Something I noticed today while putting new leg bands on my Marans that I thought I might comment on is how big they are under their feathers. All my BCM/BlCM hens look pretty much the same size at a glance, but when handling I got a good understanding of how much more meat was on Chanel...
How many marans will you have once all the eggs are done hatching?
One more week for my DCMs, I can’t wait. One Marans and two olive egger eggs were broken, so I have 9 DCMs, 3 B(l)CMs, one CCL olive egger and two Silkie eggs.
Loki
I just got this post suggested on eBay. I sound strange but I’m almost certain that this is the post I bought half my Marans eggs from originally. If that is true, I think this is Loki’s brother/sire. Even the tail is almost identical, and the copper maybe (despite the lighting).
Just a...
maybe incubate them until lockdown and then give them to Raven. That way, you have the incubation consistency of the incubator but the hen does the hard work of looking after them.
Just a thought.
Lost one olive egger and one DCM egg today that were cracked.
I’m just drawing out my breeding strategy for the GCMs. I’m aiming to produce a Er/Er, s+s+, B/B rooster by the end of next year, ideally keeping a maximum of two marans roosters at once (one in the marans pen, and I can put one in...
His comb is really good. Maybe on the larger size but I really like the way it is serrated. His legs are really good too. Are all this years chicks sired by Kong?
I’m going to have a look through you pullet and cockerel photos to see anyone who stands out.
Do you mean parasitic white? Recessive white makes a bird entirely white, but does nothing if split. Parasitic white is one we don’t know much about, but occurs in the tail base and wings, often increasing with age.
They really are fantastic for hatchery birds, you’d think they were from an...
I should have left them another day. It got to day 26 and I composted them. One marans chick was still alive when I put a spade through the egg. It’s beak popped out with a bit of blood, but luckily I didn’t go all the way through. I put it back under but it died and got eaten by the hens.
I...
I don’t know if you’ll remember, but about this time last year (it’s crazy it was a year ago now) all three silkies managed to hatch two chicks between them. I was going to update you all when the marans eggs they were sat on hatched but they never did. Spot is the white chick that had the grey...
Type, Carriage & table merit: 25/40
tail too high, not too long though. Width decreases moving down, rather than remaining throughout. Other than that, good type, back long, breast full, etc.
Size & quality: 18/20
Looks like a big, powerful bird. Looses out on two points due to his tail...
Say anything about Blue and I’ll let him decide what to do with you. He’s infertile, unnecessarily aggressive, 16 pounds in weight and eats almost half a pound of food a day, but he was my first chicken and he’s staying.
You learn to be more clinical as you get more chickens, but you still have...
@wrathsfarm here’s my evaluation of Joanie:
Type, Carriage & Table Merit: 28/40
Size and quality: 18/20
Colour and Markings: 10/15
Head: 8/10
Condition: 9/10
Legs and Feet: 3/5
Total: 76/100
I think you may have had Chooksmans’ and others’ comments on her before, but if you want me to...
I’ll give it a go, this is the cockerel’s score, the hens actually look better than him. I also can’t tell if the cockerel in the good photo is the same as the one we see from the front.
Type, carriage & table merit:
18/40
Decent length of back but needs to be deeper throughout. Looks wide in...
Thank you for the kind words, and I second this towards everyone active on this thread and to Chooksman who sadly isn’t.
If it weren’t for this thread, I would never have had the platform to learn about marans. If there wasn’t the group of dedicated experts, enthusiasts and breeders, I would...