty good.

He is trying to cover 11 hens, so I think a couple of them are managing to avoid him.

 

[berkeleysprings]

do you give any special vitamins for a boost ? and how hard are your winters ? the comb on my origonal old boy is perty frost bit also we do give some electrolites and cider in water
just wondering

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[nivtup]

We have mild winters. We did see some limited frost bite on a few birds this past winter, although it was nothing serious.

No special treatment is provided. Just basic All Purpose feed, and clean water, with an occasional romp in the free range.

Good luck.

 

[berkeleysprings]

i have very few pics of origonal roo from davis lines when he was ok looking but winters been hard on him and hes looking bad

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[Debbi]

Here in MO., we had what I would call a severe winter this year. Temps got down to minus 10 more times than I can ever remember since I've lived here, and for days at a time! The steady temps this year were around 15* average. Lots of wind, ice, and snow too. I turned up the protein content in their food, supplementing with BOSS, mealworms, safflower and millet, some scratch, whole grain bread, and as many veggies as I could make available to them. I did add a vitamin supplement to their water in the coop for the very worst part of the cold to help keep their systems perking along. Even with frostbite on the tips of the combs, my cockerels never stopped breeding! No lights or heat were ever added to the coop, so I have to attribute their condition to the food/vitamins. Now..if we can just dodge the tornados!

 

[rsquared]

Good Morning WMs' folks.

Randy, I'd run into a similar situation where I moved my Roo to a 4x8 enclosure with my 3 best hens for approx a month. Ended up with only a few hatches out of the eggs I set. Sooo, I've sold the 2 year old Roo and my hens to someone who that will be their only flock/free rangers (I like my Roos' looks, build and personality but hens were inconsistent). Am going to start over and pull from several different breeders here at BYC. Have only set one batch of shipped eggs and that was from Nancy, Bargain @ BYC and managed to hatch 7 from her doz. Had to miss Nivtups sale as I'm facing a move from N. IN to OR in another month and still trying to figure out how to move the best of my breeding stock!!!

My winter, though not as harsh as Debbis', still very cold was okay on my birds, some frostbite to the Roos combs- would treat with Vaseline on below zero nights. I kept all birds together in a 16x16 vented, insulated coop w/ Greenhouse roofing and allowed free range each day. Would supplemnt w/ Boss, scratch grains...in AM and in the PM to help generate additional body heat along with the usual layer grain. Had fertile eggs all winter. Probably would have better fertility success if I was capable of seperating by breed w/in a barn w/ attached runs. Just have to work w/ what I have.

Thank you for the pictures of your birds Randy......would like some of your hens!!!! Very nice.