[Moregin]

So...over the last year I have been trying to put together a little flock of cuckoo Marans for myself. Its been a difficult and disappointing journey to say the least. I tried to buy in and struggled to find any local to me in central Scotland.  A friend picked me up two older hens at Carlisle and they cost the best part of sixty quid...average money for good stock I admit but one laid an odd shaped egg so maybe not 'good stock'!!! Next I tried a dozen eggs via a reputable supplier. Two hatched and both died almost right away. So next I tried buying in a cockerel.  Strapping big boy that covered the two hens well. Incubated about sixteen eggs and hatched five. Bit better I thought but one hen came out wheaten and three were cocks. I bought a few nice birds again and have hatched another little lot. Six from ten eggs this time but I am waiting to see whats what. In my run I had the nice big boy and five hens plus two welsummers. Nice wee starter group I though. Until some little red visitor killed them all last night before it got dark. I cant even see where it got in so I am worried for my other breed pens now. I am left with a juvenile male and a juvenile female plus the chicks. We are totally devastated this morning to say the least.

[mojocafa]

I too am slightly disheartened, my problem has been, my neighbour has a feral cat in her stables which she doesn't feed, so it keeps the mice down. The cat had had kittens, and she still didn't feed it so in order to feed its young it came over to me for lunch and has taken 12 ducks and 3 hens. If only my neighbour had been a bit more responsible, advised me of the kittens, and I would have put food out for them in order to save my birds.   And like you I would guess 80% of what I have hatched has been cockerels

[Steph Hen]

Oh damned, damned thing!!! Poor you and poor chucks! Very sorry to hear this.

Moregin, I would advise not doing anything to the pen - maybe shut rest of your birds in early; but get/borrow a fox trap (or two) and bait them - foxy quite likely to come back and be confident, strutting his stuff this evening, this may be your best chance to get him/her.

Can you shoot on your land? Maybe someone with a rifle could sit there too?

[bloomer]

once you are sorted if it helps i have another spare boy from the trip down south to sue's its in with the girls i'm keeping (thought was girl but getting very boy like)


if you need any help securing pens and just need a spare pair of hands give us a shout!!!


as for mr fox. show no mercy!!!

[HappyHippy]

Oh no  Bl**dy foxes 
I'm so sorry Stu 

Hope you get it 

[Mammyshaz]

Not a good morning. So sorry to read you've lost your stock after all the trouble you have had getting to this point.  Revenge on mr fox

[Rosemary]

Aw, Stu, what a shame 

[darkbrowneggs]

So sorry  Marans are not the easiest breed, but so so worth it when you finally get it right. 


I don't keep poultry any more, but I am keeping my website going for information purposes for anyone who is interested, and I intend to add a page for folk with good stock to put there contact details on.  More and more people will post eggs out so you might get something that way. 


I would never bother with less than a couple of doz eggs in the inccy - postage is rarely that much more or the extra, and it does give you a better chance of hatching something. 


Best time of year to try hatching would be when the weather has been pleasant sometime in late spring.  Very hot and dry, or very wet weather make hatching Marans even trickier that normal, and aim for that spring / early summer time of year to buy your eggs

[WoodlandsDevon]

I am very sympathetic. In May I had 12 buff orpingtons and 21 light sussex all 8 week olds and good quality all killed by 'a' fox, 33 in total ( or a vixen and cubs so a farmer told me, judging by how many were taken the same night). It was partly my own fault for not securing their house well, but it's still very gutting and damaging to my pocket (costing me £4 each at day olds)! That Fox has a price on it's head! but traps are pretty expensive, i'll perhaps try and advertise for a second hand one or hire one. A lesson learnt.

[doganjo]

I too am slightly disheartened, my problem has been, my neighbour has a feral cat in her stables which she doesn't feed, so it keeps the mice down. The cat had had kittens, and she still didn't feed it so in order to feed its young it came over to me for lunch and has taken 12 ducks and 3 hens. If only my neighbour had been a bit more responsible, advised me of the kittens, and I would have put food out for them in order to save my birds.   And like you I would guess 80% of what I have hatched has been cockerels

Your neighbour knows very little about cats and you should tell her so - a well fed healthy cat will hunt far better than a hungry one that has just had kittens.  Not only that it is downright criuel and if it was my neighbour i'd report her for negligence and cruelty.

Stuart I am so sorry you had a visit from foxy.  I have plenty hens really so it you want the two hen chicks that David has for  me from Sue you can have these to try to start up again.  I can always get a hen from you later.  Maybe you need an electric fence round your yard?

[mojocafa]

Doganjo - thank you for your words of support.  I've deleted everything else I was going to post as I would get done for slander,
All I will say is my neighbour is something else and believe it or not we can't do anything right, she moans and complains about everything we do , however I make sure all my animals get fed!

[HesterF]

I just count my blessings when I read posts like these. So sorry to hear. Pity I'm the other end of the country because I have a great Marans cuckoo cockerel that would love to go to a good home. I got four hatching eggs for a broody (along with four Araucanas) and hatched three. Mum trod on one but ended up with a hen and cockerel. Just want the hen for pretty eggs really and so I've put the cockerel up on Preloved for a tenner but nothing happening. Sounds like a good market for breeding them though if there are so few around you. I can recommend the hatching eggs I got if you want another go next season,

H

[Moregin]

Thanks for the sympathy, advice and offers everyone. I still have something in the youngsters, provided they arent all boys, so hopefully if springtime is kind I might get going again.
The cost is bad enough but the thing that always gets me is the time it takes to get all your plans in place only to be wiped out in one blow. It is adventagous in some ways but in this I am in an unfortunate position of living on the edge of an industrial estate between two towns barely a mile apart so the 30 acre field in front of the house is like a fox highway sometimes. On a plus side the barley was lifted today so I will have a few nights where I will be able to see any movement. My trap will be set and the rifle will be ready.

[Steph Hen]

Did you get it? 
I also have the cockeral that was full sister to that one, bigger pullet - if you need a different line? I'll be down in Stirling some time in the next couple of weeks if you fancy him?

 

[Simon O]

Sorry to hear this stu