Marans Thread - breed discussion & pictures are welcome!

[blackbirds13]

Just put 12 gorgeous eggs in the bator that I bought on Ebay. They were large, dark and quite a few were so round I hope I put them in right. I let them sit for 1 full day and they looked good to go when I candled before they went in. Very excited about this hatch. I have one girl who lays a nice dark egg but she is molting it would seem, my resident hawk made a meal of my darkest layer earlier this year

and the other 2 are not as dark as I would like so I tossed a few of those in with my only 2 Lavender Ameraucanas that both have gone broody just to see.

I have heard to do more of a dry incubation on Marans eggs so should I keep humidity below 50% until lockdown and then bump it up upon lockdown or is that still to high? So far I've been keeping the humidity in the 40's for the first 18 days and then just a slight bit higher or the same for lockdown and that has been working great on my Legbar eggs. Both my incubators are Genesis 1588 with the temp and humidity reader. Any advice would be great as I've heard BCM eggs are hard to hatch. Thanks.
Sure hope they hatch and sure hope there's some nice stock inside.

 

[ronott1]

You should do a search for Chicken Math

Nearly everyone winds up with more than they think they will have. Set your stuff up for two to three times what you think you will have.

Last year I said I would have 10, then I started hatching. I have 45 here now and my city only allows 6

Time for a craigs list add.....

Ron

A huge thank you to Hens and Roos and flgardengirl for responding about the Marans leg color. I'll keep watching the BCM with the green tint and it sounds like that little Cuckoo cutie has the right color legs. I guess I'm using these as indicators of the quality I got from the breeder I chose. She said she's been working on her breeds for years, but it sounds like she could still be very much in the big picture stages depending on what she started with. I can't breed the ones I have (no roo in the city here), but I would like to know if I should keep working with this breeder for any more (chicken math!) or not.

Also, thank you to DMRippy and Debbi for responding about the nipple waterers. I'll probably end up with ~10 hens so maybe I should source a 3 gallon bucket and feel more comfortable hanging it from it's handle/wire/rope. I'll also play with the tripod idea.

I got the top of the run built last night and am so excited that it's all coming together. I'm also pretty proud of my building skills considering I'm just making it all up! LOL I should finish installing the mesh on the remaining side areas in the next few days and then my chicks will be so excited to have unlimited access to their yard.

 

[bishop747]

hi everyone!. this question might have already been answered but i am new and havnt figured out the search engine on this site yet.


i just hatched 13 eggs and had a few Q's. i bred a male FBCM with feathered feet with 5 of my rhode island reds and wanted to know how do i sex these chicks?
Do i feather sex them?
Do i color sex them?
and what should i expect from these birds as far as egg color/production?
All chicks are black with white tiped wings and necks and all chicks have 1 row of primary wing feathers longer than the other row. i checked feathers at 1 day of age.
also there is one BR egg i threw in there for the hack of it that was also bred to the FBCM. that one has a white spot on its head.

thank you in advance. good day! P.S. pics coming soon!

 

[slick4591]

You can't feather sex Ameraucanas or Easter Eggers.

Sorry about your chicks.... I had a similar thing happen in the hatcher.  Thermostat malfunction killed 18 chicks a few months ago.  I had several Lavender Ams and some Leghorn crosses.  Such a long hard road to get here and such a short life....

Thanks, I kinda figured that because with my luck there's no way would I have lucked out with four pullets. Now if that black one is a little male I'll be happy. Sorry to know about your bad luck.

 

[chicken curious]

You should do a search for Chicken Math

Nearly everyone winds up with more than they think they will have. Set your stuff up for two to three times what you think you will have.

Last year I said I would have 10, then I started hatching. I have 45 here now and my city only allows 6

Time for a craigs list add.....

Ron
Quote: Ron, I have heard tell of this chicken math. I can house 12 max and still have good space for them to free range in our side yard. Beyond that I think they would be crowded and problems would ensue. I have 15 chicks and some will be roos so I'm probably set for now, but it would be fun to stick eggs under a broody in the future (on, no! chicken math strikes!) if I end up with a lot of roos in this batch.

45...whew, that *is* some crazy chicken math! My husband might take me out back and shoot me first.

 

[pinkchick]

Slick~ I am very sorry about your chicks! Good luck with the next set.


Debbi and Barb~ GORGEOUS EGGS LADIES!!!!!!!!!!


Debbi~ That oblong egg is close to Charmin's egg. LOL! I will try to get you a photo of the torpedo eggs from her. BTW....the little egg on the right....those are my favorites. Love that color and shape.



Flgarden~ Congrats on your hatch.



I know I am missing someone and something................................

 

[pinkchick]

GREAT BIG WELCOME TO THE NEW FOLKS joining in on the thread!

 

[ronott1]

Quote: Ron, I have heard tell of this chicken math. I can house 12 max and still have good space for them to free range in our side yard. Beyond that I think they would be crowded and problems would ensue. I have 15 chicks and some will be roos so I'm probably set for now, but it would be fun to stick eggs under a broody in the future (on, no! chicken math strikes!) if I end up with a lot of roos in this batch.

45...whew, that *is* some crazy chicken math! My husband might take me out back and shoot me first.
It is funny. I replied to a request from someone wanting laying hens to replace a couple that were killed by a dog. I told my Wife that I might be selling the two Barred Rocks and she said they were too pretty to sell. I smiled and said I guess they get to stay.

With chicken Math:

Males don't count because they become dinner 45-13= 32
Each Breed counts as one so by that method I only have 9 chickens!

My plan is to have 15 for my layer flock and breed Cream Legbars and EO Marraduna Basque. Now I just have to stop hatching chicks and get rid of some of them.

Ron

 

[Peach2u]

I did a head count last night. I am missing 11 biddies. That hawk sure had fun. Everyone is on lock down now except the adults. I moved them around and put pullets in one pen and cockerels in another. I have a lot more EE's than I thought I would. I need to sale off some if anyone lives in my area and would like some fat happy 7 weeks olds I have them. My BCM is hatching babies today. She had 12 eggs so I will see this evening what she ends up with.
10 BCM cockerels Bev Davis/cottage hill line
2 Blue copper Marans cockerels
6 olive egger EE cockerels
2 splash olive EE cockerels
1 maran x giant cochin cockerel
and
15 Blue Olive egger EE pullets
I have 1 splash maran roo over BCM, Ameraucacna's, EE's and the lone giant SL cochin.

 

[slick4591]

Thanks, Pink!

This chicken math y'all speak of seems to have hit my place, too. Got an email this morning that I'm getting 15 SLW's shipped to me on the 14th. How does this happen?